Texas Child Collection Support

At the time the sample was taken, only six percent of the sampled AFDC caretakers were receiving any child support payments. For another 55 percent of the cases, the OAG was performing the steps necessary to establish a child support order or obtain collections. For nearly 40 percent of the cases, the OAG had not received sufficient information to open a case. By the end of four years, 90 percent of the cases had been acted upon by the OAG; 16 percent of the AFDC caretakers were receiving payments while child support cases had been opened and were being processed for another 74 percent of AFDC cases.

On average, each caretaker had 1.35 child support cases, due to the need to file separate proceedings for each noncustodial parent. Over the course of the study, paternity tests to determine the noncustodial parent were conducted for four percent of the sample, with paternity established for 88 percent of the administered tests.

In this study, child support collections were analyzed on an annual basis for collections obtained through IRS intercepts and on a quarterly basis for other types of collections. Quarterly collections occurred for 38.3 percent of the cases in which there was a child support obligation. The most important factor influencing these collections was the amount of the noncustodial parent’s earnings, with the probability of collection increasing by 0.81 percentage points for every $100 of quarterly earnings. The probability of collection increased with the cumulative effort by the OAG to process cases, age of the noncustodial parents, if the noncustodial parent was Hispanic, or if children were born out of wedlock. The probability of collection was reduced if the noncustodial parent was Black, the caretaker had multiple child support cases, had more children, or the youngest child was older.