Resources
Judicial Tools to Improve Court Practice in Child Support
by NCJFCJ

In 2005 the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges received funding from the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Support Enforcement to provide state court judges and other judicial officers with practical, easy-to-use tools that facilitate realistic and enforceable child support orders and strengthen the ability of the nation’s child support enforcement (Title IV-D) programs to collect support on behalf of children and families.The overarching goal of the project is to help judges in the establishment of child support orders that more appropriately address the financial circumstances of both parents, thereby reducing arrearages and creating a culture of compliance within which parents are more likely to support their children.

The judiciary plays a critical role in creating a culture of compliance where the obligor perceives that justice is being done. To that end, NCJFCJ convened a Project Advisory Group of national experts to develop several informative and practical resources in order to provide needed information to judges dealing with child support issues. This Project Advisory Group consisted of family court judges and Title IV-D directors from around the country who work with child support matters on a daily basis. With the expertise and hard work of this group of experts, NCJFCJ developed three practice-based and userfriendly tools, including two technical assistance bulletins and a set of benchcards. In order to evaluate their usefulness and practicality, in late 2007 the tools were pilot tested in courts around the country as well as presented at several national conferences and trainings.

One of the project’s primary objectives was to provide judges with practical information about integrating problem-solving court principles into their child support docket. To meet this objective, NCJFCJ developed a technical assistance bulletin, “Integrating Problem-Solving Court Practices Into the Child Support Docket (PDF).” By presenting practical examples of how judges can improve practice in child support cases by utilizing a problem-solving approach, this tool shows how problemsolving principles can help build a culture of compliance in which parents will support their children voluntarily and reliably.

Another goal was to provide judges with a practice-based tool to improve court practice in the challenging area of setting medical child support orders. In order to ensure that a support order accurately and realistically reflects the resources of the parents, NCJFCJ developed a second technical assistance bulletin entitled “Why Medical Child Support Is Important - and Complex (PDF).” The bulletin contains historical perspectives, federal statutes and regulations on medical support orders, checklists and guidance for setting medical support orders.

In order to meet the project’s objectives focused on improving court practice regarding process service and default orders, NCJFCJ also produced a set of judicial benchcards, “A Practice Guide: Making Child Support Orders Realistic and Enforceable (PDF),” which also offer assistance on retroactive support orders and guidelines for determining income, along with worksheets and checklists.

The tools produced under this project are being disseminated nationally by NCJFCJ in early 2008. They will also be available to download on the NCJFCJ website at www.ncjfcj.org. For more information on this project, please contact Cheryl Lyngar at 775-784-6225 or .