Rationale and Analysis for Child Support Agency

Rationale and Analysis for Child Support Agency

Introduction

            The child support agency was established by the government in 1975. The fundamental aim of the enactment of the program was to curb the incurring welfare expenses through the process of collecting child upkeep from non-custodial parents. This is a buildup of a program established in 1935 as required by the Social Security Act focused of protecting the needs of the children born from low-income families (Elmore, 2010). Child support enforcement agency has a fundamental mission of providing assurance about the support of medical and financial requirements provided for children. The agency achieves this functionality by establishing paternity, locating parents, recognizing support obligations, and ensuring that the obligations are adequately enforced. The federal government agency has an obligation of overseeing the national child support program. Looking at the agency’s historical events, it is clear that the body has partnered with the state in the past to guarantee that children are provided with adequate resources which supports their mental emotional and financial requirements for a better wellbeing. Through this it is clear that the department does not offer its services directly to the households but through other organizations and departments.

Agency Functions

            The child support enforcement agency has requisite functions focused on promoting the wellbeing of children in the US. The functions of the agency are founded on its mission which suggests increased child support reliability. One of the major functions of the body is to locate parents living away from their children to collect child support (Elmore, 2010). When the parents are identified,  they are informed of their obligation to their children and the need for them to support their children. However, this is only carried out after establishing the paternity of the parent. Therefore, the agency also plays a role of establishing the paternity of the parent before taking the necessary steps focused on child support collection. The child support enforcement agency also plays a role of enforcing fair support orders to guarantee that the parent living away from the child offers adequate support to the child as required by the law. According to Elmore (2010), the child support agency also has a desirable role to play in ensuring that the amount of health coverage received by the children is increased for a better wellbeing.

Moreover, it is also the duty of the program to eliminate any form of barriers experienced by the parents in paying the child support requirements. For instance, the agency manages to eliminate payment barriers by referring the parents seeking to settle their child support to employment services. Through this, deductions are easily made in a convenient way despite the distance between the parent and the child. Moreover, the agency also eliminates barriers by supporting actions which favor responsible fatherhood alongside co-parenting relationships. As a result, family violence is reduced and prevented in the long run (Elmore, 2010).

Agency News

            Several amendments and changes are being experienced in the agency which is likely to affect the management personnel. For instance, it is evident that new data has been established about children living in poverty providing an indication of discerning statistics. Out of the 22.4 million children with parents living outside their household, more than 37% live in poverty (Levine, 2017). The values depicted by the Census Bureau report indicate that the number of children whose needs are adequately satisfied is still high. As a result, the management personnel from the bureau is still required to put in an extra effort to address this concern by identifying means of generating a financial assistance for the children categorized in such households. Notably, raising the child support figure for custodial parents who are in better employments would be a necessary consideration for the management personnel to counteract this situation.

Additionally, it is also news that the child support cooperation policy has several benefits for the parents which further benefits the management personnel in the agency. Aizer and McLanahan (2006) report that parents who obtain childcare subsidies may not also obtain beneficial child support services. If child support cooperation requirements were adhered to and expanded to include subsidized child care, more children will not be living under poor conditions. This means that the management personnel in the agency will not have to worry about work pressure in that they will not have to brainstorm further to establish means of generating more funding to support more children for better living. Therefore, the general workload and pressure for the management personnel reduces in the long run.

Rationale for Selecting Agency

            The child support agency was identified for research as a result of several factors. For instance, the case of children having parents living outside their household is significantly on the rise. For instance, the statistics provided by the Census Bureau in 2015 provided that approximately 22.4 million children are in the outlined situation in America (Levine, 2017). The value was an increase from the previous statistics report of 2005 by 10%. The figures are discerning in that they are significantly high suggesting that there is a great concern regarding the ability of the parents to cater for the needs of their children. Therefore, understanding the efforts of the government in addressing this concern is considered as an important factor of consideration which explains why the child support enforcement agency was identified for analysis.

Also, the child support agency was chosen for the current study since it provides an outline of the changes and advancements noted since 1935 due to the implementation of the Social Security Act focused on promoting the wellbeing of children (Mohs, 2014). At this time, the major focus was on children living with no-income or low-income families. However, it is evident that during the 1970s, fundamental changes were needed with regards to the need of the services being administered to the dependent children. The fact that financial assistance changed from the original intent of the program established in 1935, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, means that understanding any adjustments and new program establishments focused on meeting the needs of the children is important. Having in mind that the child support enforcement agency was established in 1975 means that studying this program would promote an understanding of any changes noted from previously established ones.

Conclusion

In sum, child support agency is a program established with an aim of supporting the needs of children with parents living away from their households. Through child support, the program manages to guarantee that the needs of the children are supported. Moreover, the agency seeks to eliminate any barriers which prevent parents from supporting the needs of their children such as distance hindrances.