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NOTE: Hyperlinks provided in this policy fax briefing were correct as of the time of publication. May 2001 - Vol. 3, No 4 Update on Fatherhood and Child Support Legislation House Holds Hearings on Welfare and Marriage National Effort to Ensure that Welfare Recipients Have Voice in Welfare Reform is Launched Opposition to Confirmation of Wade Horn as HHS Assistant Secretary Urged Racial Disparities in Health Coverage Reported Assessment of Child Support Arrearage Policies Available Two New Reports Detail Employment Barriers of Poor Men and Women Update on Fatherhood and Child Support Legislation While no definitive action has occurred with regard to the child support and fatherhood bills introduced this session (for a summary of the bills and their provisions, see the April 2001 Policy Briefing), a companion bill to the Child Support Distribution Act of 2001 (S. 918) was introduced by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and seven Democratic party co-sponsors on May 21, 2001. Also on May 21, Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) introduced the Children First Child Support Reform Act of 2001 (S. 916), which has identical provisions and co-sponsors as S. 918. Neither bill contains fatherhood program provisions. Their child support provisions are identical to those contained in the House Child Support Distribution Act of 2001 (H.R. 1471), and the Senate Strengthening Working Families Act of 2001 (S. 685). In introducing her bill, Sen. Snowe asked, "How much sense does it make to tell a family that is on welfare or trying to get off welfare that the State is entitled to the first cut of any child support payment, even if the absent parent begins to pay back the child support that was owed before the family went on welfare?" She also stated that "it simply makes little sense to ask people to be self-sufficient, to pay their child support bills, and then to allow the State to collect all of that child support." Sen. Kohl, in introducing his bill, stated, "It's time we finally make child support meaningful for families, and make sure that children get the support they need and deserve." -RM House Holds Hearings on Welfare and Marriage The House Subcommittee on Human Resources held hearings on welfare and marriage on May 22, 2001. In opening remarks, Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA) framed the discussion with the idea that if states were to discourage out-of-wedlock childbearing and encourage marriage, welfare dependence would be reduced and children would be better off. Representative Cardin responded that the expressed goal to increase marriage should not financially punish single parents nor substitute marriage promotion for poverty programs. Additionally, he cautioned that the success of marriage programs is thus far undemonstrated and that, especially within poor families, there remain many barriers to marriage such as domestic violence, joblessness, and the crime and drug abuse resulting from pervasive poverty. Invited speakers included representatives from the states of Oklahoma and Arizona (recognized for their use of TANF funds to promote marriage) and proponents of marriage including Patrick Fagan of the Heritage Foundation (who has previously proposed a federal Office of Marriage Initiatives - see March 2001 Policy Briefing), David Popenoe of the National Marriage Project, the cofounders of Marriage Savers, and Theodora Ooms, Director of the Resource Center on Couples and Marriage Policy at the Center on Law and Social Policy (CLASP). Much of the discussion centered on changing social attitudes toward marriage in the U.S. and on the benefits of marriage for the general population with little attention to the remaining economic challenges to many poor families in the U.S. following welfare reform. Specific ideas asserted in support of marriage include: Marriage should be pursued by the federal government as the single most important social goal for the next decade (Fagan) and should be "encouraged by every reasonable means possible" (Popenoe). Reducing the divorce rate and increasing the marriage rate will solve a variety of social ills such as poverty, domestic violence, child abuse, crime, etc. Outside of the realm of marriage, fathers are sexually promiscuous and noncommitted to their children (Popenoe). The decreasing social importance of marriage can be traced to women's increased education and economic independence and increased expectations for responsibility of men for emotional connection and help in household chores (Popenoe). Specific welfare proposals included: Under welfare reauthorization, states should be required to designate 10% of their funds for marriage promotion and divorce reduction in their states. Welfare workers and health care providers serving single mothers should be trained to counsel women on relationship skills with their child's father (Jerry Reiger of Oklahoma Health and Human Services and Michael McManus of Marriage Savers). Provide marriage bonuses for families receiving welfare (Fagan). Devote 10% of ACF funding (to come out of TANF, child support enforcement, and family planning money) for an Office of Marriage Initiatives that would treat marriage as the best situation in which to achieve desired ends in all social service programs, including domestic abuse and child abuse services (Fagan). In her testimony, Laurie Rubiner, Vice President for Program & Public Policy of the National Partnership for Women and Families, expressed concerns regarding the focus on marriage promotion to reduce poverty. She suggested that, "The mission of welfare reform should be to reduce poverty and help people achieve economic independence, not to engage in social engineering or discrimination against families that don't meet a particular ideal about family composition. Nor should welfare reform legislation be used as a vehicle to punish families who fail to conform to our individual views of what a family should or should not be . . . Welfare policies must be designed to address the problems of families as they are and not only as we would like them to be . . . most importantly, I urge you not to allow a discussion about marriage to divert attention from the task at hand - adopting concrete, comprehensive policies to provide all families in need with the supports they need to make a permanent transition form welfare to economic security." To obtain copies of the written testimony provided by each witness at the hearing, go to http://waysandmeans.house.gov/humres/107cong/hr-5wit.htm. -AL National Effort to Ensure that Welfare Recipients Have Voice in Welfare Reform is Launched Grassroots Organizing for Welfare Leadership (GROWL) has launched a national campaign to send thousands of postcards from across the country to the office of Representative Wally Herger (R-CA), calling on him to invite welfare recipients to testify at future hearings and to convene regional fact-finding hearings on welfare reauthorization. Rep. Herger chairs the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, which has jurisdiction over legislation related to welfare and child support. Rep. Herger has held two hearings to date on welfare reauthorization (see above for a summary of the recent hearings on welfare and marriage), but no welfare recipients or grassroots organizations were invited to testify. GROWL organized protests at a recent Brookings Institute conference on welfare reform, pushing conference organizers and government officials to listen to the experiences of recipients in the process of assessing welfare reform. Among its policy recommendations, GROWL suggests: measuring the success of reform by the decrease in poverty rather than the decline in rolls ensuring that education counts towards fulfillment of the work requirement and that it is accessible to all counting care giving and parenting as a work activity providing ample job supports such as childcare and transportation simplifying the application process ending workfare basing eligibility on economic need without regard to gender, race, family size, immigrant or marital status, sexual orientation and physical and/or mental abilities. The campaign to encourage legislators and policy-makers to acknowledge the experience of recipients would be well-served by the addition of low-income fathers and their experience with the child support system. Child support policies will be affected in many ways by welfare reauthorization. To learn more about GROWL or to request a Postcard Action Kit, contact Dan HoSang at dhosang@ctwo.org or 510-533-7583 (x12). The GROWL website address is www.ctwo.org/growl. -RM Opposition to Confirmation of Wade Horn as HHS Assistant Secretary Urged Kathy Rodgers, President of NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund is urging groups to communicate their opposition to Wade Horn's nomination as HHS Assistant Secretary for Family Support by contacting members of the Senate Finance Committee, likely to reschedule his confirmation hearing at any time. Horn's stated positions, such as his proposal to make single-parent families ineligible for public benefits unless and until all married couples have been served, his opposition to no-fault divorce, and the provision of welfare benefits on condition of cooperation with visitation orders, are cited as some of the policies that could threaten women's health and financial security. A memo by NOW LDEF staff with detailed information concerning Horn's policies and positions is available at www.nowldef.org. For further information, contact Timothy Casey at 212/413-7514. -RM Racial Disparities in Health Coverage Reported According to Families USA, African American families are twice as likely to be uninsured as white families in the U.S. Recent improvements in public medical coverage have yet to affect African American families, leaving the rate of uninsured families at 23%. This lack in coverage means that for many African American families medical care comes in the form of emergency room visits. The following is also noted: The rate of death from diabetes, heart disease, and HIV is three times higher for African Americans than for whites. Additionally, among African American children, rates of asthma, juvenile diabetes, and HIV are higher than for white children. Problems with access to private insurance remain substantial for poor families. Though eight out of ten uninsured African Americans are in working families, private health care remains unattainable. Coverage is less likely to be offered by employers to low-wage workers and even when offered remains much too costly with an average annual cost of $6000 (the cost for private insurance without an employer is even higher). Families USA recommends that states expand CHIPS and Medicaid coverage to adult caregivers and also raise the income level at which families are eligible for CHIPS and Medicaid. Since 95% of low-income uninsured children are actually eligible for these programs, they highlight the need for increased awareness of eligibility for programs. For local information on children's health insurance, call the national hotline, 1-877-KIDS NOW. The article can be accessed at www.familiesusa.org. -AL Assessment of Child Support Arrearage Policies Available A new monograph from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), An Ounce of Prevention and a Pound of Cure: Developing State Policy on the Payment of Child Support Arrears by Low Income Parents, by Paula Roberts, outlines the reasons low-income noncustodial parents can face child support obligations that are beyond their ability to pay. Among the policies contributing to unpayable child support debt: Whether or not the state establishes retroactive support obligations when setting new child support orders. Most states currently do charge retroactive obligations, which can include child support owed from the birth of a child, payment for the child's health care coverage (including birth costs) and a lump sum representing cash support that was paid to the family. The state's policy on interest. How the support payments are allocated. States can attribute payments first to principal or the interest. If attributed to interest first, paying down the arrearage can be yet more difficult. Whether or not the state includes significant fees or costs in the initial support order. This can include the cost of genetic testing, attorney's fees, and court filing fees. How the state sets initial orders for current support. If a minimal obligation is set regardless of the noncustodial parent's ability to pay, arrearages become almost inevitable. The extent to which the state relies on default orders. The ease with which orders can be modified when a parent suffers a drop in income. The monograph makes recommendations for states to approach the problem of uncollectable and unpayable arrearages, and contains state-by-state tables on policy related to retroactive support and factors used to establish child support orders. The report is available at www.clasp.org. -SS and RM Two New Reports Detail Employment Barriers of Poor Men and Women A recent publication of the Urban Institute, Poor Dads Who Don't Pay Child Support: Deadbeats or Disadvantaged?, by Elaine Sorensen and Chava Zibman, examines the economic status and prospects of noncustodial fathers and custodial mothers. Based on an analysis of the 1997 National Survey of American Families, the authors find that of the 4.5 million noncustodial fathers who do not pay child support, 2.5 million are poor - averaging incomes that are 50% of the federal poverty line. In many regards the fathers face economic barriers similar to those faced by the mothers: almost half have no high school degree, fewer than half are involved in the labor market; of those who are, few have full-time year-round employment. However, the authors argue that the fathers face additional barriers compared to the mothers: more have health barriers to employment; more are institutionalized; and they receive fewer supports. The authors find that even supports directed in part at noncustodial parents are underutilized in their support of low-income noncustodial fathers (e.g., the most current research indicates that, while approximately 20% of welfare-to-work clients were intended to be noncustodial fathers, less than half that number are currently participating). The report is available on-line at www.urban.org. Another recent publication by journalist Barbara Ehrenreich details the difficulty of surviving on minimum and near-minimum wages. Her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, directed at the general public, recounts the difficulty of making ends meet while holding down several jobs that provide wages of $6 to $7 an hour - the approximate wages of many women forced into employment through welfare reform. -RM Please Note: The next issue of the Policy Briefing will be available in July, 2001. RM - Rebecca May AL - Allison Lipscomb SS - Scott Sussman

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