In the Kansascitykansas.com today there is a story by Mark Ohlemeier concerning efforts by the Kansas Action for Children to make changes to the child support system. Their goal is to improve the well-being of thousands of children in the state.
KAC has published a plicy primer titled "Child Support in Kansas," which details several key findings:
1 In a study of United States families who received child support, the payments comprised 40 percent of the family income for those in poverty; 30 percent of the family income for those leaving welfare; and 26-29 percent of the family income for divorced families.
2 If all families who need child support had orders in place and enforced, it is estimated that cash assistance costs for families would drop 26 percent; food stamp costs would drop 19 percent and Medicaid costs would drop 5 percent.
3 Almost 90 percent of the approximately 90,000 Kansas Child Support Enforcement Program cases have unpaid child support, totaling $543 million at an average of $6,700 per case.
4 On a national scale, Kansas ranks 34th on establishing paternity; 41st on establishing child support orders; 32nd on collecting child support; and 22nd on collecting arrears (unpaid child support).
These findings are troubling at best. A bill has been inroduced in the Kansas Legislature, S.B. 229, which address some of these issues.
Here is a copy of the kac_report.pdf. Go to the link to view a summary of the findings and recommendations of the KAC.
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