RPC Newsletter - 10/17/2006
Federal Child Support Officials Provide Guidance on Managing Child Support Obligations for Parents Who Are Incarcerated or Released
Child support payments serve as an important means for parents who do not live with their children ("noncustodial parents") to support their children and contribute to the costs of childrearing. In most states, parents who go to prison accumulate child support arrears throughout incarceration, despite having little or no means with which to make payments. Further, upon release from prison or jail, parents often have difficulty finding and maintaining employment that is crucial to their ability to meet their child support obligations.From a reentry perspective, overwhelming child support fees may cause parents to be more likely to recidivate. According to a 2003 report by the Center for Law and Social Policy, child-support pressures may help drive some less-educated, low-skilled parents into the underground economy in order to increase their income or to avoid formal enforcement. High levels of debt can also create an additional barrier to family reunification and parent-child contact.
In response to this problem, the Office of Child Support Enforcement , a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services, recently released two reports that offer strategies for working with parents who are incarcerated or who have been released from prison or jail to ensure that they meet their child support responsibilities.
Working with Incarcerated and Released Parents: Lessons from OCSE Grants and State Programs
The first of the two reports presents promising practices that states have employed to help parents make payments towards child support and to ensure successful reentry. The report details several strategies:
- Educating incarcerated parents about their child support obligations
- Modifying or suspending child support obligations during periods of
incarceration
- Helping parents secure employment upon release
- Conducting periodic data matches to identify parents who are incarcerated and who have
child support obligations
- Inquiring about child support obligations during the intake process to a correctional
facility
- Providing informational sessions to parents who are incarcerated about the process of
modifying child support orders
- Collaborating with community-based reentry programs that provide assistance to released
parents with employment, housing, and family reintegration
The second of the two reports draws on key research to describe characteristics of incarcerated and released noncustodial parents and their families. The report offers a range of findings from the field:
- Forty percent of parents in state prisons and 28 percent of parents in federal prisons
have neither a high school diploma nor a GED, suggesting that their earnings capacity prior
to intake and upon release may be limited.
- The majority of families of incarcerated parents (i.e., custodial parents and children)
with child support cases in Texas and Massachusetts are currently receiving Medicaid or
public assistance, or received one or both in the past; percentages range from 55 percent in
Texas to 92 percent in Massachusetts. This suggests that parents will likely need access to
federal benefits upon release and assistance with enrollment in these services.
- Many noncustodial parents enter prison with child support debt. A study of 213 Colorado
inmates with child support orders showed that they owed an average of $10,249 in past due
child support when they entered prison. A similar study of incarcerated noncustodial
parents in Massachusetts in 2001 found that the parents each owed an average of $10,543 at
the time they entered prison.
For more information on the topic of reentry and child support from the Report of the Reentry Policy Council, click here or contact Jordie Hannum, Policy Analyst.
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Announcements
Request for Applications: Demonstration Project to Implement and Evaluate a Case Management Model for Women OffendersThe National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is seeking applications for a demonstration project to test the effectiveness of a gender-responsive case management model in reducing recidivism and improving health of women involved in the criminal justice system.
NIC seeks two jurisdictions for participation in the project: one to implement the model within the context of transition from prison to the community, including in-custody needs assessment and programming, pre-release services and post-release / parole supervision; and another to implement the model within the context of a direct sentence to probation / community supervision. The jurisdictions will receive intensive training and technical assistance for up to 3 years.
Application Deadline: November 3, 2006Click here to view a description of the case management model, the selection criteria, and the application requirements for jurisdictions interested in participating in the project.
Upcoming Events:
Pathways to Economic Independence Forum Series: Coming Home - Prisoners' Reentry Into Communities (United Way of New York City and Open Society Institute)
October 25, 2006 at 2:00-6:00pm (New York, NY)
http://www .unitedwaynyc.org/?id=32&pg= economic&xt=pathways
National Conference on Correctional Health Care (National Commission on Correctional Health Care)
October 28 - November 1, 2006 (Atlanta, GA)
http://www.ncchc.org/education/national/national.html
Teleconference: "Dispelling the Myths About Sharing Data between Mental Health and Criminal Justice Systems" (National GAINS Center in the Justice System and the Technical Assistance and Policy Analysis (TAPA) Center for Jail Diversion)
November 13, 2006 at 2:00-3:30pm Eastern Time
http://www.gainscenter.samhsa.gov/pdfs/eNews/Nov13_Net_Conf_Desc.pdf
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Recent Coverage of Reentry Issues
- 10/12/06
- State Violated Offenders' Rights, Lawyer Tells Court (Albany
Times Union (NY))
A lawyer argued Wednesday that New York has violated the rights of convicted sex offenders who were forced into psychiatric facilities when their prison sentences ended.
- 10/11/06
- Editorial: Community Reintegration of Prisoners With Mental
Illness (Psychiatric Services)
Mental health advocates should never underestimate the power of the budget to influence policy decisions. In this time of tightened budgets, we must be alert to opportunities that will support the practice of good psychiatry and we must partner with the agencies that play an important role in the lives of people with severe mental illness.
- 10/10/06
- Victims Can Keep Tabs on Offenders (Seattle
Post-Intelligencer)
For many victims of crime, the greatest fear is that their attacker will be released from jail without their knowledge. Now, crime victims across the state can go online or use their phone to find out when those who have attacked them are released, something crime-victim advocates say will give the victims a tool to plan for their safety.
- 10/7/06
- Study Faults Women's Prison Healthcare (Los Angeles
Times)
Some prisoners held at the California Institution for Women in Corona failed to get basic health and dental care and told researchers they had often waited months to see a doctor or get their prescriptions filled, according to a study conducted by an advocacy group and the San Bernardino County Department of Health.
Click here
to see more collected reentry news from the Reentry Policy
Council.
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Recent Published Resources on Reentry Issues
- Drug Use
and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004
(Bureau of Justice Statistics)
- Video:
Offender Reentry - A Police Perspective (International Association of
Chiefs of Police)
- Rebuilding Families, Reclaiming Lives- State
Obligations to Children in Foster Care and Incarcerated
Parents
(Brennan Center for Justice)
- Incarceration, Reentry and Child Support Issues
Research Overview (Office of
Child Support Enforcement)
- Working with Incarcerated and Released Parents Resource Guide (Office of Child Support Enforcement)
To suggest additional resources for inclusion in the RPC newsletter, please email editors@reentrypolicy.org.
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In this Issue
Our Publications
How and Why Medicaid Matters for People with Serious Mental Illness Released from Jail
Hundreds of thousands of people with mental illness are released from jail each year. Without continuity of care, they are likely to be reincarcerated. Enrollment in Medicaid increases access to treatment for people with mental illness released from jail, who typically lack other means to pay for those services.