NCJ Number
245391
Date Published
October 2012
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes findings from New York State's evaluation of its Strengthening Families Through Stronger Fathers Initiative, which offers work-oriented programs in five sites to non-custodial fathers who work, pay their full child support, and meet other eligibility requirements, in exchange for a refundable tax credit.
Abstract
The evaluation found that the initiative's employment-oriented programs were successful at increasing earnings and child support payments by participating non-custodial fathers. There was also evidence that the non-custodial earned income tax credit (NCP ETTC) encouraged recipients to pay their current child support orders in full. The evaluation findings indicate that new funding to the employment-oriented component of the Initiative is achieving its intended goals. The New York Legislature expanded the authority of the family courts to refer unemployed non-custodial parents to employment-oriented programs when orders are established and when they are modified, as well as at enforcement hearings, provided an employment program is available; however, no funding was included to operate the employment programs. The evaluation recommends that the State legislature extend the NCP ETTC in 2015 for at least another 5 years. The primary data used in this report are from the New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA). OTDA prepared case-level data for the independent evaluators based on records that covered all child support cases in the State. The file included information on child support due and paid, arrears, number and ages of children associated with the case, gender, age, and race of the non-custodial parent, scrambled Social Security number, and information on quarterly and annual earnings. The New York Department of Taxation and Finance also provided information to OTDA on who received the NCP ETTC and the amount of credit received. 1 table, 3 figures, and 11 references