Abstract
Statement of the problem. Many children in society today are living in poverty because the noncustodial parents are not living up to their financial obligations. Collecting child support from these noncustodial parents has become a problem throughout the United States. The dilemmas of collecting child support revolve around locating these individuals to either establish and/or modify child support orders. In 1974, Congress designed a collection system under Title IV-A that would increase the ability to locate noncustodial parents and reduce expenses for Aid to Families with Dependent Care (AFDC). Purpose of the study. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between state implementation of Title IV-D and the changes in finding noncustodial parents and securing child support payments from them. Methodology. The study consists of a literature review, exploration of federally mandated reports and qualitative interviews with the Director and Deputy Director of the San Bernardino County Child Support Enforcement Office. The study population consisted of fifty states, the District of Columbia, and three territories: Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands for experimental and control groups. Findings. The study found that Title IV-D appeared to be more significant in improving child support for non-TANF than TANF cases. The control group had more significance for TANF dollars than the experimental group; however, there was no significant difference for finding locates. External factors had greater impact on TANF located and disbursements than non-TANF locates and dollars. Administrative arrangements appear to have little impact with the possible exception of local budgets and implementation status at the county level of government. Conclusions and recommendations. Based on the findings in this study, solutions to welfare reform appear to be more people oriented than system oriented. The frontline workers seem to be an essential asset. If they are trained to begin the welfare-to-work program upon initially setting up TANF benefits, frontline workers have five years to prepare TANF clients.