ACFC Child Support Survey

The American Coalition for Fathers and Children recently did a survey on people paying child support. The statistics they found were eye-opening, to say the least. Read on for the results of the survey, soon to be published through the University of California at Berkeley.
ACFC Child Support Survey Results





The simple results of the ACFC child support survey are listed below.
A full report including the numerical basis, variance, and meaning of
each result is in progress in conjunction with the University of
California, Berkeley and will be published in the near future.



1. According to the survey, 13.1 % of child support payers (child
support payers) are custodial fathers, .6 % custodial mothers, 80.5 %
noncustodial fathers, 1.2 % noncustodial mothers, and 4.6 % other.



2. 9.5 % of child support payers are satisfied with the amount of
time they spend with their children, 90.5 % are not satisfied.



3. 82.0 % of child support payers have experienced access and
visitation denial; 18.0 % have not.



4. Of the 82.0 % that have experienced access and visitation denial,
in 17.7 % of cases, the court did something to enforce visitation; in
82.3 % of cases, the court did not do anything to enforce visitation.



5. Of those that spent time in court concerning visitation rights,
25.4 % spent under $1000; 24.1 % spent $1001- 5000; 27.7 % spent
$5001-20,000; 7.9 % spent $20,001- 50,000; and 3.8 % spent $50,001-
100,000 on court and attorney fees; and in 11.3 % of cases there was
no billing error.



6. In 41.2 % of states where children live, there are social service
agencies that assist in resolving visitation problems; 20.5 % of
states did not possess these agencies and 38.3 % of people responding
were not sure whether or not these programs exist.



7. 6.5 % of people surveyed received effective assistance in
resolving these problems; 43.1 % did not receive effective
assistance; 8.4% claimed that their state has no such program; 9.5 %
have not had visitation problems; 32.4 % have not contacted agencies
for help.



8. 54.5 % of people surveyed have experienced billing error by the
child support agency; 45.5 % have not.



9. Of those experiencing a billing error, 7.9 % have overpaid and
92.1 % have underpaid.



10. Of those experiencing a billing error, 45.1% spent under $1000;
31.4 % spent $1001- $5000; 17.9 % spent $5001- $20,000; 4.9 % spent
$20,001- $50,000; and .7% spent $50,000-$100,000.



11. In 90.8 % of cases, the child support payer tried to get the
child support agency to fix the error; in 9.2% of cases, s/he did not.



12. In those cases where the child support payer tried to get the
child support agency to fix the error, the child support payer was
successful 38.5 % of the time and unsuccessful 61.5 % of the time.



13. To fix billing errors, the child support agency took 1 week in
27.8 % of cases, 1 month in 21.0 % of cases, 1 year in 21.2 % of
cases, 2 years in 3.4 % of cases, 3-5 years in 5.4 % of cases, and
over 5 years in 21.2 % of cases.



14. Regarding a billing error, the number of calls made to a child
support enforcement case worker was 1-5 calls in 44.0 % of cases, 6-
10 in 23.3 % of cases, 11-20 in 10.9 % of cases, and over 20 calls in
21.8 % of cases.



15. In 29.7 % of cases, the case worker was courteous and responsive
to the call; in 70.3% of cases, s/he was not.



16. Concerning errors of the child support agency, 20.7 % of errors
were mathematical errors, 16.5 % were the child support agency's
failure to record payments made by the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER, 4.1 %
regarded the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER being charged for welfare
reimbursement when the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER was not aware his/her
child was on welfare, 1.7 % were failure to stop child support
obligation when child reached the age of emancipation, 3.9 % were
because the parent receiving child support incorrectly reported that
the other parent owed money, 13.8 % of errors were the failure of the
child support agency to update a child support order with a downward
or upward modification or later court ruling, and 29.8 % of errors
were for a reason other than those listed.



17. While paying the custodial parent directly, 22.9 % of child
support payers have been billed by a child support agency for child
support already paid (and can be proven paid) because the child was
on welfare without the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER being notified; this is
not a problem in 77.1 % of cases.



18. If the above was a problem, the agency honored the receipts and
presented the correct claim of the amount owed 33.8 % of the time;
the agency did not do this 66.2 % of the time.



19. Child support is paid directly to the custodial parent in 28.1 %
of cases; it is not paid directly in 71.9 % of cases.



20. When child support is paid directly to the custodial parent, 32.4
% child support payers have been billed by the agency claiming they
owe money to the child support agency; 67.6 % of child support payers
have not been billed by the agency.



21. In 43.0 % of cases, the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER has been subjected to
punitive measures as a result of a billing error; in 57.0 % of cases,
s/he has not.



22. These punitive measures are as follows: lien on property (19.5
%), wage garnishment (26.7 %), loss of driver's license (1.5 %),
income tax refund interception (15.9 %), negative credit report (6.7
%), seizure of bank accounts or other assets (3.1 %) and other (26.7
%).



23. 22.4 % of child support payers feel the child support amount is
reasonable; 77.6 % do not feel it is set at a reasonable amount.



24. 47.1 % of child support payers have had problems getting credit
or buying a home because of incorrect information on their credit
report; 52.9 % have not had this problem.



25. Of the child support payers that have wage garnishments, 8.3 %
are because they were behind in child support and the court ordered
it, 39.1 % because wage garnishments are automatic in the child
support payer's state, 24.1 % because the custodial parent
requested
it, 6.3 % because the custodial parent is/was on welfare, and 22.3 %
because of other reasons.



26. 22.0 % of child support payers pay by cash, 33.7 % by check, 5.2
% by money order, 50.7 % by garnishment, and 8.2 % by voluntary pay
allotment.



28. 9.4 % of child support payers have received notices and/or
demands for payment from more than one state for the same child
support claim; 90.6 % have not.



30. Reasons that child support payers are behind in payment are 9.7 %
because the monthly amount is set too high, .6 % because of penalties
and interest, 12.0 % because of loss of job, 4.6 % because of billing
error, .6 % because of welfare reimbursement, 1.0 % because of
illness, 2.9 % because of disability, 21.0 % because of other
reasons, and this question is not applicable to 47.7 % of those
surveyed.



31. 9.0 % of child support payers have been jailed due to child
support issues; 91.0 % have not.



33. Of those jailed due to child support issues, the person who
posted bail was the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER in 8.0 % of cases, parents of
CHILD SUPPORT PAYER in 17.3 % of cases, spouse in 14.7 % of cases,
significant other in 1.3 % of cases, friend in 10.7 % of cases, and
other in 48.0 % of cases.



34. Of those jailed due to child support issues, the person who
finally paid the amount claimed as owed was the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER
in 42.0 % of cases, parents of CHILD SUPPORT PAYER in 8.0 % of cases,
spouse in 8.0 % of cases, significant other in 3.4 % of cases, friend
in 3.4 % of cases, and other in 35.2 % of cases.



35. 33.6 % of child support payers have been denied access to their
children because they were behind in child support payments; 66.4 %
have not.



36. 20.4 % of child support payers have reduced contact with their
children or abandoned their child/ parent contact altogether as a
result of a conflict with the custodial parent over a child support
billing error; 79.6 % have not.



37. 4.8 % of child support payers are paying child support for a
child who was proven by DNA testing to not be their child; 95.2 % are
not.



38. 60.1 % of child support payers have a second family that s/he is
supporting; 39.9 % do not.



39. Of the child support payers with a second family, 61.0 % have
suffered hardship due to a child support billing error; 39.0 % have
not.



40. 29.9 % of child support payers with a second family are also
supporting a child from the new spouse who doesn't get child
support
from their ex; 70.1 % are not.



41. 22.6 % of child support payers have had a tax refund intercepted
as a result of a billing error when they were actually current in
their child support; 77.4% have not.



42. Of the child support payers that have had their tax refund
intercepted, 29.0 % got their money back while 71.0 % did not.



43. 16.3 % of child support payers have filed for bankruptcy as a
result of money being spent for child support billing errors,
punitive child support collections, or other child support or custody
related issues; 83.7 % have not.



44. When unable to resolve a child support billing error on their
own, 24.4 % of child support payers could afford an attorney to
represent them while 75.6 % could not afford an attorney.



45. When unable to afford an attorney, 10.0 % of child support payers
were able to get free assistance while 90.0 % could not.



46. 12.1 % of child support payers could find an attorney willing to
sue the child support agency to recover civil damages as a result of
grossly negligent child support billing error that the state agency
knew or should have known was false; 87.9 % could not.



47. 3.2 % of child support payers have filed criminal charges against
a child support agency for civil rights violations, false
certification, or mail fraud as a result of a grossly negligent child
support billing error that the state agency knew or should have known
was false; 96.8 % have not.



48. Of those who filed charges, in 18.4 % of cases, the U.S.
Attorneys an/or Postal Inspectors took appropriate action to correct
misconduct on the part of the child support agencies; in 44.8 % they
did not, and in 36.8 % of cases, it is not known if appropriate
action was taken.



49. The mean amount spent by the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER on attorney fees
since the divorce is $12,016.21.



50. In 40.4 % of cases, someone has helped the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER
pay attorney or court fees; in 59.4 % the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER has
received no help and the question is not applicable in .2 % of cases.



52. If the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER has received assistance in paying
fees, the mean amount was $6,308.56.



53. 42.2% of Child support payers have received a notice from the
child support agency stating that they are behind in their child
support when in reality the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER was current in child
support payments; 57.8 % of Child support payers have not received a
notice with this claim.



54. In the cases where the CHILD SUPPORT PAYER did receive this type
of notice, the mean amount of the child support billing error was
$6,625.21.



56. 3.7 % of child support payers feel that the performance of the
child support agencies was very good, 4.4 % feel it was good, 19.3 %
feel it was fair, 24.0 % feel it was poor, and 48.6 % feel it was
very poor.



57. 3.7 % of child support payers feel that the performance of the
courts in dealing with custody and visitation issues was very good,
1.6 % feel it was good, 7.4 % feel it was fair, 19.5 % feel it was
poor, and 69.6 % feel it was very poor.

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