Date of Award
5-2001
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Criminal Justice: M.S.
Department
Criminal Justice
College
School of Public Affairs
First Advisor
F. Barry Schreiber
Second Advisor
Dick Andzenge
Third Advisor
Glen Palm
Keywords and Subject Headings
Incarcerated father, Child support obligations, Non-payment, Prisoner Re-entry, Child support laws
Abstract
PROBLEM:
This quantitative study provides a national overview of child support policies for fathers incarcerated in state-operated prisons. This National Survey of lncarcerated Fathers and Child Support was mailed to: A) The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and B) The Director of Child Support Enforcement in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. A modified version of Donald Dillman's Total Design Method (2000) was implemented with three time-series contacts with the respondents. With a response rate of 79% (81 out of 102 sample population), this study collected a representative sample of responses in major U.S. jurisdictions to questions concerning the number of incarcerated fathers, child support policies the agency's awareness of the inmate child support dilemma interagency communication within each state regarding information on incarcerated fathers, and prison wage ranges for incarcerated fathers.
The incarcerated father and child support is a meaningful social policy issue as it impacts children, families and society. The financial ramifications of inmates' unpaid child support (based on unrealistic child support obligations) given the submarket wages in prison employment for incarcerated fathers has a direct effect on taxpayers. Many children of incarcerated fathers are recipients of welfare and are increasingly likely to be homeless, teen parents, involved in delinquent behavior, and school dropouts. Many experts perceive a need to develop child support policies to include incarcerated fathers in a manner which they can reasonably contribute to the financial support of their children.
FINDINGS:
The data were received from 81 representatives of central state child support offices and corrections departments throughout the United States. A total 41 child support representatives and 40 corrections representatives, from 49 jurisdictions participated in the study. The extrapolated data show national estimates that 15% of adult males incarcerated in state-operated institutions have child support obligations. The study found that almost half (49%) of agencies responding do not know the number of incarcerated fathers with child support obligations in their state yet of the 49 states responding, 21 have a policy in which the incarcerated father has an obligation to continue to pay child support during incarceration. Most of the responding states (46) paying inmates wages also require incarcerated fathers to continue to pay child support (62%) at the amount set prior to incarceration. A total of 50% of agencies are not coordinating their communication with their appropriate counterpart agency (Department of Corrections or Child Support Enforcement Division) regarding general information on incarcerated fathers.
Recommended Citation
Bruns, Julie A., "A National Mailout Survey of State Level Laws and Policies Regarding Incarcerated Fathers Payment of Child Support Obligations" (2001). Culminating Projects in Criminal Justice. 29.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cjs_etds/29
