Mississippi is one of the most poor states in the country. The welfare agency manages an especially high number of child support cases every year. In a state of almost 3 million people, the state’s child support enforcement program manages 267,000 cases. This is a rate nearly twice the national average and the highest in the country. Arkansas, which has a population similar to Mississippi, has just over 100,000 cases. Child support enforcement programs help mostly single mothers secure support orders, which are court documents that specify how much a noncustodial parent must contribute to support their child each monthly. They also collect the funds. Mississippi is more likely to enroll than other states because it requires single mothers to cooperate with child-support enforcement in order to be eligible for food benefits. This requirement is only seven states have. Mississippi has a higher Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program population because of its high poverty rate. Mississippi should not require separated mothers to pursue their child’s father legally for support to be eligible for public assistance. This policy penalizes families that may have reached an agreement and ultimately harms the children. This policy adds complexity to government programs as the state constantly targets parents who have not complied with child support enforcement, and then kicks them off the rolls – only to reapply. This policy has been the main focus of advocacy for the Mississippi child support program. The 2019 and 2020 legislative sessions saw several attempts to repeal the requirement. However, they failed to gain traction in committee, where most legislators were unable to review them. According to eight Mississippi Today safety net policy and administration experts, there are many other things that agency officials and lawmakers can do to improve this fraught program. This would benefit both the families participating in the program as well as the state’s overall health. Do not punish the poor just for being poor. YoungWilliams, a government contractor, has been operating the child support enforcement program in all 50 states since 2016. It has developed a stricter process to bring contempt of court cases against noncustodial parents who have fallen behind on child support. This process requires that there is evidence that the parent has the funds and is refusing to pay. It is done so that the state does not end up jailing people who live in poverty or turning the program into an institution for debtors. Although the agency and contractor collaborated to achieve this, the state technically has to implement similar safeguards under its official child support guidelines. This is required by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement’s rule change 2016. Officials from the state said that it has until 2022 in order to comply. This would ensure the state follows Turner v. Rogers (2011), which states that states must first determine if a parent can pay child support ordered before they can imprison them for nonpayment. Before suspending a parent’s driver license, the state might consider applying this standard. A father may be unable to drive to work and, therefore, cannot pay child support. License suspensions could counterintuitively affect his ability to do so. For purposes of determining whether to pursue civil contempt penalties the state must define “ability to repay” by looking at whether the parent is able to afford the entire amount ordered by the judge. Not just a portion. The Turner case stated that if the state intends to imprison a father for back child support, the judge must “hold the key to the jailhouse doors.” Don’t allow debts to accumulate behind bars. A person who is in prison for violating a child support order may ask to have the order modified so that debts don’t build up behind bars. A Mississippi judge could decide that the parent’s confinement constitutes “voluntary unemployment,” and deny the modification. This practice is still allowed by the 2016 federal rule, although the state has not yet amended its guidelines. A process of administrative appeals could be used by the state to suspend child support orders while in incarceration. Modify unmanageable support orders. Mississippi’s child support enforcement program can force noncustodial parents to pay up to 65% of what they earn to support their children. Mississippi Today was told by former agency officials. These parents should be able to ask for a modification of their order, especially if they have lost their job or are experiencing financial hardship. These are handled by the slow courts. Mississippi could develop an alternative administrative system to allow modification to be handled internally and to have the option of appealing to a judge. Create a portal. Human Services officials discussed the possibility of creating a portal that allows custodial parents to track how much their noncustodial parent is contributing and what they owe. This is similar to what is available in other states. This could be a relief for moms who are frustrated by delays and confusion in receiving their funds. Instead of paying state coffers, pay families first. Mississippi currently holds back child support dollars meant for welfare families. It first pays itself back for cash assistance it provided. This means that some families don’t see any child support. The Legislature could pass legislation to allow 50, $100, or $200 of monthly child support to be passed through to struggling families before the state starts recouping the funds. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (including two states, Colorado and Minnesota), 27 states have some form of this. Mississippi currently counts any child support a family receives as income in order to award welfare or food benefits. This could reduce the assistance available to low-income families or eliminate their eligibility for it. Mississippi could decide to ignore child support as income as it does in 28 other states. Because so few people receive welfare, Mississippi does not allow child support recoupment. These policies could be even more important if Bob Anderson, the Director of Mississippi Department of Human Services, succeeds in expanding eligibility for welfare. Be realistic about your earnings. The state uses the minimum wage, $7.25 an hour for 40 hours per week, to determine the amount of child support to order if a parent other than the custodial parent is not employed or has no wage information. This applies regardless of whether the parent is employed, has a history of earning, or what the job prospects are in their local area. So that separated fathers don’t have to make monthly payments they are unable to pay, the state can modify its formula. Facilitate the processing of applications. Make it easier to process applications.