One of the most difficult parts of navigating divorce and child support is finding information. According to poll results from www.Divorce360.com, more than half of divorced Americans said that the most difficult part of their divorce was finding the right information. Among men, the most troublesome topic was custody issues. There is a wealth of information available about child support, and the Internet can help provide some answers and guidance. Here are some sites to help:
CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT WEB SITES:
Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/extinf.html This site, sponsored by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, provides links and contact information for state child support enforcement offices across the country.
The Child Support page for the United States Census Bureau:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/childsupport/childsupport.html.
This page offers statistical and demographic information about child support collections issues, as well as links to related information.
Child Support Calculators:
http://www.divorcelawinfo.com/calculators.htm.
Each state’s child support equations vary. This site provides calculators to estimate child support by state.
Handbook for parents dealing with child support:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/2005/handbook_on_cse.pdf The Federal Child Support Enforcement Program, which is a partnership of child support enforcement agencies at all levels of government, offers a handbook for parents who have questions and concerns about child support. It is written to help parents navigate their state child support enforcement offices, but it provides useful information to any parent who needs information.
PRIVATE CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTION AGENCIES:
Child Support Network: http://www.childsupport.com/:
The Child Support Network finds missing noncustodial parents and helps collect court-ordered child support.
Divorce Solutions: http://www.supportcollectors.com/ This independent support collection agency started in 1993, and it helps families by collecting unpaid child or spousal support.
The National Child Support Network: http://www.childsupport.org/ This agency works exclusively to collect unpaid child support from noncustodial parents.
SupportKids, Inc: http://www.supportkids.com/Billing itself as the nation’s leading independent child support collection agency, it has collected more than $360 million in child support payments.
ADVOCACY GROUPS: The Alliance for Noncustodial Parent’s Rights: http://ancpr.orgThis advocacy group, which was founded more than ten years ago, works to promote the rights of noncustodial parents, whether they are fathers or mothers. It’s main line of reasoning is that child support is a flawed policy, and it encourages replacing parents with paychecks.
The National Child Support Enforcement Association: http://www.ncsea.org/The NCSEA is a nonprofit organization that represents professionals and organization wh work to collect child support. They advocate a position that puts children first in child support disputes. Its membership includes employees from state enforcement agencies, the legal system, private attorneys, social workers and public and private child support collections agencies.
Michele Bush Kimball has a Ph.D. in mass communication with a specialization in media law. She has spent almost 15 years in the field of journalism. She recently won a national research award for her work. 