Oh, SNAP

Congress is considering whether to require families receiving food assistance (SNAP) to cooperate with child support in the establishment and enforcement of a case if there is a parent not living with the child on food assistance. Like so many of my colleagues in the child support world, I want to see as many families as possible receiving this important service. Former federal child support commissioner Vicki Turetsky makes a compelling argument against the requirement and the NCSEA board of directors expressed their concern in a letter to congress.

I have to admit I struggled with the stand former Commissioner Turetsky and NCSEA took on the issue, but in the end, I support it. I struggled because child support services are an amazing anti-poverty tool and is essentially free to the taxpayer because of the various assistance costs avoided when support is collected. And I struggled because if 70% of the kids eligible for SNAP are already receiving child support services, then that leaves millions of kids on SNAP that aren't.

But mandates like this are problems for the states to implement and they can have a chilling effect on parents applying for services their child may need, so, in the end, I agree with NCSEA and Ms Turetsky. Don't mandate it.

To achieve the desired outcome, then, of making sure those children receive support from both parents, the child support community and the SNAP community need to get busy spreading the word to parents when they apply or renew their applications. Parents need to know how important that support is to their child – not just the immediate monetary benefit but the long term effects of the support – better outcomes in school and health and safety; a foundation for reaching their potential. And that same effort needs to go into reaching medical assistance and child care subsidy families as well.

I hope we can use the Farm Bill's proposed requirement as a catalyst for a cooperative effort between child support and our sister agencies, to ensure that the children served by these vital resources receive all the services they need, including child support.