FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Oct. 15, 1998
Contact: Michael Kharfen, (202) 401-9215
HHS AWARDS GRANTS FOR CHILD SUPPORT EFFORTS
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced the award of more
than $1 million in grants to states and tribal organizations to
strengthen their child support enforcement programs.
"These grants will provide opportunities to further improve
state and local child support efforts," Shalala said. "We
have seen dramatic increases in child support collections in the
past five years, and we continue to encourage new ideas and innovations
that help children receive the support they need and deserve."
The grants will fund projects in eight states (California, Florida,
Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington);
two tribes (Confederated Tribes of Colville and Puyallup Indian
Tribe); and one county (San Mateo, Calif.). They include new enforcement
services, paternity establishment initiatives, and closer collaborations
with state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and
welfare-to-work programs.
In 1997, federal and state child support collections have increased
68 percent since 1992 from $8 billion to $13.4 billion, and paternity
establishments have more than doubled to 1.3 million a year. Since
the National Directory of New Hires was implemented a year ago,
more than 1.1 million non-custodial parents who were delinquent
in their child support payments have been located.
"Not paying child support is unacceptable, and we will do
whatever we can to ensure that parents meet their financial responsibilities
to their children," said David Gray Ross, commissioner, HHS
Office of Child Support Enforcement. "We have made a great
deal of progress in the past few years, but we still have a lot
of work ahead of us."
The grant recipients are:
Idaho $59,176
Rhode Island $149,820
Texas $123,870
for new enforcement mechanisms
California $180,000
Illinois $149,686
for new paternity establishment procedures
Confederated Tribes of Colville (Wash.) $32,800
Puyallup Indian Tribe (Wash.) $69,531
for innovations in support enforcement
State of Washington $17,171
for a fatherhood initiative
Florida $25,864
Maryland $100,312
San Mateo County, Calif. $97,437
for TANF-related innovations
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
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