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Preliminary Data

Child Access and Visitation Grants:
State Profiles (FY 2003)

Information on Parents Served, Services Provided, and Connections to Courts and Community-Based Organizations

Office of Child Support Enforcement
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

July 2004

Table of Contents

I. Overview

A. Purpose
B. FY 2003 Program Achievements
C. Enabling Legislation
D. Annual Funding
E. State Reporting Requirements
F. Disclaimer
G. Federal Program Contacts

II. State Program Trends: Statistical Highlights (FY 2003)

III. Individual State Profiles & Contact Information

Appendix: State Child Access Program Survey

SECTION I: OVERVIEW

CHILD ACCESS & VISITATION GRANTS TO STATES

A. Purpose

This preliminary data report provides an overview of access and visitation services provided by "54 states" - a number which includes the District of Columbia and three trust territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, & Virgin Islands) -- during FY 2003 (October 1, 2002- September 30, 2003). These services were primarily funded with FY 2002 grant dollars.

B. Summary of FY 2003 Achievements

As delineated in the charts located in Section II of this document, states provided access and visitation services to a record number of parents (69,500) as compared to previous years. This is particularly noteworthy since nearly half of the states received the minimum annual grant award of $100,000.

A nearly equal number of mothers (34,629) and fathers (32,936) were served resulting in an estimated 50,415 children being positively affected through their parents' participation in services provided through state-administered access and visitation programs. A recent change in the program reporting form that states are required to complete each year has enabled OCSE to capture this data on children of parents served.

Another new data element that states are required to report focuses on the number of non-custodial parents (NCPs) whose parenting time with their children increased as a result of participating in access and visitation programs. Despite the fact that this data element was introduced half way through the service period, 40 states who collected this information reported that 25,746 NCPs had their parenting time increased with their children.

State trends appear to remain constant over the years in terms of slightly higher numbers of never-married parents (22,744) participating in access and visitation services as compared to divorced (18,188) or separated (8,644) parents.

In an effort to collect new data on the extent to which married parents have a need for and/or participate in access and visitation services, the preliminary results are somewhat skewed. This finding is based on reports from states that their local providers interpreted this to mean the biological parents of children who divorced (or were never-married) and subsequently remarried others.

Overall, the majority of parents served through this program have annual incomes less than $20,000. On average, states continue to fund a range of access and visitation services although parent education, mediation, and supervised visitation ranked among the most popular.

C. Enabling Legislation

The "Grants to States for Access and Visitation" Program was authorized by Congress through passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The overall goal of the program is to:

"...enable states to establish and administer programs to support and facilitate non-custodial parents' access to and visitation of their children...".

States are directed to accomplish this goal through the provision of services including, but not limited to:

• mediation (mandatory and voluntary);
• counseling;
• education (e.g., parent education);
• development of parenting plans;
• visitation enforcement:
  • monitoring or supervised visitation
  • neutral drop-off and/or pick-up; and
• development of guidelines for visitation and alternative custody arrangements.

Important Note:

This is a formula grant program. It is up to the discretion of the state to decide on what services to provide, organizations to be funded, geographic areas to be covered, and persons to be served.

D. Annual Funding

Federal Funds: $10 million appropriated each year for OCSE's "Grants to States for Access and Visitation" Program.

Funding Formula: As stipulated via congressional legislation:

"The allotment of a state for a fiscal year is the amount that bears the same ratio to $10,000,000 for grants under this section for the fiscal year as the number of children in the state living with only 1 biological parent bears to the total number of such children in all states."

Minimum Annual State Allotment*: $100,000

* this is to ensure that states with small populations (i.e., single parent households) are guaranteed a base grant amount; those states with larger populations will be awarded an increased grant amount according to the prescribed funding formula.

Required State Match:

* States are required, by law, to provide a minimum 10% match vis-à-vis the federal grant amount. This match requirement can be met via cash and in-kind by the state and/or local grantees.

E. State Reporting Requirements

As a condition of receiving a grant, the federal law requires states to monitor, evaluate, and report on services funded through this program. This statutory requirement is satisfied through the annual submission - by states to OCSE -- of the "State Child Access Program Survey" (see APPENDIX) which includes:

1. state agency contact information;
2. services funded;
3. provider agency contact information;
4. number of parents served;
5. socio-economic and demographic information on families served; and
6. outcome data (i.e., actual increase in NCP parenting time with children).

F. Disclaimer

This Preliminary Data Report is based on reports submitted by states (which they collect from local services providers).

G. Federal Program Contact

For questions regarding OCSE's Grants to States for Access and Visitation Program, please contact:

Myles Schlank, Branch Chief
Access and Visitation Grant Program
Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement
370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW.
Washington, DC 20447

Phone: (202) 401-9329
Internet: myles.schlank@acf.hhs.gov

II. State Program Trends: Statistical Highlights (FY 2003)

Chart A: More Parents Served Each Year
Chart B: Nearly Equal Number of Mothers & Fathers Served
Chart C: States Deliver Range of Service Activities
Chart D: Parent Education Yields Highest Client Participation
Chart E: Marital Status of Parents
Chart F: Majority of Parents Served Are Low-Income
Chart G: Race/Ethnicity of Parents
Chart H: Courts the Major Source of Referral for Service
Chart I: Many States Receive the Minimum Grant of $100,000
Chart J: Outcomes: Increase in NCP Parenting Time

III. Individual State Profiles & Contact Information

Appendix: State Child Access Program Survey

Instructions
Child Access and Visitation Grant State Agency Program Survey
Child Access and Visitation Grant Local Service Provider Survey
Local Service Provider Worksheet
Summary of State-Funded Local A/V Programs