What is the role of the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement?
What is the role of the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement?
Final
Issued by: Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Issue Date: February 03, 2017
What is the role of the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement?
Answer
The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) works with states, tribes, local offices, employers, nonprofit groups, other federal offices, and other governments to secure financial support for children.
The role of OCSE is to:
- Help state and tribal child support programs follow federal law
- Provide technical assistance and training in using tools to
- Locate parents
- Establish parentage
- Set child support orders
- Collect payments
- Assess how well states and tribes are processing cases and collecting payments
- Answer public inquiries
- Provide outreach materials for parents, child support professionals, and employers
- Gather and share information about promising practices in child support
- Fund grant opportunities for research in program improvement
- Serve as the central authority for international child support cases
States have varying guidelines on some aspects of child support, but federal law outlines certain standards for all states, like mandatory medical support for children and income withholding for noncustodial parents.
OCSE does not have direct access to case information and it does not collect payments directly from parents.
HHS is committed to making its websites and documents accessible to the widest possible audience, including individuals with disabilities. We are in the process of retroactively making some documents accessible. If you need assistance accessing an accessible version of this document, please reach out to the guidance@hhs.gov.
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this database lack the force and effect of law, except as authorized by law (including Medicare Advantage Rate Announcements and Advance Notices) or as specifically incorporated into a contract. The Department may not cite, use, or rely on any guidance that is not posted on the guidance repository, except to establish historical facts.