Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project

August 2013 Updated August 2015

Jessica Pearson, Ph.D. Rasa Kaunelis, M.A.

1570 Emerson St Denver, CO 80218

Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

Description: The Contractor shall prepare and present a briefing for OCSE leadership and staff and other This is the policy memo prepared by the Center for federal officials reporting the outcomes of this Policy Research under Contract No. project, as summarized in the final report and GS10F04165/HHSSP233201100400G with the policy memo. This briefing shall take place at Office of Child Support Enforcement, U.S. OCSE offices in Washington, D.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The report and briefing presents the views and Under the contract, the Contractor shall prepare a opinions of the Contractors and does not policy memo to the COTR describing the policy necessarily represent the views, positions, nor implications gleaned from this study, identifying policies of the Department of Health and Human implementation questions and alternatives related to the FY2012 legislative proposal, analyzing current Services or its agencies. practices in family violence safeguards, and providing expertise on next steps for identifying and developing family violence safeguards that need to be included in processes to establish parenting time orders. If requested by the COTR, the Contractor shall revise the memo until it is approved as final. The target audience for this memo is federal policy makers, particularly OCSE staff and leadership.

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Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

In September 2014, Congress enacted the Preventing  Research shows that the receipt of child support Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, is extremely beneficial for children in single- which includes a Sense of Congress Provision parent homes; and (Section 303) that establishes the incorporation of  Research shows that absent intimate partner parenting time with strong family violence safeguards violence (IPV), father-child in new child support orders as an “important goal.” contact is beneficial to “It’s hard to imagine This represents a more modest version of the Obama child well-being. not addressing administration’s 2012-2015 budget proposals, the There is also strong evidence parenting time. You most recent of which called for an allocation of $448 that IPV is particularly high for have these young million over 10 years to require all “states to establish low-income populations, many couples who come in access and visitation responsibilities in all initial child of whom are likely to be among and they are support orders, just as custody arrangements are the unmarried parents served concerned with all of typically settled at the same time divorces are by the child support agency and the small details and finalized.” Unlike the Obama budget proposal, couples who have experienced they have no parenting Public Law 113-183 keeps the establishment of IPV require individualistic plan in place. They parenting time a voluntary activity with no new approaches to developing safe need a structured funding but urges states to coordinate with their State parenting plans. As a result, the parenting plan where Access and Visitation (AV) grant programs and use president’s budget initiative parenting time is child support incentive funds among other existing also mandates that states outlined, not where it resources. implement IPV safeguards as just says reasonable.

they address parenting time. The details need to be Both the new law and President Obama’s budget spelled out.” proposals reflect the fact that parents of children OCSE has funded some born out of wedlock typically receive child support demonstration and evaluation – Supervised Parenting orders that do not simultaneously address parenting projects and grants in the area Time Provider, of parenting, and some states Oakland County, time. As a result, unwed parents with child support Michigan use funding available through cases in most states must pursue a separate legal action, often in a different court, and pay a substantial the State Access and Visitation filing fee to receive parenting time with their children. (AV) Program to support parenting time services for unmarried parents in the Although child support and parenting time are legally child support program. However, only a handful of distinct issues, they are practically connected: jurisdictions have mechanisms to incorporate  Thirty-six states have child support guidelines parenting time agreements into initial child support that consider the amount of time that a child orders routinely, and most of these programs have spends with the noncustodial parent in the been small-scale rather than large, statewide calculation of a child support order level; initiatives. To generate more informed activity in this  Research shows that parents with legal visitation area, OCSE contracted with the Center for Policy pay more support, as do those who get help Research (CPR) of Denver, Colorado, to conduct the establishing parenting time orders and addressing Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders their visitation problems; project. The purpose of the project was to:

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Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

 Synthesize relevant research on access and With input from OCSE, CPR conducted site visits to visitation, family violence, and child support; five jurisdictions that address the establishment of  Identify and describe promising state access and parenting time using different approaches. Each two- visitation practices that have the potential to day site visit involved interviews and focus groups serve as alternative models for establishing with a wide range of child support, parenting time, parenting time orders for the child support and domestic violence professionals. Site visits were population; conducted in:  Document how family violence safeguards are addressed in alternative approaches; and  The State of Texas;  Convene experts in domestic violence, child  The State of Oregon; support, and parenting time to discuss family  Cuyahoga County, Ohio; violence safeguards, screening models, and other  Oakland County, Michigan; and ways to keep parents and children safe while  DuPage County, Illinois. developing parenting plans for the child support The following highlights the approaches that these population. jurisdictions use to establish parenting time in new To identify ways child support agencies incorporate child support orders and address IPV. parenting time agreements into initial child support order, CPR pursued the following strategies: Standard Parenting Time Presumption Standard visitation presumptions are used in Texas  Telephone conversations with administrators of and some Michigan counties. Standard visitation State Access and Visitation Grant Programs; presumptions provide a predictable baseline for  Review of child support websites for 20 states parenting time, much like child support guidelines provide a predictable baseline for calculating child “Addressing parenting time is critical. The support, with the standard plan spelling out how the noncustodial parent is more likely to pay child child’s time will be divided between each parent support if he sees his children. Paying child during regular, vacation, and holiday time periods. support creates other positive outcomes, such as They are used automatically in the absence of an improved emotional outcomes for children.” alternative plan developed by the parents or the – Director of the Fatherhood Initiative, court. Cuyahoga County, Ohio The benefits of implementing standard visitation presumptions are that they:

and jurisdictions for mention of parenting time  May be implemented at the state level with or visitation; and legislation (as in Texas) or the local/county level  Solicitation of site examples and with a local rule (similar to the counties in recommendations at a session that CPR Michigan). organized on parenting time in child support  Assist a large number of families with virtually no cases at the Mid-Year Policy Forum for the cost or delay. In Texas, standard visitation plans National Child Support Enforcement are used in most of the 60,000 new child support Association on February 10, 2012. orders established by the Office of Attorney

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Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

General (OAG) and many of the  Challenges to ensuring that victims 40,000 divorce decrees issued by the of IPV are able to make well-informed court each year. “There are issues with decisions about disclosure and receive addressing parenting  Do not require parents to pursue a safe parenting time orders. . time in court and child separate legal action or pay a filing support offices, but States and counties that use standard fee, because the visitation provision is [having parents] coming parenting time presumptions typically part of the child support order. up with informal approach IPV by informing parents  Are not perceived by judges to add to arrangements at home about IPV at multiple points of their work. on their own is worse.” application and case processing and  Give parents a useful blueprint for – Domestic Violence providing parents with multiple parenting time versus having to Advocate in Texas opportunities to disclose safety develop a visitation agreement from concerns. In some jurisdictions the scratch. standard order presumption is rebutted by IPV  Establish regular contact with both parents as the disclosure and the court must address safety concerns norm. in a parenting time order or may deny parenting time  Do not interfere with parents’ regular, agreed to the alleged batterer. upon parenting time arrangement unless there is a disagreement. Some key considerations about using universal  Help noncustodial parents feel as though child notification procedures and inviting parents to support cares about their rights and something disclose IPV in the course of developing parenting other than money. plans include:  Can include safety informed parenting  Universal notification, with multiple arrangements and enhance safety by spelling out opportunities to disclose visitation expectations and not leaving it up to is considered the only “The standard the parties to figure it out informally on their realistic way to provide possession order is a own, with the possibility of a batterer dictating protections to survivors good starting place. the terms. of IPV in parenting time The families that get The main limitations of standard parenting time programs that are very along do what they want, but it helps presumptions are: large scale, brief, and/or them plan. For are supplemented by  The potential for it to be a one-size-fits-all people who don’t get self-help approaches. approach if parents do not receive adequate along, it sets rules and  There is little research information about and opportunities to request gets the stress out of on the relative the situation. It is one alternatives to the standard order. effectiveness of using less fight …. It is  There is a lack of a routine enforcement universal notification for whatever you agree mechanism. detecting IPV. to, but failing  Some jurisdictions that handle child support agreement, this is  Universal notification orders in a purely administrative fashion might what it is going to approaches are most not have the authority to include a visitation be.” effective when staff schedule as part of the child support order under members in the child – Judge in Texas their current statutes or court rules.

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Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

support agency and the court are trained about hours of IPV legal practice training for all child IPV and given clear policy and administrative support attorneys. guidance to provide safety informed responses. In families with IPV, child support staff members, Self-Help Resources attorneys, and judges can work with parents to create Some jurisdictions have developed self-help a safety-focused parenting time plan. Safety resources that parents may access on their own to measures that may be included in the parenting plan assist them with the development of parenting time are the gradual introduction of parent into life of plans. Oregon has developed fill-in-the-blank child (i.e., begin with supervised visits, then slowly parenting plans that are available online and can be build to non-supervised visits, and eventually involve downloaded, completed, and filed with the court along with required legal forms. To make them more “Screening for lethality is complicated and not accessible and user friendly, they will soon be turned feasible in our system. We would rather create into an interactive format similar to TurboTax. spaces for people to disclose. Create a place Oregon offers parents templates for numerous plan where it is safe and relevant to disclose. We options including basic schedules for children in don’t want child support staff to focus on doing a risk assessment or to label people. We various age ranges and three levels of safety-focused are not about labeling. We have been pushing plans: no solo time with the other parent, limited for universal information in all systems. There unsupervised time with no overnights, and overnight is no foolproof screening tool.” parenting time with public exchanges. Texas offers

– Domestic Violence Advocate parents a statewide telephone hotline on access and in Texas on IPV screening visitation that is staffed by attorneys who offer callers Oregon’s online information and guidance in a parenting plans are “a overnights with the noncustodial parent), supervised general, anonymous fashion. great tool and resource exchanges or public exchanges to avoid parent for ideas to develop a interaction, supervised visits, abstention from Sites may want to use self-help parenting plan, alcohol and controlled substances by the visiting resources because they: especially for those who don’t know where to parent, participation in a battering intervention and  Serve large numbers of start and all of the prevention program, and no contact with the child. parents with minimal cost issues that they need to and delay to the child think of.” Jurisdictions can strengthen their approach to IPV by partnering with a domestic violence advocacy support system and the – Family Court organizations. For example, the Texas Office of the courts. Self-help initiatives Staff Member, Attorney General contracts with the Texas Council require low staffing levels Multnomah County on Family Violence (TCFV) to review its policies and at both the initial and procedures so that that they address family violence, ongoing stages. assist with developing online and printed materials  Produce detailed and customized parenting plans for parents dealing with IPV, and help to create and because parents work through the schedule and implement a mandatory four-hour interactive complete the plan on their own with some training curriculum on family violence for all child guidance. support staff, mandatory refresher training, and 7

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Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

The drawbacks to relying on these approaches to address “I have never seen a parenting time are endemic parent come in with Mediation and Facilitation to all self-help interventions: one of the online A few sites—such as DuPage County, Illinois;  Low usage rates. Parents parenting plans.” Oakland County, Michigan; Cuyahoga County, Ohio; must access and use – Veteran Oregon and various counties in Colorado—offer neutral, these resources on their Child Support Worker third-party assistance to help never-married parents own and few actually do. in the child support program create parenting plans.  States or local These facilitators and mediators can be based at the jurisdictions must outreach to parents about court, the child support agency, or at a community- these services so that they know they are based organization. available.  Self-help resources can be complex and turning Some benefits of mediation or facilitation include: them into court orders involves extra paperwork  Plans are customized to each family’s situation. and filing fees. Because these interventions are Mediators and facilitators sit down with the designed to be comprehensive and parents and try to develop a plan that works for individualized, they can be lengthy and their family. complicated and typically require parents to go  Parents understand plans better with a third- online and download and manipulate parenting party explanation. Ambiguities that might be the plans or other forms that they must complete and source of future problems can be identified and file with the court on their own. corrected before the plan goes into effect. The Parents must self-identify any issues with IPV and mediator can also help to independently choose to take advantage of safety- ensure that both parents focused plans or enhancements. It is assumed that have a common “This is a chance for the parents to work parents with IPV issues will select the safety-focused understanding of the terms together and go tools or opt not to develop a parenting plan of the agreement. through the process of altogether. No one at the court or the child support  Most parents who attempt working through an agency checks to make sure that parents select an mediation/facilitations are issue together. “appropriate” plan. If parents want a parenting plan, successful in producing a Hopefully they can they must choose a suitable plan with either regular parenting plan, with take what they learn in mediation and apply it parent/child access or a plan that calls for heightened agreement rates from 69 to to the next time they attention to safety. On their own, they must pursue a 81 percent and many have a disagreement legal filing (and pay a filing fee) to obtain a legally reaching agreement in a about parenting.” enforceable parenting time order. As with all safety- single, brief session. – DuPage County, focused plans, parents may face challenges is trying  Parenting plans developed Illinois Mediator to find and use supervised visitation and/or through mediation or supervised exchange services that are affordable and facilitation result in greater accessible. levels of parent-child contact and increased rates of child support payments.

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Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

 Depending on the jurisdiction, the parenting plan under-funded, which are impediments to adding can be combined with and responsibly serving a large, new population, the child support order “Even though we spend namely never-married parents in the child and filed without a time on parenting plans, support program. separate filing fee. I think we save time on the child support side.” To address IPV, mediators and facilitators actively Alternatively, it requires screen for safety and IPV in every case. Before a separate motion for – Friend of the Court bringing parents together, mediators meet with each visitation and a filing Referee, Oakland County, Michigan parent individually to discuss safety and determine fee. whether to move forward with mediation. If there is a safety concern, the mediators may proceed and The shortcomings of using mediation or facilitation mediate the case with attention to safety. Mediating include: with safety may include conducting the mediation  Mediation and facilitation can be expensive, with the parents in separate rooms or using ranging from $400 to $580 per case in DuPage telephonic methods. In all cases, the mediators are County, Illinois and Missouri. However, there are continually observing how the parents work together ways to reduce the cost, such as leveraging new and looking for power imbalances or intimidation by initiatives to serve the child support population one parent. Mediators can stop the session at any with the Access and Visitation Grant Programs, time if it appears that either parent is trying to using contract mediators who do the mediations intimidate the other. Because mediation is a voluntary at either the court or child support offices to process for both parents, a survivor of IPV can reduce overhead, or using trained facilitators choose not to mediate and/or not to reach an rather than mediators. agreement about visitation.  The identification of parents who want and need Mediated or facilitated parenting plans can also take parenting time help can be challenging. The safety into account. They can include provisions for number of parents referred to mediation often supervised visits, neutral exchanges, and/or step depends on the vigilance of child support visitation plans (i.e., start with limited, supervised workers, child support attorneys, and judges, visits, move towards unsupervised visits, and most of whom work in a culture that prohibits gradually introduce overnight visits). In DuPage addressing visitation and treats time spent on County, the Family Center may administer access as an unallowable expense. breathalyzer tests before and after parenting time, per  Some parents do not follow through if they are court order. referred to mediation or refuse to participate, with some studies showing that this is the case As with all court populations, some considerations of for approximately a third of custodial and screening for IPV and conducting a mediation or noncustodial parents, respectively. facilitation with attention to safety for child support  Mediation can become a lengthy process, and clients include: some parents do not return for subsequent sessions.  A survivor of IPV can choose not to mediate or  Existing court and community-based mediation they can mediate and choose not to reach an programs are typically over-subscribed and agreement.

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Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

 Mediated or facilitated parenting plans can also court and child support agency settings, take safety into account through the use of especially with large numbers of clients, and supervised visits, neutral exchanges, and step long-term outcomes have not been examined. visitation plans. However, there is no systematic research that examines the long-term impact of Comprehensive Services various parenting time arrangements on victim To date, there have been very few attempts at safety and other parenting outcomes. Nor has offering comprehensive parenting time services to research examined parent-child contact patterns parents. One example of this approach is the and safety outcomes for never-married parents Hennepin County, Minnesota Co-Parent Court who lack any parenting time plan. which offered comprehensive services to never-  Supervised visitation and neutral exchange married parents who had a court case dealing with services may require a court order to activate and child support and paternity establishment. The can be expensive, unavailable or inaccessible in intervention included a four-session parent education many geographical settings, require trips back to course, intensive case management, referrals to a court to modify or suspend the order, and do not wide array of service providers (including domestic protect against all types of IPV (e.g., emotional violence resources), help with employment, and abuse and control issues). mediated parenting plans. This is a very expensive  Screening for IPV is complicated. Programs approach that was begun in Hennepin County on a must make numerous decisions including how a pilot basis with foundation and federal support. screening will be administered (e.g., a written self- Although it was supported by Hennepin County after administered screening or a staff member asking grant funding ended, it was subsequently dropped parents questions), what types of IPV to ask due to underutilization when participation was made about (e.g., emotional or physical abuse), and totally voluntary. Genesee County, Michigan, also what time period to cover (e.g., the entire length received funding from OCSE and conducted a of a relationship versus the past year). demonstration project that involved creating a  The screening process is far from perfect. There detailed parenting time plan as soon as the child are few practical instruments available for use in support order was developed, in combination with offering families job training, parenting skills “Specify the exact times and dates, offer development, drug treatment, GED, and other repercussions if the orders are not followed, and proactive services in paternity and new child support enforce these repercussions. You can also arrange parenting time so that parents never have to meet, do cases. drop offs and pick-ups at school. You can structure your orders in ways that mitigate the risks. In a Benefits to offering these types of services to parents domestic violence case, you never ever do a include: reasonable order. You need it to be specific. The court needs to dictate what the order should be  Comprehensive programs enjoy high levels of otherwise the batterer will dictate it.” user satisfaction.

– State of Michigan  Comprehensive programs emphasize co- Domestic Violence Advocate parenting and engaging both parents in raising their children in a cooperative manner, typically

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Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

with a parent education component that focuses on co-parenting and establishing a working “The Chance to Take Charge of Your relationship with the other parent. Family’s Future. Put your voice in action and  Holistic programs are effective in producing have a say when it comes to parenting time, parenting plans. In the Co-Parent Court, two- custody issues, and child support. Co-Parent thirds of those that try to create a parenting plan Court will help you work with the other parent in a way that puts the focus on your child. You can are able to reach an agreement. create a parenting plan that is individualized for  Once enrolled, many parents participate in multi- your family with more support and less conflict session service program for an extended period than the traditional court process. of time and complete the proscribed treatment menu. The Tools for Success Co-Parenting. Children  Many parents in comprehensive services do best when their parents work together. Co- program rate the assistance with parenting time Parent Court will help each parent understand the important roles both mothers and fathers play in as the most useful service that they received the life of a child. Co-Parent Court will help you The challenges to offering comprehensive services to create the right parenting plan for your family.” parents include: – Hennepin County, Minnesota Co-Parenting Court Brochure  Comprehensive, multi-service programs are costly, serve only a few families, and rely heavily on short-term grant funding.  Comprehensive multi-session programs experience challenges recruiting parents who are Policy Implications willing to enroll and high levels of upfront  Unmarried parents in the child support system attrition, especially when participation is totally need help with parenting time. In most voluntary. jurisdictions, these parents do not get assistance  A holistic program must build a strong network developing parenting plans on a routine basis. of community-based referrals so that parents can  In the absence of IPV, parenting time is an receive needed assistance. important benefit for unmarried parents and children in the child support system. Programs offering comprehensive services to parents  Failing to address parenting time may present often use intensive screening and assessment tools opportunities for parental conflict and IPV since for all types of problems and safety needs, including it means that parenting time may be negotiated intimate partner violence. They often have a strong by parents on the doorstep without any third- network of partners to whom they can refer IPV party oversight or legal protections. . survivors. To date, 5 percent of enrollees in the  Every approach to establishing parenting time Hennepin County Co-Parent Court have been has its strengths and limitations and risks for referred to domestic violence services. The Genesee IPV. Jurisdictions need to be exposed to and County project screened for domestic violence and educated on different strategies and resources so would not serve families where there was a history or that they can make their own decisions based on indication of IPV.

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Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

their parenting time resources and child support system. More guidance on how to address IPV in family  Strong, ongoing partnerships with IPV experts law interventions comes from a number of and community IPV programs is a critical conferences and meetings that have brought together leaders, advocates, and researchers: requirement for developing sound parenting time policies and programs. Other needed IPV • Reaching Common Ground, led by the interventions include communicating with National Women’s Law Center and the parents about IPV, training child support Center on Fathers, Families and Public Policy in 1999; professionals and court personnel, and • The Wingspread Conference on Domestic developing relevant services and training Violence and the Family Courts, a 2007  Parenting time interventions for unmarried initiative led by the National Council of parents in the child support system should be Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the coordinated with existing AV grant funds and Association of Family and Conciliation programs to leverage the resources of both and Courts; to comply with the Sense of Congress provision • Building Bridges, a 2005 conference led by in the 2014 Preventing Sex Trafficking and the National Healthy Marriage Resource Strengthening Families Act. Center (NHMRC) and the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence  Child support agencies, courts, and parenting (NRCDV); and time services all need to be better resourced to • Toward a Common Understanding, a 2009 address the parenting time needs of the child conference sponsored by the NHMRC and support population in a responsible manner. NRCDV.  Any discussion of parenting time policy should consider a broad range of issues including with parenting time orders. This may include accessibility to the unmarried child support comparing those with and without parenting population, ease of use, understandability, cost, time plans, those with and without IPV histories, time factors, as well as IPV. and those who used different approaches to establish parenting time.  Technical assistance should be provided to Recommended Next Steps interested states and local jurisdictions to help  The results of the Parenting Time Orders Project them develop responsive approaches to and the approaches identified in the study should parenting time for unmarried parents. The be widely disseminated to child support technical assistance may include identifying and audiences and practitioners and policy makers convening relevant partners; engaging service that specialize in family courts, IPV, parenting providers and experts on IPV, fatherhood, and time, fatherhood, and the support of low-income family law; exploring alternative parenting time families. This should include articles in relevant approaches; creating needed materials; and publications, presentations at relevant exploring funding opportunities. conferences, and providing links to the project  States and local jurisdictions should examine publications on relevant websites. their AV grant programs to determine how they  New research should be conducted on the might facilitate the establishment of parenting longer-term experiences of unmarried families time in new child support orders, a

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Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project Policy Brief: Child Support, Parenting Time, and Safety Concerns

Congressional aspiration that is articulated in the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act.  Opportunities should be explored to build on existing research and demonstration projects funded by OCSE (e.g., CSPED and PTOC) in order to generate cross-site information on parenting time approaches; levels of use by child support families; and outcomes dealing with IPV, parent-child contact, child support payment, and user satisfaction.

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