State Senator Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, Monday announced the “Child Support Reform Act,” which seeks to ensure that low-income families receive all the child support payments to which they are entitled.
The act, Senate Bill 337, would overturn a decades-old law under which child-support payments meant for families who receive CalWORKs benefits go to the state rather than to the families and children who need it most.
“The Child Support Reform Act will right a historic wrong,” Sen. Skinner said. “Last year, more than 1.2 million California children living in or near poverty did not receive the full child support payments made by their parents. California must stop taking the lion’s share of support payments that rightfully belong to families and kids.”
“Most people don’t realize that when a child support payment is made to a low-income child, all but $50 of it goes to the state,” said Jessica Bartholow of the Western Center on Law and Poverty, which is co-sponsoring SB 337. “This doesn’t support the child, and it doesn’t help our child poverty rate. What’s more, it discourages parents from making payments at all.”
