State Child Support Laws: Compliance with the 1984 Federal Amendments

To inform states regarding their compliance with practices mandated by the Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984, this document provides a state by state analysis of the effects of the amendment on state child support laws. Information for each state is divided into two sections. The first section lists state laws that contain many or all of the features required by the federal legislation. These laws include both those enforcement tools requiring legislation and those that may be accomplished without legislation. The second section presents areas of law that may be reviewed for statutory changes, and includes only those mandatory practices requiring legislation. Optional provisions of the amendments which states may wish to add to their programs to increase their effectiveness are listed in Appendix A. A list of states' complete statutory code citations is provided in Appendix B. Appendix C announces the availability of special funds for on-site technical assistance to aid state legislators working to improve their state's support enforcement programs. (RH)