Intended Date of Award

2017

Degree Name

Doctorate in Public Administration (DPA)

Chair

Carol Becker

Vice-Chair

Kris Norman Major

Committee Member

Kris Norman Major

Second Committee Member

Roger Skophammer

Abstract

Families experiencing out-of-home placement (OHP) are in crisis. The fact that a child has been removed from the home means the family has become involved with the child welfare or juvenile justice system. Families that experience OHP are disproportionately poor, and the reasons for OHP often stem from poverty. Because OHP is expensive, and society values parental responsibility, federal and state laws require that parents be referred to the child support system to help offset the cost of OHP through child support collections. This study explores practices around OHP cases in the child support system and adds to the small amount of existing research in this area. Specifically, the study looks at case data from the Minnesota child support program that compares the cost of collections to actual collections to determine the cost effectiveness of current practice. This study also reviews a random sample of cases, gathering data on the income of parents involved and the productivity of the work completed by the child support agency. The final focus of this study is to highlight inconsistent practices employed by child support agencies as well as the complexities of the cases in the random sample. The findings will help educate and inform policy makers about the challenges of current policy and help to establish uniformity and procedures that consider the best interests of the children involved.

dc_type

text

dc_publisher

DigitalCommons@Hamline

dc_format

application/pdf

dc_source

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

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