Giving Noncustodial Parents Options: Employment and Child Support Outcomes of the SHARE Program

Focuses on the Support Has A Rewarding Effect (SHARE) initiative operated with Welfare-to-Work grant support in the state of Washington. SHARE offered three options to noncustodial parents whose minor dependent children were receiving TANF and who were behind on their support obligations: (1) start paying support; (2) enroll in a Welfare-to-Work program; or (3) face possible incarceration. The study found that noncustodial parents are a hard-to-reach population; slightly fewer than half of those referred ever learned about SHARE. However, referred parents worked more, earned more, and paid more child support after referral to SHARE than before. The researchers observed improvements in outcomes both for noncustodial parents who participated in SHARE and for those who did not. They conclude that SHARE probably contributed to observed increases in employment, earnings, and child support payments.