By Meghan McCann

Each year, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) releases a report detailing information about financial and statistical program achievement, compiled from status reports submitted by states and tribes.

The FY2013 report was recently released and, just as we did for 2012 and 2011, NCSL’s Child Support Project has a brief snapshot available for your review.

During FY 2013, total child support collections increased by 1 percent to $31.9 billion. The amount distributed to children and families increased by 1.7 percent over FY 2012. Nearly 95 percent of the amount collected was distributed to the family while just 5 percent was retained by the state as reimbursement for public assistance. At the same time, caseloads and administrative expenditures decreased. In addition, child support programs remain cost effective as $5.31 was collected for every $1 spent on the child support program, an increase over 2012.

Visit NCSL’s 2013 State by State Data on Child Support Collections for a brief snapshot of the FY 2013 report, including a table detailing total distributed collections, total amount of arrearages, total amount of current support due, total caseload, and total administrative expenditures by state, territory, or district.

The complete OCSE FY2013 Preliminary Report is also available online.

Also visit NCSL’s Child Support homepage for more information about child support and family law.

Meghan McCann is a policy associate with NCSL’s Children and Families Program.

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