Child Support Pass-Through and Disregard Policies for Public Assistance Recipients

Under federal law, families receiving public assistance, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), must cooperate with child support establishment and enforcement efforts.

In addition, TANF recipients must assign their rights to child support payments to the state. When a state collects child support on behalf of a TANF recipient, the state is permitted to keep the money to reimburse itself and the federal government for TANF assistance. States, however, have the option of allowing some of the child support payment to be passed through to the parent and child and disregarded when determining TANF assistance, meaning the amount would not be considered income for purposes of determining TANF eligibility.

Half of states have chosen various ways of passing through child support without reducing the family’s TANF assistance. Some states pass through up to $50. In others, the pass-through is $100-$200 based on the number of children. In 2014, states distributed more than $118 million dollars in child support payments to families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Washington is the most recent state to implement child support pass-through payments, passing Senate Bill 5144 in 2020. That legislation requires that the first $50 of child support received each month for a family with one child and the first $100 of child support received each month for a family with two or more children pass through to a family seeking public assistance. This bill becomes effective June 11, 2020.

Colorado is the first state to enact a full pass-through and disregard policy, meaning that 100% of the child support collected on behalf of TANF recipients is passed through to the family and disregarded for purposes of TANF eligibility. Since passage of that legislation in 2015, the Colorado Department of Human Services has been evaluating the program and recently released a one-page overview of the initial findings as well as a recorded presentation. Colorado House Bill 1100, sent to the governor on March 23, 2020, ensures child support payments are not passed through to temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) recipients if the general assembly does not appropriate an amount of money that is at least 90% of the total county share of collections passed through to the custodial party after the full federal share is paid.

Below is a chart of 52 states and territories and whether they have a pass-through and disregard policy, the amount of the pass-through and the statutory or code citation.

 

State Pass-Through and Disregard Policies

State	Pass-Through	Is that amount disregarded?	Statute
Alabama	No	No
Alaska	Yes, $50	Yes	Alaska Stat. § 47.27.040
Arizona	No	No
Arkansas	No	No
California	Yes, $50	Yes	Cal. Fam. Code § 17504
Colorado	Yes, All1	Yes	2015 SB 12; 2020 HB 1100
Connecticut	Yes, $50	Yes	Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-112(d)
Delaware	Yes, $50	Yes	Del. Admin. Code tit. 16, §5100-3005
District of Columbia	Yes, $150	Yes	D.C. Stat. § 4-205.19
Florida	No	No
Georgia	Yes, up to unmet need for purposes of fill-the-gap budgeting2	Yes
Guam	No	No
Hawaii	No	No
Idaho	No	No
Illinois	Yes, $100 for one child/$200 for two or more children	Yes	2015-2016 SB 2340; Ill. Rev. Stat. ch. 305 § 5/4-1.6
Indiana	No	No
Iowa	No	No
Kansas	No	No
Kentucky	No	No
Louisiana	No	No
Maine	Yes, $50	Yes	Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 3762
Maryland	Yes	Yes, $100 for one child, $200 for two or more children	Md. Hum. Serv. Code § 5-3109; 2017 HB 1469/SB1009
Massachusetts	Yes, $50	Yes	106 Mass. Code Regs. 705.900
Michigan	No3	No
Minnesota	Yes, Full4	Yes, $100 for one child, $200 for two or more children	Minn. Stat. § 256.741; Minn. Stat. §256J.21
Mississippi	No	No
Missouri	No	No
Montana	Yes, $1005	Yes	Mont. Code Ann. § 53-4-260
Nebraska	No	No
Nevada	No	No
New Hampshire	No	No
New Jersey	Yes, $100	Yes	N.J. Stat. Ann. § 44:10-49
New Mexico	Yes, Up to $100 for one child/$200 for two or more children if funds allow	Yes	N.M. Stat. Ann. § 27-2B-7
New York	Yes, Up to $100 for one child/$200 for two or more children	Yes	N.Y. Social Services Law § 111-c(d)
North Carolina	No	No
North Dakota	No	No
Ohio	No	No
Oklahoma	No	No
Oregon	Yes , $50 per child, per month, up to $200 per family	Yes	Or. Rev. Stat. § 412.009(3)
Pennsylvania	Yes, $100 for one child, $200 for two or more children	Yes	Pa. Cons. Stat. tit. 23 § 4374[c]
Puerto Rico	Yes, $50	Yes
Rhode Island	Yes, $50	Yes	R.I. Gen Laws § 40-5.2-35
South Carolina	Yes, up to unmet need for purposes of fill-the-gap budgeting6	Yes
South Dakota	No	No
Tennessee	Yes, up to unmet need7	Yes	Tenn. Code Ann. § 71-3-108(e)
Texas	Yes, $75	Yes	Tex. Admin. Code tit. 1, § 372.753
Utah	No	No
Vermont	Yes, $50	Yes	Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 1105
Virginia	Yes, Up to $100	Yes
Virgin Islands	No	No
Washington	Yes8, Up to $50 for one child/$100 for two or more children	Yes	2019 SB 5144; Wash. Rev. Code § 26.23.035
West Virginia	Yes, Up to $100 for one child/$200 for two or more children	Yes	2018 State TANF Plan
Wisconsin	Yes, 75%	Yes	Wis. Stat. Ann. § 49.145(2)(s)
Wyoming	No	No

 

¹ Colorado Enacted Senate Bill 12 during the 2015 legislative session, making the pass-through effective as of January 1, 2017. House Bill 1100 was passed by the legislature and sent to the governor on March 23, 2020 which ensures child support payments are not passed through to temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) recipients if the general assembly does not appropriate an amount of money that is at least 90% of the total county share of collections passed through to the custodial party after the full federal share is paid.

² Georgia is a fill-the-gap state meaning that the amount of child support distributed to the family is equal to the difference between the maximum eligibility standard and the recipient’s income; essentially to fill the gap between income and need. The countable income and TANF payment amount are added together and subtracted from the standard of need amount. The difference is filled by child support up to 100% of the current support amount. 

³ Michigan discontinued implementing its $50 pass through and disregard statute effective 10/1/2011 due to budgetary constraints.

⁴Minnesota passed 2015 SB 1458, creating a disregard of $100 for one child or $200 for two or more children. For more about the full pass-through, click here.

⁵ Montana’s pass-through is considered a $100 addition to the recipient’s TANF payment, not as a separate payment.

⁶ South Carolina statute (S.C. Code Ann. § 43-5-222) indicates that there is a $75 pass-through.

⁷ Tennessee is a fill-the-gap state meaning that the countable income and TANF payment amount will be added together and subtracted from the standard of need amount. The difference will be filled by child support up to 100% of the current support amount.

⁸ Effective June 11, 2020

About This NCSL Project

NCSL staff in D.C. and Denver can provide comprehensive, thorough, and timely information on critical child support policy issues. We provide services to legislators and staff working to improve state policies affecting children and their families. NCSL's online clearinghouse for state legislators includes resources on child support policy, financing, laws, research and promising practices. Technical assistance visits to states are available to any state legislature that would like training or assistance related to this topic.

The Denver-based child support project staff focuses on state policy, tracking legislation and providing research and policy analysis, consultation, and technical assistance specifically geared to the legislative audience. Denver staff can be reached at (303) 364-7700 or cyf-info@ncsl.org.

NCSL staff in Washington, D.C. track and analyze federal legislation and policy and represent state legislatures on child support issues before Congress and the Administration. Staff in D.C. can be reached at (202) 624-5400 or cyf-info@ncsl.org.

The child support project and D.C. human services staff receive guidance and support from NCSL's Standing Committee on Health & Human Services.

Additional Resources

• Child Support and Family Law
• Child Suport Homepage