Access and Visitation Grants

What this funds

' payments to certain territories for adult-only benefits under assistance programs for aged, blind, ' temporary cash and services for repatriated U.S. citizens and dependents. The purpose of these programs is to provide funding to states to support state-administered programs of financial assistance and services for low-income families to promote child well-being and the economic security, independence, and self-sufficiency of the family. The payments to territories and repatriation programs are paid from the same appropriation as child support grants but are not administered by the In FY 2025, ACFC obligated $5.3 billion for Child Support Enforcement and Family Support Programs. ACFC estimates FY 2026 obligations will be $5.5 billion. This account is partially subjected to sequestration in accordance with the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. funding in this account is affected. Administration for Children, Families, and Communities Page 168 The Social Services Amendments of 1975 (P.L. 93-647) established the federal child support enforcement program as Part D of title IV of the Social Security Act. The program provides federal funding to states and tribes of administrative costs and incentive funding to states for meeting performance targets. The purpose of the program is to foster parental responsibility and to promote family independence and self- sufficiency and child well-being by supporting state and tribal child support agencies in providing the ' establishing and enforcing support orders; ' collecting and disbursing child support payments; and ' establishing and enforcing health care coverage. Many child support functions occur at the state, local, or tribal level. Parents may apply to their state, local, or tribal child support agency for child support enforcement services. Parents who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are automatically referred to the agency for services. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) (P.L.104-193) made major reforms to the program, including new enforcement tools to assist in the collection of child support and new requirements for state automated data processing systems. PRWORA created the capped Access and Visitation Grants program to establish and administer programs to support and facilitate noncustodial parents' access to, and visitation with, their children. Other legislation since PRWORA has changed the child support enforcement program. The Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-200) established the performance and incentive system that is currently used to award federal incentive payments to states. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) (P.L. 109-171) required states to assess a $25 user fee to families who have never received TANF when the family receives at least $500 in annual collections. The DRA encouraged states to send more child support funds to former and current welfare families rather than use those funds as cost The primary aim of the child support enforcement program has evolved from government cost recovery for families receiving government assistance to income support for families. Custodial families receiving TANF are required to assign their rights to child support to the state as a condition of receipt of assistance. However, states may choose to distribute some of these child support collections to families, in lieu of government cost recovery, by adopting a combination of state options enacted as part of the DRA and PRWORA. As of FY 2024, 27 states chose to distribute all or a portion of collections. As a result of these changes, the program distributes on average 97 percent of collections directly to children and families with the remaining funds retained by the state or federal government. In FY 2024, federal and state governments retained less than $1 billion to reimburse cash assistance costs. For families with children that have never received TANF or Foster Care maintenance payments, the program sends Administration for Children, Families, and Communities Page 169 collections directly to the custodial parents. Title IV-D child support collections in FY 2024 were $29.5 One of the primary methods of collecting child support payments is through payroll deductions, as required by the Family Support Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-485). The percentage of child support payments (e-IWO) allows families to receive child support payments more quickly. In FY 2024, 2.1 million e- The program has also become more successful in helping parents work together to support their children and ensuring that low-income noncustodial parents can secure the resources they need. State, local, and to other services, and other strategies in partnership with veterans, fatherhood, workforce, prisoner reentry, child welfare, and domestic violence programs to increase parental support. Each state and tribe manages cases and operates its own child support program in accordance with state or tribal, and federal regulations. ACFC helps state, local, and tribal child support agencies develop, manage, and operate their programs effectively and in accordance with federal law. ACFC operates the Federal Parent Locator Service, which includes the National Directory of New Hires, to assist states and localities in their efforts to locate parents, establish child support orders, and collect such support. ACFC also operates the Federal Offset and Passport Denial programs that states use to provide limited enforcement and collection services, such as federal tax refund intercepts and passport denials. Additionally, ACFC manages the U.S. Central Authority for International Child Support and is responsible for coordinating with 52 foreign countries and states to provide child support enforcement services when one parent resides outside the country. The federal government provides funding to states through a 66 percent match rate for allowable state administrative expenditures that are determined by federal statute, regulations, and policy. Federally recognized Indian tribes and Alaska Native organizations are eligible to apply for direct funding for child amount equal to 100 percent of the total approved and allowable expenditures. As of December 2025, there are 63 tribes receiving funding to operate child support programs. States also receive performance-based incentive payments. States receive these incentives (or are subject to performance penalties) based on meeting thresholds for five measures: paternity establishment, child support order establishment, current support collections, collection of arrears payments, and cost- efficiency for administering the program. The total amount of the incentive pool provided to states is fixed and based on a formula set in statute. It is estimated to be $775 million for FY 2027. States must use incentive funds for child support expenditures, but these expenditures are not eligible for the 66 Another component of ACFC's child support enforcement portfolio is the Access and Visitation Grants program authorized at $10 million a year. A designated state agency, which is usually not the state child support agency, uses these grant funds to establish and administer programs to support and facilitate noncustodial parents' access to, and visitation with, their children. The statute specifies certain activities that may be funded, which include voluntary and mandatory mediation, counseling, education, the development of parenting plans, supervised visitation, neutral drop-off and pick-up locations, and the development of guidelines for visitation and alternative custody arrangements.

Extracted from Administration for Children, Families, and Communities, p. 12. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

Ask this budget line

Answers come from the figures on this page and nothing else. These dollars are parsed from Health & Human Services's Congressional Justification and are approximate — confirm anything that matters against the cited page.