Proposals for increasing fathers’ involvement with their children were discussed during a July 25 hearing of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy. The hearing marked the first Senate activity on an issue that has received considerable attention in the House during the 106th Congress.
The House last fall approved a bill (H.R. 3073) related to fatherhood (see The Source, 11/12/99). Sponsored by Reps. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), H.R. 3073 also was included in a child support reform measure (H.R. 4678) recently passed by the House (see The Source, 7/21/00).
Sens. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Evan Bayh (D-IN) offered testimony as the cosponsors of a measure (S. 1364) designed to increase fathers’ participation and help them to earn better incomes.
Sen. Domenici told the subcommittee, “Nearly 25 million children, or 36 percent of all kids, live without their biological fathers; since 1960, the number of children living without their father has jumped from 5 million to 17 million. Additionally, about 40 percent of these children have not seen their fathers in the last year.” He added, “I cannot think of two more important goals facing our nation than the dual goal of promoting marriage and responsible fatherhood.”
Calling single mothers “heroic,” Sen. Bayh said that S. 1364 would “help women across America by helping more men fulfill their obligations as parents.” He stated that “the breakdown of the American family can be traced to father absence,” adding: “It is an unfortunate and accurate predictor for problems down the road.”
S. 1364 and H.R. 3073 have similar goals, but their provisions differ in several respects. Both bills would authorize grants for government and private programs, including those run by faith-based organizations, that emphasize fatherhood. S. 1364 would allocate half of its block grant to programs that encourage low-income parents to marry and provide relationship counseling for those who are married. The other half of the block grant would be allocated to programs assisting families regardless of income level or marital status. In contrast, all of H.R. 3073’s block grant would go to programs focused on marriage for low-income parents.
While the Senate bill would provide the money directly to states through a funding formula, the House measure would have the Department of Health and Human Services administer the grants.
States would be allowed to distribute block grant funds to faith-based organizations under S. 1364, although there is no specific language pertaining to the distribution of grants. In contrast, H.R. 3073 would require that nongovernmental community-based organizations make up 75 percent of grant recipients, with faith-based organizations eligible for those funds.
S. 1364 would provide additional grants for states to conduct media campaigns highlighting father involvement, while H.R. 3073 does not include such a provision.
Both bills contain provisions related to the “pass through” of child support payments. Most child support cases involve a court order outlining support obligations. Under current law, support is collected in those cases by state governments, with some federal funding assistance. Rather than being passed through to the custodial parent, some of the funds are kept by the state to help pay administrative costs. If the custodial parent is receiving welfare benefits, the entire child support payment is kept by the state to help offset the cost of the welfare benefits.
Under S. 1364, states would be allowed to pass through up to $75 per month to custodial parents, even while they are receiving welfare assistance. An additional $50 per month could be passed through to benefit fatherhood programs. Under H.R. 3073, states would still keep child support funds during the time that custodial parents are on welfare. However, under both bills, the entirety of support payments would be passed through to custodial parents once they stop receiving welfare assistance. The bills also would ensure that custodial parents leaving the welfare rolls are awarded all child support arrearages collected while they were on welfare.
The subcommittee hearing also included testimony on a bill (S. 1036) sponsored by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), which would allow states to pass through the entirety of child support payments to custodial parents while they are on welfare. Sen. Kohl told the subcommittee that there are several reasons noncustodial parents often fail to pay child support. In many cases, they are discouraged by the knowledge that their payments will not be passed through to their children, he stated, adding: “When the money is delivered to families directly, the fathers pay and they pay more.”
During the House’s consideration of H.R. 3073, Rep. Cardin was unsuccessful in amending the measure with a provision similar to S. 1036.
