Voices on child support
Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement
Federal agency that runs the Title IV-D program (rule preamble; the agency speaking, not one person)
The exact words were found in the primary source linked below (testimony, book page, report or article), at the page given.
"It is not in children's best interests and counterproductive to have their parents engage in a cycle of nonpayment, illegal income generation, and incarceration."
Source
Flexibility, Efficiency, and Modernization in Child Support Enforcement Programs; Final Rule, 81 Fed. Reg. 93492, Federal Register (HHS/ACF/OCSE and CMS), 2016-12-20, 81 FR 93519 (PDF page 28 of 78) (regulation). Checked 2026-10-13.
Context
In the preamble to the 2016 final rule, OCSE explained why it required State guidelines to base orders on the noncustodial parent's actual earnings, income and ability to pay, and limited income imputation. The same rule retains enforcement tools and says civil contempt should be used where cost-effective and consistent with Turner v. Rogers.
The passage it comes from
One of the unintended, but pernicious, consequences of orders that are not based on ability to pay is that some noncustodial parents will exit low wage employment and either avoid the system entirely or turn to the drug trade or other illegal activities to pay support obligations and contempt purge payments.\28\ It is not in children's best interests and counterproductive to have their parents engage in a cycle of nonpayment, illegal income generation, and incarceration.
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