WASHINGTON, D.C.– Cuts in federal funding for the child support program will force states to reduce enforcement services and cost families billions of dollars in uncollected child support unless Congress acts quickly, a coalition concerned with child and family well-being said today.

More than 500 diverse groups from across the country banded together to urge Congress to prevent cuts to the program. The groups sent lawmakers a letter asking them to pass the Child Support Protection Act of 2007. Introduced by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), the legislation would restore federal funds cut from the program by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The bill has bipartisan support in the House and Senate.

The coalition includes organizations representing children, mothers, fathers, child support professionals, state and local officials, unions, employers, community service providers, faith-based groups, and others.

“Cutting the funds for a highly efficient program that helps improve the well-being of millions of children and families was a grave mistake,” said Nancy Duff Campbell, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center. “But Congress can make it right by passing the Child Support Protection Act.”

In 2006, the child support program collected $24 billion for 17 million children—a fourth of the nation’s children. For every 74 cents the federal government spent on the program, it collected $4.58 in private child support dollars. Further, child support enforcement is consistently among the Office of Management and Budget’s top-rated government programs.

“The doubling of child support collection rates over the last ten years makes a strong case for fully funding this important program,” said Vicki Turetsky, Director of Family Policy at the Center for Law and Social Policy. “We should protect and build on the program’s record of success, not turn back the clock.”

Should Congress fail to restore the program’s funding, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that $11 billion in support owed to children will go uncollected over the next 10 years. This not only would hurt the millions of children and custodial parents who rely on child support for their economic well-being, it would result in increased costs in programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid and Food Stamps, according to a recent Lewin Group study. Nearly half (46 percent) of the families served by the child support program are former recipients of public assistance.

“The child support enforcement program increases family self-sufficiency, reduces child poverty, and encourages both mothers and fathers to be involved and committed to their children,” said Ahaviah Glaser, Vice President of Family Economics and Senior Counsel at First Focus. “Cutting resources for this vital program defies common sense.”

The impact of the cuts will vary among the states, said Alisha Griffin, President of the National Council of Child Support Directors, but will be devastating to some programs. “In several states, counties may be forced to lay off as many as a third of local child support workers who work directly with families to provide services and collect support,” Griffin said.

Among the services that are likely to be cut include promising, labor-intensive initiatives that work with low-income noncustodial parents, mostly fathers, incarcerated and re-entering parents, and battered women.

“State and local child support enforcement agencies have recognized that not every father who misses a child support payment is a deadbeat,” said Joe Jones, President and CEO of the Center for Fathers, Families and Workforce Development. “Many child support enforcement agencies are working with responsible fatherhood programs to help low-income fathers who want to provide for their children, but struggle to pay child support. We are concerned that these efforts will be dropped if funding is not restored.”

“The Child Support Protection Act has won bipartisan support in Congress and gained the support of a wide range of groups,” said Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs. “Congress should act quickly to protect this essential program.”