The Child Support Enforcement Handbook

The Child Support Enforcement Handbook provides students with an historical overview of child support and enforcement, including relevant federal and state legislative and statutory schemes. Decades of state and federal legislation, and their varying impacts, are presented to help readers decode this complex multibillion-dollar governmental enterprise. The handbook begins by detailing the history of child support and enforcement and providing readers with a solid grounding in the various models and formulas used by states to determine the appropriate amount of child support in individual cases. Readers learn about the disparate impact of child support enforcement on families at the lowest socioeconomic levels and its importance in supporting the day-to-day livelihood of low-income parents. Additional chapters examine child support enforcement procedures, as well as challenges and issues that arise with enforcement, including paternity testing and presume parentage, same-sex parenting, assisted reproductive technology, and more. Designed to help readers navigate an important and complex system, The Child Support Enforcement Handbook is an ideal resource for courses in family law, social work, counseling, and accounting. It can also serve as a helpful reference for practicing attorneys and those in helping professions.Cynthia G. Hawkins is a tenured law professor at Stetson University College of Law, where she teaches courses in adoption law, family law, and family law mediation. Prior to joining the legal academy, Professor Hawkins served as an Administrative/Magistrate Judge for the Contract Appeals Board in Washington, D.C., as the general counsel for the DC Department of Administrative Services, and as committee counsel and staff director for the Committee on Government Operations of the Council of the District of Columbia. Professor Hawkins earned her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, and her B.A. degree from Wellesley College.