Child Support Demonstration Evaluation (CSDE)

Under Wisconsin Works (W-2), the state's welfare reform program that began in September 1997, families entitled to child support generally retain all of the amount paid on their behalf. Wisconsin's experiment with "passing through" all child support to resident-parent families has been, and remains, unique among the states and now is available to all eligible W-2 recipients. The Wisconsin experience offered an opportunity to evaluate the potential advantages and disadvantages of this new approach to child support, and to increase our knowledge concerning the way the child support system is working for low-income families. Since its origin, Wisconsin's Child Support experiment has operated as a waiver demonstration program, which has been conducted by IRP.

Principal Investigators for the project are Maria Cancian (Public Affairs and Social Work) and Daniel R. Meyer (Social Work).