Child Support Pass-Through and Disregard Policies for Public Assistance Recipients
Under federal law, families receiving public assistance, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), must cooperate with child support establishment and enforcement efforts.
In addition, TANF recipients must assign their rights to child support payments to the state. When a state collects child support on behalf of a TANF recipient, the state is permitted to keep the money to reimburse itself and the federal government for TANF assistance. States, however, have the option of allowing some of the child support payment to be passed through to the parent and child and “disregarded” when determining TANF assistance, meaning the amount would not be considered income for purposes of determining TANF eligibility.
About half the states have chosen various ways of passing through child support without reducing the family’s TANF assistance. Some states pass through up to $50, while others pass through $100 – $200, depending on the number of children. In 2014, states distributed more than $118 million in child support payments to families receiving TANF.
Following is a breakdown of the 52 states and territories based on their pass-through and disregard policies. The information is from October 2015, which is the most recent information available.
The following states permit no pass-through or disregard:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Guam
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Michigan (Michigan discontinued a $50 pass-through and disregard effective 10/1/11 due to budgetary constraints).
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina (The SC statute still indicates that there is a $75 pass-through. However, the state has not passed through any child support since 2010).
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Virgin Islands
- Washington (WA suspended its $100/$200 pass-through in 2010).
- Wyoming
The following states permit a pass-through and disregard:
- Alaska – $50
- California – $50
- Colorado – All (effective January 1, 2017)
- Connecticut – $50
- Delaware – $50
- District of Columbia – $150
- Georgia – up to unmet need for purposes of fill-the-gap budgeting. This means that the amount of child support distributed to the family is equal to the difference between the maximum eligibility standard and the recipient’s income; essentially to fill the gap between income and need. However, Georgia has not actually passed through any child support since 2010.
- Illinois – $50
- Maine – $50
- Massachusetts – $50
- Minnesota – Full pass-through and a disregard in the amount of $100 for one child and $200 for two or more children.
- Montana – $100
- New Jersey – $100
- New Mexico – up to $100 for one child and $200 for two or more children.
- New York – up to $100 for one child and $200 for two or more children.
- Oregon – $50 per child, per month, up to $200 per family.
- Pennsylvania – $100 for one child and $200 for two or more children.
- Puerto Rico – $50
- Rhode Island – $50
- Tennessee – up to unmet need.
- Texas – $75
- Virginia – up to $100
- West Virginia – up to $100 for one child and $200 for two or more children.
- Wisconsin – $75
When determining income for affordable housing programs such as Section 8 and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the full amount of TANF is counted as public assistance and the full amount of the pass-through is counted as child support. Managers should not count child support that is held by the state as repayment of TANF.