Review of Florida’s Child Support Guidelines

[POC]

Florida House of Representatives
Proposed 2005-2006 Interim Project


PROJECT TITLE

Review of Florida's Child Support Guidelines

STAFF WITH PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPLETION

Carol Preston, Chief Legislative Analyst

PROBLEM STATEMENT

States are required by federal law to review their child support guidelines at least once every four years in order to ensure that their application results in child support award amounts that are fair and appropriate.  As a part of that review process, states must analyze case data related to the application of and deviations from, the guidelines. States must also consider economic data related to the cost of raising children. Staff of the Florida House of Representatives has traditionally taken the lead in completing the reviews to meet the federal mandate.  The 1993 and 1997 reviews were conducted by staff with the Committee on Judiciary, the 2001 review was done by staff with the Committee on Family Law and Children, and, if approved, this review will be overseen by staff with the Future of Florida's Families Committee.  In spite of timely guideline reviews, the Florida Legislature has not adjusted the guideline schedules since 1993.  Since the underlying data for the current schedule enacted in 1993 is the 1972-1973 Consumer Expenditure Survey, the schedule is considerably out of date.

PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT

The proposed interim project will meet the federal review mandate. In preparation for the project, the Florida Legislature entered into a $175,000 contract in March 2003 with the FSU Department of Economics to update the existing schedule amounts and examine related issues, including visitation arrangements, problems arising when there are prior and subsequent children, and problems experienced by low income families.  

The interim project should include the following components:

•   One or more "roundtable" type workshops with all stakeholders (e.g., Family Law Section of the Florida Bar, the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Department of Revenue, Commission on Marriage and Family Support Initiatives, Florida Legal Services, and custodial and noncustodial parents);
•   Consultation with researchers at FSU;
•   Review of child support guidelines literature;
•   Review of child support guidelines models;
•   Review of guidelines currently in use in all other states as well as guideline review reports recently issued by other states;
•   Case law review; and
•   Public input.





EXPECTED FORMAT FOR OUTCOME

The review will result in a formal written report and proposed legislation for the 2006 legislative session.

ANTICIPATED TIMEFRAMES

A progress report will be presented to Chair Galvano and the members of the Future of Florida's Families Committee in September 2005.  The formal report will be completed by December 31, 2005 and proposed legislation (with the request for introduction of a Proposed Committee Bill) will be submitted for approval to the Speaker's Office by February 1, 2006.