Parent Support Program

Family Court, which addresses complex issues involving some of the most vulnerable populations, is not exempt from the effects that COVID-19 are having on court operations across the country, forcing many to close courthouses, reduce or delay hearings, or conduct business remotely.

The Parent Support Program works with non-custodial parents to help them find employment, increase child support, and engage with their children. In collaboration with the Onondaga County Family Court, the Center piloted New York State’s first parent support program in 2008. Using this program as a model, the Center worked with the New York City Family Court and New York City Human Resources Administration to launch parent support programs in Brooklyn and the Bronx.

In this article in the Office of Child Support Enforcement’s Child Support Report, Liberty Aldrich, director of domestic violence and family court programs at the Center for Court Innovation, explains how a court-based problem-solving approach to child support cases can increase child support payments, reduce negative consequences, and build healthy parent-child relationships.