Overview

The federal Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) launched the five-year Next Generation Child Support Services demonstration (NextGen) in 2024 to help child support programs develop and refine child support-led employment services for noncustodial parents, with the goal of increasing child support payments through improved employment and earnings in order to improve the financial well-being of children. OCSS is providing grants and waivers to six state or county child support agencies and four tribal child support programs to implement NextGen programs.

OCSS also awarded a cooperative agreement to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, through which MDRC and its partners MEF Associates and Grays Peak Strategies are providing technical assistance to NextGen programs and conducting an evaluation of the demonstration. The NextGen demonstration will yield important information about the best practices and challenges regarding implementing child support-led employment services, and the employment- and child support-related outcomes they can generate for parents and families. The information gathered will help child support agencies at the local, state, tribal, and federal levels to design and implement child support-led employment programs in ways that work for their local communities.

Funding for this project was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Support Services, Grant Number 90FD0275, awarded to the Michigan Department of Human Services. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, or Office of Child Support Services.