voluntary paternity acknowledgements

1

Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgements

Who Signs Them? What Difference Does It Make?

Workshop presented at the 25th Annual Training ConferenceMaryland Joint Child Support Council, October 2006

This research was funded by the Maryland Department of Human Resources, Child Support Enforcement Administration

Pamela C. Ovwigho & Joohee Yum

University of Maryland

School of Social Work

2

Workshop Outline

TriviaBackgroundGeographic analysis of non-marital births & affidavitsAudience discussion Who signs affidavits?What difference does an affidavit make for child support?ConclusionsTrivia answers & prizes

3

Paternity Establishment

Determining an individual’s legal father

Paternity establishment is important for individual children, parents, the child support program, & the state

4

Why Paternity Matters to the Individual Child & Parent

Sense of IdentityRelationshipMedical backgroundChild Support Social Security blanket

protectionRight of inheritanceVisitation / Custody

5

Why Paternity Matters to the Child Support Program

Necessary before a support order can be established

Higher paternity establishment rate = more incentive $

6

Why Paternity Matters to the State

States must meet a 90% paternity establishment threshold.

National IV-D caseload: 83.4% of children born out of wedlock have paternity established.

Maryland’s rate was 86.5%Source: Office of Child Support Enforcement (2006). Child Support Enforcement (CSE) FY 2005 Preliminary Report.

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In-hospital voluntary paternity acknowledgements are an effective way to increase paternity establishment

Provide easy access to parents at “the magic moment”

Legal finding of paternity

Contains information on father that can be used for location

Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgements

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In calendar year 2005, paternity affidavits were filed for 18,172 children

7 out of 10 non-marital births

Approximately 82% of the paternities reported in the federal statistics are from affidavits*

Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgements Statistics

*Source: Author calculations from September 2005 OCSE 157 report for Maryland.

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Paternity Affidavits: Top Ten Facilities in CY 2005

Holy Cross Hospital 2234

Prince George’s Hospital Center 1386

Mercy Medical Center 1163

Franklin Square Hospital Center 1076

Anne Arundel Medical Center 899

The Johns Hopkins Hospital 834

Peninsula Regional Medical Center 794

Maryland General Hospital 717

Greater Baltimore Medical Center 712

Sinai Hospital 682Source: University of MD VAPP database

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Geographic Distribution of Non-Marital Births

and Affidavits

Analyzed data for 35 birthing facilities in Maryland

Using Geographic Information System (GIS), facilities are displayed on maps with unmarried birth rate & affidavit rate (2004, 2005, 2006)

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Birthing Hospitals in MD 1

12

Birthing Hospitals in MD 2

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Total Births vs. Unmarried Births in 2005

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Non-Marital Birth Rate 2004 - 2006

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CSES Affidavit Rate2004 - 2006

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Affidavit Rate:Western Region

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Affidavit Rate:Upper and Lower Shore

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Affidavit Rate:Metro, Montgomery, & Baltimore

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Affidavit Rate:Prince George’s, Anne Arundel,

& Southern

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Audience Discussion

How can you use affidavits in your daily work?

What do you see as the main benefits?

Any concerns or issues?

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SSW Fax Back Service

444

1734

3891

5098

7242

8806

7348 7331

5496

0

1000

20003000

4000

5000

6000

70008000

9000

10000

Nu

mb

er

of

inq

uir

ies

The number of callers steadily increased until 2003.

In the first 9 months of 2006, SSW staff handled almost 5500 affidavit requests.

Source: Author calculations from SSW faxback database.*Through September

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81%75%71%61%61%53%49%55%

69%

0%10%

20%30%

40%50%

60%70%

80%90%

100%

Not Found

Found

In most cases, an inquiry results in the location of an affidavit.

Source: Author calculations from SSW Fax Back database.*Through September

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0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

Alle

gany

Anne A

rundel

Balti

more

County

Calv

ert

Caro

line

Carr

oll

Cecil

Charles

Dorc

heste

r

Fre

derick

Garr

ett

Harf

ord

How

ard

Kent

Montg

om

ery

Prince G

eorg

e's

Queen A

nne's

St. M

ary

's

Som

ers

et

Talb

ot

Washin

gto

n

Wic

om

ico

Worc

este

r

% of inquiries % of affidavits

Jurisdictions vary in their use of the faxback service.

Source: Author calculations from SSW affidavit & faxback database. Year 2004 data.

Baltimore City:

48.9% of inquiries

22.0% of affidavits

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What Difference Do Affidavits Make?

We have been researching three main questions:

Who signs affidavits? Do affidavit kids become IV-D

kids? YES! Are the child support outcomes

different if there is an affidavit? YES, they are better!

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Who Signs Paternity Affidavits?

Limited data comparability between DVR & affidavits, particularly for fathers

In general, affidavit signers resemble the non-marital birth population.

Data suggest that older mothers may be more likely to sign an affidavit than younger mothers.

Source: Authors’ calculations from DHMH extract data.

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Who Signs Paternity Affidavits?

16%

57%

69%76%

71%

81%

38%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

% of non-m arital b irths w ith an affidavit

under 15

15-17

18-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35 & o lde r

Source: Authors’ calculations from DHMH extract data for births in CY 2005.

Younger mothers are less likely to have a signed affidavit.

Mother’s age

3566

115

1860

9718

5799

3057

2044

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Do Affidavit Children Become IV-D Children?

1 out of 3 affidavit children become IV-D children in their first year of life.

32% 33%

24%

57%

73%

22%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

% w/in 1 year of birth

Child Support

TCA

Food Stamps

MA

M-CHP

Any

Source: Ovwigho, Born, & Srivastava (2002). Maryland’s Paternity Acknowledgement Program: Participant Entries into the Public Child Support & Welfare Programs.

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3 out of 5 affidavit children become IV-D children by their 5th birthday

57%

45%38%

70%

87%

24%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

% w/in 5 years of birth

Child Support

TCA

Food Stamps

MA

M-CHP

Any

Source: Ovwigho, Born, & Bouchet (2006). Do In-Hospital Paternity Programs Reach Future IV-D Clients? Child Support Quarterly.

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Allegany

Anne A

rundel

Baltim

ore

Calv

ert

Caro

line

Carr

oll

Cecil

Charles

Dorc

heste

r

Fre

derick

Garr

ett

Harf

ord

How

ard

Kent

Montg

om

ery

Prince G

eorg

e's

Queen A

nne's

St

Mary

's

Som

ers

et

Talb

ot

Washin

gto

n

Wic

om

ico

Worc

este

r

Baltim

ore

City

Local jurisdictions vary. In Baltimore City, 4 out of 5 affidavit children become IV-D children by their 5th

birthday.

Source: Author calculations for children born in CY 2000.

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Affidavits & Child Support Outcomes

Of all children born out of wedlock in 2001 who became known to the child support system by their 1st birthday, about half had a paternity

affidavit.

47%

53%

AffidavitNo Affidavit

Source: Ovwigho, Head, & Born (forthcoming). What difference does it make? Child support outcomes of paternity affidavits.

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Children with an affidavit are more likely to have an order for current support established before their 4th birthday.

45 .7%

32.2%

0 .0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

50.0%%

wit

h a

n o

rde

r fo

r c

urr

en

t s

up

po

rt

Affid avitNo Affid avit



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Orders for current support are established slightly faster, on average, for children with affidavits.

14 .6

12

15 .1

12

0 5 10 15 20

Mean

Median

Months from birth to o rder es tablishment

No Affid avitAffid avit



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Payment rates are similar for those with an affidavit & those without.

71.9%

79.2%79.8%

80.4%

77.1%77.1%

72.2%

76.3%

66 .0%

68.0%

70.0%

72.0%

74.0%

76.0%

78.0%

80.0%

82.0%

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4*

Pe

rce

nt

pa

yin

g a

ny

su

pp

ort

Affid avitNo affid avit

among those owing any court-ordered support


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Among children with an order, those with an affidavit receive the same amount of child support than those

without an affidavit.

$846

$1,646

$1,892 $1,944$1,786 $1,848

$855

$1,561

$0

$500

$1 ,000

$1 ,500

$2 ,000

$2 ,500

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Av

era

ge

cu

rre

nt

su

pp

ort

re

ce

ive

d

am

on

g c

hild

ren

wit

h o

rde

rs

Affid avitNo affid avit


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Affidavit children are better off as a group in terms of support received.

On average, children with an affidavit receive an additional $700 in support in their first four years of life.

$180

$559$714

$787

$2,240

$485

$1,515

$531

$123

$376

$0

$500

$1 ,000

$1 ,500

$2 ,000

$2 ,500

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Tota l

Av

era

ge

Su

pp

ort

Co

lle

cte

d p

er

Ch

ild Affid avit

No affid avit


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Conclusions

Affidavits are critical to Maryland’s child support program in meeting performance measures & improving child support outcomes

Affidavits are critical to Maryland’s children in providing them a legal father & increasing the likelihood that they will receive child support early in life

Creative thinking about ways to expand the reach & use of affidavits may yield high payoffs in terms of the child support program & the children it serves.

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Trivia Answers

1. False 9. True

2. True 10. True

3. False 11. True

4. False 12. True

5. True 13. True

6. False 14. False

7. False 15. True

8. True And the winner is . . .

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Thank you!

To read the full reports please visit our Web site:

www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/publications/

voluntary paternity acknowledgements

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