The state should increase court masters' oversight of payments in Title IV-D child support cases.
Child support is an important factor in lifting children and families out of poverty.
The increasing number of young children with single mothers and a decreasing number of children with at least one parent working full-time were cited as contributing factors to Texas' high child poverty rate. During that year, OAG established about 46,500 child support obligations and 36,900 paternity cases were identified. The total number of cases obligated in fiscal 1997 was 442,962, with about 198,056 cases, or 45 percent, paying at some time during the year. This system change created significant disruption in operations throughout fiscal 1998. Annual figures for fiscal 1998 are not available.