California's efforts to locate parents lag far behind the rest of the nation. On the plus side, California's location rate has gone up each of the last four years. The one bright spot in California is paternity establishment - legally establishing fatherhood for children born to unmarried parents. This is California's best area of performance, ranking 13th out of the states. Children are not the only losers in this system.
Taxpayers lose as well.
The child support collection program in California is funded through a combination of federal, state and local tax dollars. The federal government pays states incentives, worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year, based in part on the cost-effectiveness on each state's collection program. The more cost-effective the program, the more federal funds the program receives. Both nationally and locally, the child support programs are losing fiscal efficiency. California's system now ranks 47th out of the states in this measurement.