Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2000
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MA
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Committee Chair
Ronald Althouse.
Committee Co-Chair
F. Carson Mencken
Committee Member
Ann Paterson
Abstract
The intent of this research is an exploratory examination of trends in child support enforcement before and after the implementation of The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) and to determine whether West Virginia is keeping up with the national average of child support enforcement. Using a time-trend analysis, this study examined five variables that constitute child support enforcement: total money distributed; paternities established; support orders established; absent parents located; and total caseload. This research found that the PRWORA of 1996 significantly improved paternities established and absent parents located in the state of West Virginia. All other variables in West Virginia and all variables at the national level steadily increase from year to year but show no significant changes. It also found that, upon implementation of the PRWORA of 1996, the moral issue of financial responsibility is being placed with the absent parents, which are the fathers in most cases.
Recommended Citation
Hendershott, Amy Ellen, "Child support enforcement in West Virginia" (2000). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 689.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/689