5175 Department of Child Support Services
Program Descriptions

4260 - CHILD SUPPORT SERVICES
The Department of Child Support Services is the single state agency designated to administer the federal Title IV-D state plan. The Department is responsible for providing statewide leadership to ensure that all functions necessary to establish, collect, and distribute child support in California, including securing child and spousal support, medical support, and determining paternity, are effectively and efficiently implemented. Eligibility for California's funding under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant is contingent upon continuously providing these federally required child support services. The Child Support Program operates using clearly delineated federal performance measures, with minimum standards prescribing acceptable performance levels necessary for receipt of federal incentive funding. The objective of the Child Support Program is to provide an effective system for encouraging and, when necessary, enforcing parental responsibilities by establishing paternity for children, establishing court orders for financial and medical support, and enforcing those orders.