How Monetary Sanctions and Child Support Debt Affect Children’s Educational Outcomes and Residential Stability

• In Event: Monetary Sanctions, Child Support, Restitution, and Beyond

Abstract

This study examines whether and how the debts that courts impose upon parents can affect the educational performance and residential stability of children. To examine these questions, we link administrative data from the Minnesota State Court Administrator’s Office and the Minnesota Department of Human Services to identify parents who owe “dual debt” in both the child support and criminal justice systems. We then merge these data with child-level information from the Minnesota Department of Education and Social Service Information System to obtain outcome data on academic performance and child removals. The study builds upon two important lines of research and policy change: financial obligations in the child support system (Haney 2018) and the criminal legal system (Harris 2016), but goes beyond this work to examine the hidden costs of monetary sanctions on children. To understand and ameliorate the real impact of such debt, particularly for justice-involved non-custodial parents, the multigenerational costs of these intersecting systems must be considered in combination rather than isolation.

Authors

• Christopher Uggen, University of Minnesota

• Ryan Larson, Hamline University

• Robert Stewart, University of Maryland

• Hannah Schwendeman, University of Minnesota

• Veronica L. Horowitz, University at Buffalo, SUNY