USDA recommends linking child support to SNAP benefits
Children in Georgia deserve every chance they can get to succeed. When a child’s parents are not living together, it is often necessary for one parent to make child support payments to the other to ensure that the child’s needs are met. Some parents have difficulty honoring that obligation for valid reasons, such as a change in their income level. However, there are parents who choose not to make court-ordered child support payments without any justification. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is hoping to convince state agencies that tying child support to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will help prevent that.
The Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, said that the USDA wants action taken that will benefit children. The department recommends that state agencies require SNAP participants to take steps to ensure that their child support payments are made. The hope is that doing so will continue to lift children and their families out of poverty and assist noncustodial parents to accept responsibility for their children’s well-being.
The USDA has stated that it will assist state agencies with any technological needs they may have to enact these programs. The Food and Nutrition Service division of the USDA exists to eliminate food insecurity and support nutrition. Supporters are optimistic that these new guidelines will help custodial and noncustodial parents alike in meeting the needs of their children.
Even if state agencies do not follow the USDA’s suggestions, no one denies that proper and regular child support payments are an important factor in caring for kids of parents who are no longer in a relationship. Those people in Georgia who are having difficulty receiving or paying child support can get advice from an experienced legal professional. A family law attorney can work to ensure that a parent’s rights are preserved while determining child support, pursuing recovery of past due payments or assisting in the process of modifying child support payments.