Special Review

February 2002 Report No. 02-13

Adherence to Florida’s Child Support

Guidelines Appears to Be Improving
at a glance Purpose _______________
Based on our sample of child enforcement cases, Chapter 2001-158, Laws of Florida, directs
judges awarded child support obligations in OPPAGA to analyze case data and court
accordance with the statutory
statutory guidelines in 91% of proceedings, chosen through a statistically
the cases administered by the Department of valid random sample of child support
Revenue and in 52% of the private support orders enforcement cases in both Department of
issued in Florida. This represents an improvement Revenue administered cases and private cases,
since our examination in 1998 when only 63% of the on the application of and deviation from the
cases administered by the Department
Department of Revenue child support guidelines set forth in s. 61.30,
and 43% of the private support orders issued in Florida Statutes.
Florida were in compliance with the statutory
guidelines. We can provide reasonable but not complete
assurance that the sample of child support
However, 12% of the case files administered by the enforcement cases used in our analysis is a
Department of Revenue and 46% of the private case statistically valid random sample of the entire
files lacked evidence that guideli
guideline
ne amounts for child population of cases as mandated by law. For
support had been calculated. In addition, 57% of the our analysis, we requested the Department of
case files administered by the Department of Revenue provide OPPAGA with the entire
Revenue and 90% of the private case files that population of cases containing child support
deviated from Florida’s guidelines did not have orders issued during the review period
documentation describing the reasons for awarding of January 1 to May 31, 2001, which are
a different child support award. administered by the department.
To continue to improve the level of adherence to The department provided an initial data set
Florida’s child support guidelines and also facilitate followed by a subsequent data set of cases.
future compliance monitoring, we recommend that However, in both instances, the department
the Legislature require that child support guideline later questioned whether either data set
calculation
calculation information and the judges’ reasoning for contained the entire population of child
significant deviations from the calculated amount be support cases we requested. Reluctant to
included in child support orders. provide assurances about either data set, the

Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability

an office of the Florida Legislature
Special Review

department finally reported that they are payment prescribed by the guidelines. (See
unable to identify the exact population of all Appendix A for an example of how support
applicable child support cases. obligations are calculated.) The 2001
Legislature amended Florida’s child support
We performed an additional analysis of the
guidelines by including an allowance for
population characteristics in both data sets
significant parenting time in the calculation of
provided by the department. As a result, we
the guideline amount. 1
believe our random sample used in our
analysis is a reasonable representation of all State law authorizes judges to order support
child support enforcement cases administered awards up to 5% above or below the schedule
by the department. in the guidelines. Judges may depart from

Background ____________
this range, but must provide written
documentation of their reasons. Florida’s
judicial rules of procedure require that a child
Florida’s Child Support Enforcement Program support guidelines worksheet be filed with the
operates under federal mandates as well as court. 2 This worksheet identifies the support
state law. Federal law sets standards and order amount, as calculated in accordance with
provides funding for state child support Florida’s child support guidelines.
programs. To remain eligible for federal
In 1998, at the direction of the Legislature,
funding, states must establish guidelines for
OPPAGA analyzed child support cases to
setting and modifying child support amounts.
determine whether judges were adhering to
Federal law also requires states to review their
child support guidelines. 3 Our examination
guidelines every four years and revise them if
found that judges awarded child support
necessary to ensure that the guidelines’
obligations in accordance with statutory
application results in the determination of
guidelines in 63% of the Title IV-D cases and
appropriate child support award amounts.
43% of the private cases.

Findings _______________
The child support guidelines apply to both
Title IV-D and private cases. Families who
receive public assistance payments or request
state assistance with child support collections Our current examination concludes that
and enforcement are classified as Title IV-D Florida’s adherence to child support guidelines
cases. These Title IV-D cases are administered has improved since 1998. However, to
by the Department of Revenue, which assists continue to improve the level of adherence and
in establishing paternity, obtaining support also facilitate future compliance monitoring,
awards from the court, and collecting and changes are needed to the documentation
enforcing support. Families that use private process.
attorneys in child support cases and do not
receive public assistance or request state
assistance are referred to as private cases.
Section 61.30, Florida Statutes, establishes
Florida’s child support guidelines, which
include a schedule similar to a tax table that
prescribes basic support obligations based on 1
To be included in the calculation, each parent must exercise
visitation in at least 40% of the overnights in the year.
two factors: the number of minor children 2
Family Law Rules of Procedure 12.285(j)
requiring support and combined net parental 3
Review of Adherence to Child Support Guidelines, Report
income. For example, a parent who makes No. 97-63, March 1998. Subsequently, OPPAGA published a
40% of the couple’s combined net income is status report, Child Support Guidelines Schedule Should
Reflect Current Economic Conditions, Report No. 00-20,
expected to pay 40% of the child support
December 2000.

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 Special Review

Adherence to guidelines Title IV-D support orders issued in Florida

adhere to the child support guidelines. 4
improves This is a significantly higher level of
Based on the sample of cases we analyzed, compliance than found in our prior
OPPAGA concluded that judges awarded examination when only 63% of the sample of
child support obligations in accordance with support orders adhered to guideline statutes.
statutory guidelines in 91% of the Title IV-D The Department of Revenue reported this
cases and 52% of the private cases. (See improvement may be attributed to revised
Exhibit 1.) procedures that helped ensure that guideline
worksheets were submitted to the courts as
Exhibit 1 required. Also, department staff can now use
Percentage of Child Support Orders in Compliance an electronic guideline calculation worksheet
with Guidelines that allows the guideline amount to be easily
recomputed when updated information is
1998 Examination
91% presented during the judicial proceeding.
Current Status
Private Cases
63%
52% We determined that judges complied with
43% Florida’s child support guidelines in 52% of the
private cases in the sample. From our analysis
of this sample, we conclude that, with a 95%
level of confidence, between 47% and 57% of
all of the private support orders issued in
Private Title IV-D Florida adhere to the child support guidelines.
Source: OPPAGA analysis. This compares favorably with the results from
our 1998 examination where we reported that
judges conformed to the guideline statutes in
In accordance with Ch. 2001-185, Laws of
43% of the sample.
Florida, we chose random samples of
Title IV-D and private cases for the period The Office of State Courts Administrator
January 1, 2001, through May 31, 2001, to reported that a primary reason judges award
ensure that support orders that incorporate the support obligations outside of the guidelines,
new substantial parenting time adjustment are without providing written rationale for
excluded. An additional sample of support deviating 5% above or below the guideline
orders issued during the period October 1, amount, is because private support order
2001, through October 31, 2001, was obtained amounts are often based on voluntary
to help identify the impact that the substantial agreements in which both parents agree to a
parenting time adjustment may have had on payment amount outside the range specified
child support orders. See Appendix B for by the guidelines. Also, support orders may
details of the methodology used to determine not conform to guideline statutes when both
the sample sizes and conduct this analysis. parents do not have legal representation. In
these instances, parents may be unaware of the
IV--D Cases
Title IV requirement to complete a guideline worksheet
Based on our analysis of the sample of or the information to perform the necessary
Title IV-D cases, we conclude that 91% of calculations is not available.

4
Assuming our sample is representative, we conclude with a
95% level of confidence that between 87% and 95% of all IV-D
child support orders comply with the statutory guidelines.

3
Special Review

Parenting Time Adjustment Sample However, our current examination found that
documentation demonstrating the child
To help identify the impact of recent changes
support guideline calculation is often not
to Florida law that now allow for an
included with the applicable case file. As
adjustment to the guideline amount when the
shown in Exhibit 2, 46% of private support
children spend a substantial amount of time
orders and 12% of the Title IV-D support
with each parent, we also reviewed a sample of
orders in our sample did not contain a
50 private support orders that were issued in
complete child support guidelines worksheet
October 2001. Because of the small sample
or a calculation of the guideline amount in the
size, we were unable to quantify with statistical
support order. This indicates that neither the
significance the effect of this change on the
voluntary use of the model support order or
level of adherence with Florida’s guidelines.
the required use of the guidelines worksheet is
Of the 27 support orders for which the regularly occurring.
appropriate guideline worksheet was
In addition, the 1998 Legislature amended state
provided, one included a parental time
law to require that judges provide a written
adjustment in the calculation. Data in the case
explanation of their reasons for deviating
files did not indicate whether a parental time
from child support guidelines when awards
adjustment was appropriate in the other cases.
deviated 5% above or below the guidelines. 6
As shown in Exhibit 2, this requirement for
Improved Documentation
Documentation documentation is not being consistently
followed. We found that 90% of private
Needed to Improve Compliance support orders and 57% of the Title IV-D
Our 1998 examination found that it was often support orders did not contain written
difficult to determine why judges departed documentation that explained the judges’
from the guidelines because judges were not reasoning for deviating from the guideline
required to document the reasons for granting amount.
differing child support awards. 5 OPPAGA
recommended that a model paragraph be Exhibit 2
developed for inclusion in final child support Many Child Support Case Files Do Not Contain
orders that identifies the information used to All of the Required Documentation
calculate the guideline amount and, when Without Without Guideline
applicable, document the reason for deviating Type of Child Guideline Deviation
from that amount. Support Order Calculation Documentation
Private 46% 90%
The Office of State Courts Administrator has
developed a model child support order that Title IV-D 12% 57%
includes the recommended paragraph. Source: OPPAGA analysis.
However, the use of this model support order
is not required. In addition, the Supreme We continue to assert that the best way to
Court has promulgated a child support capture and preserve significant information as
guidelines worksheet that identifies the to the calculation of the guideline amount and
support order amount, as calculated in the judge’s reasoning for deviating from that
accordance with Florida’s child support amount is to require that it be included in the
guidelines, that is required to be filed with the applicable child support order.
court.

5 6
Review of Adherence to Child Support Guidelines, Report Chapter 98-397, Laws of Florida.
No. 97-63, March 1998.

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 Special Review

Recommendations ______
In addition, the State Courts Administrator
provided a written response to our preliminary
and tentative findings and recommendations.
To continue to improve the level of adherence
to Florida’s child support guidelines and also The State Courts Administrator expressed
facilitate monitoring of judicial application of concerns about the validity of OPPAGA’s
the guidelines, OPPAGA recommends that the evaluation that is based on documents
Legislature amend s. 61.30, Florida Statutes, to provided by court clerks. The administrator
require that information as to the amount of expressed reservations about the currency and
the child support guideline calculation and the accuracy of information provided by court
judge’s reasoning for significantly deviating clerks to OPPAGA. The administrator also
from that amount be included in the final child expressed concern about the reliability of
support order. Including this information in information available from Family Courts,
support orders will also help ensure that where litigants frequently represent
significant case information is preserved and themselves.
also allow judges to readily review the
Although the administrator does not agree
decisions made in their courts.
with our recommendation for additional

Agency Responses _____

statutory mandates regarding documentation,
the Office of State Courts Administration
(OSCA) agrees for the need to explore ways to
In accordance with the provisions of s. 11.51(5),
increase the use of model language in child
Florida Statutes, a draft of our report was
support orders to easily identify whether the
submitted to the Department of Revenue and
award conforms to or deviates from the
to the Office of the State Courts Administrator
guideline schedule.
for each to review and respond.
OSCA’s response is reprinted in Appendix C
The executive director of the Department of
on pages 10 and 11.
Revenue provided a written response to
our preliminary and tentative findings and
recommendations. The director concurred
with our findings and recommendations.
The department’s response is reprinted in
Appendix C on page 9.

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Special Review

Appendix A
Calculation of Child Support Obligation
Section 61.30, Florida Statutes, establishes Florida’s child support guidelines,
which include a schedule similar to a tax table that prescribes basic support
obligations based on two factors: the number of minor children requiring
support and combined net parental income. Table A-1 provides an example of
how child support obligations are calculated.

Table A-
A -1
Example of Child Support Obligation Calculation
Custodial
Custodial Non-
Non-Custodial
Tax Year 2001 2001

Number of Children 1 N/A

Filling Status (S = Single, M = Married) S S

Withholding Allowances 2 1

Gross Monthly (Non-Taxable) Income $0.00 $0.00

Gross Monthly (Taxable) Income $1,500.00 $2,600.00

Court Ordered Child Support $0.00 $0.00

Other Allowable Deductions $0.00 $560.00

Self Employed? No No

Total Health Insurance Premium $0.00 $45.00

Child of This Act. Covered? No No

Number of Individuals Covered (if above is yes) N/A N/A

Child Care $200.00 $0.00

SSD Benefits Paid to Children $0.00 $0.00

Child Support Obligation $139.48 $398.52

Source: OPPAGA.

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 Special Review

Appendix B
Methodology
Our examination is based first on a statistically valid sample of 12,513 cases of
private support orders from the Florida Association of Court Clerks and
Comptrollers (FACC). It is also based a data set of 9,199 Title IV-D cases of
support orders provided to us by the Department of Revenue. Distinctions
between the two populations are noted in text, and results for each are
generally reported separately. Table B-1 provides details of the number of case
files included in our samples.

Private Cases
The FACC provided the population for the private child support orders through
its automated system (CLERC). This population consisted of support orders
issued during the period January 1, 2001, through May 30, 2001, and included
orders modifying existing support orders. To allow us to report with a 95%
level of confidence that the population will be within 4% of the reported results,
OPPAGA randomly selected 601 cases from a reported population of 12,513
support orders. We requested that the applicable clerk of court provide a copy
of the applicable Child Support Guidelines Worksheet and the Motion to
Deviate From the Guidelines when required. For cases in which the worksheet
was not available, all documentation required to calculate the guideline amount
was requested.

IV--D Cases
Title IV
The Department of Revenue provided two separate data sets of Title IV-D cases
that consisted of new support orders issued during the period January 1, 2001,
through May 31, 2001. 7 To allow us to report with a 95% level of confidence
that the population will be within 4% of the reported results, OPPAGA
randomly selected 600 cases from the reported population of 9,199 cases. For
each of these selected cases, we requested that the Department of Revenue
provide a copy of the applicable Child Support Guidelines Worksheet. For
support order cases where the worksheet was not available, we requested all
case documentation to calculate the guideline amount, including the applicable
financial affidavits. OPPAGA determined the applicable guideline amount for
each support order by reviewing the documentation received. For those orders
that deviated by more than 5% from the guideline amount, we then requested
that the responsible clerk of court provide the Motion to Deviate From the
Guidelines, if available.

7
Although the department questioned whether either of the two data sets provided by the department contained the entire population of
child support cases we requested, we performed an additional analysis of the population characteristics of both data sets provided by the
department. As a result, we believe the random sample from the data set of 9,199 cases used in our analysis is a reasonable representation
of all child support enforcement cases administered by the department.

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Special Review

Parenting Time Adjustment

In addition, a sample of 50 Non-Title IV-D support orders were issued during
the period October 1, 2001, through October 31, 2001, to help identify the
impact of recent changes to Florida law, which allows for an adjustment to the
guideline amount when the children spend a substantial amount of time with
each parent. 8 The sample was also drawn from a reported population of 3,157
orders by FACC. We then requested that the applicable clerk of court provide
the documentation necessary to determine if the guideline calculation included
an adjustment when the non-custodial parent exercises visitation at least 40%of
the overnights in a year for each order in our sample.
For each of these samples, OPPAGA excluded cases such as contempt orders
that did establish the amount of child support to be paid. For those cases where
a child support guidelines worksheet was provided, we identified the guideline
amount, but did not attempt to validate the calculation.

Table B-
B-1
Details of Sample Used in OPPAGA Analysis
Parenting Time
Title IV-
IV-D Private Cases Adjustment
Cases Sample Sample Sample
Population Size 9,199 12,513 3,157
Cases files sampled 600 601 50
Valid Case files received 569 487 27
Case files with guidelines worksheet 501 261 12
Worksheets with parental time adjustment NA NA 1
Case files with sufficient information to calculate guideline amount 501 324 NA
Support orders within guideline amount 418 150 NA
Support orders that deviated 5% above or below guideline amount 83 174 NA
Case files with written documentation of reason for deviating 5%
above or below guideline amount 36 18 NA
Support orders with sufficient information that adhere to guideline
statutes 454 168 NA
Source: OPPAGA.

8
Section 61.30(1)(a), Florida Statutes.

8
Appendix C

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-0100

JIM ZINGALE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
February 14, 2002

Mr. John W. Turcotte, Director

Office of Program Policy Analysis and
Government Accountability
111 West Madison Street, Room 312
Tallahassee, Florida 32302
Dear Mr. Turcotte:
We concur with the preliminary findings and recommendations
presented in OPPAGA' s draft report, Adherence to Florida's Child
Support Guidelines Appears to Be Improving, dated January 2002.
We appreciate the professionalism displayed by your staff
during this review. If further information is needed, please
contact Fred Roche, our Inspector General, at 488-4328.
Sincerely,
/s/
Jim Zingale

JZ/bso

9
 Appendix C

Charles T. Wells Robin L. Lubitz

Chief Justice State Courts Administrator

Office of the State Courts Administrator

(850) 922-5081 Fax: (850) 488-0156
Email: [email protected]

February 14, 2002

Mr. John W. Turcotte

Director
Office of Program Policy Analysis
and Government Accountability
Claude Pepper Building, Room 312
111 West Madison Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1475

Dear Mr. Turcotte:

Thank you for affording me the opportunity to respond to the findings in the Office of
Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability's (OPPAGA) draft of the special
review, Adherence to Florida's Child Support Guidelines Appears to Be Improving. . We are
pleased that the review suggests significant improvements since your last study in 1998. We also
share your interest in seeking ways to further improve documentation regarding reasons for
guidelines deviation in child support awards.

We have received input from the judiciary and court administration personnel throughout
the state and would like to raise two concerns about the evaluation of compliance in private
cases:

Reliability of Information Examined: As previously indicated in OSCA' s response to the

March 1998 OPPAGA report, "Review of Adherence to Child Support Guidelines," court
files were not reviewed in their entirety. The data elements used to examine adherence to
the guidelines were gathered from selected documents pulled from court case files. These
documents were provided to OPPAGA by the court clerks. There is no assurance that the
clerks provided OPP AGA with the latest, most relevant documents. Therefore to the
extent that outdated or inaccurate data elements were used to determine adherence, the
number of private cases out of compliance may not be accurate.
Calculation of Support Guidelines: OPPAGA was unable to ascertain who completed the
child support guidelines worksheet and was unable to verify the correctness of the
worksheet calculations. The family law rules require that the parties complete and file the
worksheet. Family court is a high volume court where at least 70% of litigants represent

Supreme Court Building • 500 South Duval Street • Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1900 • http://www.flcourts.org

10
 Appendix C

Mr. John W. Turcotte

Page Two
February 14, 2002

themselves. Many circuits do not have the necessary case management staff to ensure
that litigants file the required paperwork prior to the hearing. At the hearing, calculations
are performed quickly, using pencil and paper, or a pocket calculator. This may explain
some of the cases in which calculation of the support guidelines was not documented.
Furthermore, instances where the judge did not appear to follow the guidelines worksheet
in the file may reflect the fact that the worksheet calculation was erroneous.

As stated in the special report, OSCA responded to the 1998 recommendations by

developing model language designed to capture how the support amount was calculated and the
justification for any deviation. OSCA agrees that, as a matter of best practice, the orders should
indicate whether the amount ordered is the guideline amount and, if not, the judge's reason for
deviating. However, we do not concur with the recommendation for an additional statutory
mandate. In conjunction with the Family Court Steering Committee, we will explore ways to
increase the use of model language in orders designed to easily identify whether the award
conforms to or deviates from the guideline schedule.

Finally, we support the recommendation made in a previous OPPAGA report, Child

Support Guidelines Schedule Should Reflect Current Economic Conditions (December 2000),
which suggested that the Legislature establish a study commission or appoint a select committee
to review the child support guidelines. Furthermore, we suggest that future studies include an
examination of the following factors: 1) frequent reasons for deviation from the guidelines
schedule amount; 2) complexities associated with child support cases that need to be considered
when deciding the child support obligation; 3) variables related to the population of cases where
deviations were made; and 4) other factors that may suggest the need for legislative revision of
the guidelines schedule.

Please feel free to call me if you or your staff have any questions or concerns regarding
this response.

Sincerely,

/s/
Robin L. Lubitz

RLL/SN

11
The Florida Legislature
Office of Program Policy Analysis
and Government Accountability

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OPPAGA provides objective, independent, professional analyses of state policies and services to assist the Florida Legislature
in decision making, to ensure government accountability, and to recommend the best use of public resources. This project was
conducted in accordance with applicable evaluation standards. Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may
be obtained by telephone (850/488-0021 or 800/531-2477), by FAX (850/487-3804), in person, or by mail (OPPAGA Report
Production, Claude Pepper Building, Room 312, 111 W. Madison St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475).
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Project supervised by Debbie Gilreath (850/487-9278)
Project conducted by Chuck Hefren (850/487-9249)
John W. Turcotte, OPPAGA Director