Providing assistance to incarcerated fathers who have child support obligations can help their post-release community reintegration

Among the growing discussions about race, justice, inequality and incarceration there has been a greater concern over the financial obligations placed on those who are convicted of crimes. In new research, Caterina G. Roman and Nathan W. Link examine the effects of ongoing child support payments on incarcerated fathers after their release, finding that less than a third had their payments changed whilst in prison, and that over 90 percent had payments in arrears after release. They argue that the multiple social services involved with incarcerated fathers both pre and post imprisonment need to provide more coordinated support so that child support orders do not become unwieldy, burdensome arrears.