Child Support Enforcement: Credit Bureau Reporting Shows Promise

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed child support agencies' reporting of child support information to credit bureaus, focusing on: (1) which noncustodial parents owing child support are reported to credit bureaus; (2) whether child support payment data are reported to the nation's major credit bureaus; (3) how the data are reported and the difficulty of using standardized credit bureau reporting formats; (4) the states' reporting costs; and (5) whether states evaluate the effect of credit bureau reporting on child support collections.