April 2024 CSQ

to regular payment of support and places parents who owe child support at
a disadvantage in supporting their children and being self-sufficient. Just as
parents who receive support are recognized in the Internal Revenue Code
for the cost of raising children, so too should parents who provide support
for their children in the form of monthly child support payments.
iv
Computing hypothetical federal income tax calculations requires many assumptions, such as whether the parent would claim the standard
deduction or itemize deductions. For the purposes of this scenario, the calculations have deliberately been kept as simple as possible. Further,
it is assumed that the parents have not obtained a court order governing which parent can claim the child as a dependent and have not
otherwise agreed that the noncustodial parent can claim the child as a dependent.
v
AGI: Adjusted Gross Income.
vi
HH: Head of Household.
Elizabeth Morgan is a management consultant for Public Knowledge® where she provides subject matter
expertise on data privacy law and child support policy, as a consultant to the Office of Child Support
Services (OCSS). Elizabeth has focused much of her career on child support distribution policy and has
been a lead author of federal policy guidance and training for distribution requirements under both
PRWORA and the DRA of 2005. She is an individual member of NCSEA and has served as co-chair of
NCSEA’s Policy and Government Relations’ Legislative Education Subcommittee for the past five years.
She is a past-president and honorary lifetime board member of WICSEC. Elizabeth holds a B.A. from
Whitman College, an M.S. from Western Washington University, and a J.D. from Seattle University.
Jim Fleming is the director of the Child Support Section of the North Dakota Department of Health and
Human Services, Immediate Past President of the National Child Support Engagement Association
(NCSEA), member of the Board of Directors for the Western Intergovernmental Child Support Engagement
Council (WICSEC), and former President of the National Council of Child Support Directors (NCCSD). Jim
is a member and former co-chair of NCSEA’s Policy and Government Relations Committee and NCCSD’s
Policy and Practice Committee, and a member of the NCCSD Executive Committee and the editorial
committee for the NCSEA Child Support CommuniQue. Jim also co-chairs NCCSD’s Employer
Collaboration Committee. In 2023, Jim was given a Partnership Award for Professional Excellence from the
National Tribal Child Support Association. Jim was named the 2022 recipient of the American Payroll
Association’s Government Partner Award. He received his B.A. from the University of North Dakota and his
J.D. from Notre Dame Law School.