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This study looks in depth at three family policy issues surrounding one state's attempt to recover costs for child support enforcement services provided to nonpublic assistance families. The issues are whether a cost recovery user fee should be assessed; to whom the fee should be assessed; and how to develop a fee structure to meet criteria established by the policy agents. The original study was mandated by the state legislature. Recommendations were made to the legislature to continue one small fee, discontinue another unpopular fee, and institute three new broad-based fees that would allow for nearly full cost recovery. In an election year the legislature accepted the first two recommendations but chose not to pursue the three new fees. Implications for policy development are drawn, focusing on the impact of user fees on service recipients and the role of the public sector in providing services that are available in the private sector in an era of tighter budgets., Since the 1960s, the share of state and local government revenue coming from user charges and fees has been increasing (Downing, 1992; Netzer, 1992). Included among the reasons for this [...]

Family policy has been defined as 'everything that government does to and for families' (Kamerman & Kahn, 1978), and is often considered the domain containing the most important choices made [...]