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The article investigates how the incorporation of a labor supply response would change the estimates of costs and firs-round effects on poverty and welfare participation under an assured child support benefit. The watershed Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRA) delegates responsibility from the federal government to the states to design and administer programs for poor children and their families. Assured benefit proposals have attracted the interest of policy makers at both the state and federal levels. The only assured benefits actually tested in this country have been limited versions available only to former Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients and only in certain states, with the most extensive demonstration conducted in New York. In the absence of labor supply changes, an assured child support benefit will increase the incomes of custodial-parent families, which will decrease the number in poverty and shrink the poverty gap. An assured benefit could also decrease AFDC if the amount of the assured benefit fully offsets AFDC and is larger than the amount of AFDC benefit currently received. An assured benefit might change the number of hours that custodial-parent families work, however, and this could affect estimates of poverty reduction, welfare use, and costs.