Project for the Improvement of Child Support Litigation Technology (PICSLT) focuses on the science, engineering, and application of child support guidelines. Project work began in 1989.
Project for the Improvement of Child Support Litigation Technology
This page was created on August 29, 1999
Last changed on January 22, 2003
Roger F. Gay, Project Leader
roger.f.gay@picslt.org
Project for the Improvement of Child Support Litigation Technology (PICSLT) is an R&D project that focuses on the science, engineering, and application of child support guidelines. Project work began in 1989 with investigations at Intelligent Systems Research Corporation and has continued as an independent project since 1994. An historical overview of the project is given in the paragraphs below. A list of articles is provided with www hotlinks to those available on the web.The initial research question dealt with methodology. Traditional child support law was conceptual. Some believed it to be quite vague. Researchers had not been able to systematically describe a complete set of concrete rules for child support decision making based on it. There was speculation that traditional law produced inconsistent results. Yet the federal Family Support Act of 1988 mandated use of mathematical formulae with a legal presumption that the amount calculated is the correct amount of child support to be awarded. Is it possible to design a proper child support calculator? Can traditional engineering methods be employed to do it?
The initial goal of the project was to develop what might be called a toolkit for guideline development. The toolkit would consist of a systematic approach to detailed coding of child support policy decided upon by each state's legislature. It was believed that general mathematics could be developed and then adapted to provide the best support for policy in each state. In addition, it was believed that many states would have such similar policy that experience with the process could potentially become routine and that some coding and mathematics would be used repeatedly or even become standard.
The constitutional requirements do not change, no matter how other characteristics of the project work have evolved. The initial plan was created to correspond to the constitutional process of legal construction. Only the legislature can create a statute. The statute must define the purpose of the law and provide a sufficient basis for judicial action. Additional law is created by case precedence. In correspondence to the basic right of due process, challenges to lower court decisions may be made, and higher courts make new decisions. If initial decisions are made on the basis of guideline calculations, the guidelines themselves must be adaptable to account for new decisions.
Child support science was not sufficiently developed. The greatest limitation to implementing federal law was inadequacy in the science of child support decision making. It was found to be possible to do the engineering, but only up to the point supported by science. The science however was incomplete.
Two major problems existed, and the pathway to the solution to one was blocked by the lack of a solution to the other. Traditional child support law held that to a practical extent, children should be sheltered from the standard of living loss that accompanies divorce. This led to what has been known as a standard of living adjustment, or "add-on" in some models. No one had derived a formula for calculating the amount of the adjustment, and some researchers seemed to believe such derivation impossible.
In 1994, PICSLT presented New Equations for Calculating Child Support and Spousal Maintenance With Discussion on Child Support Guidelines. (See citations below.) This paper provides the only mathematically derived solution to the standard of living adjustment problem. With it came a concrete scientific understanding of the distinction between child support and spousal support. With that, came the possibility of deriving a single uniform theory of child support decision making. "Child support" has a fundamental derivable definition.
It now appears possible to develop a complete scientific theory for child support decision making. ("New Equations ... is primarily a mathematics paper. If you'd like to start with an easier read, click on The Alimony Hidden in Child Support below. For a step by step guide to developing child support guidelines, click on Rational Basis is the Key Focus in Emerging 'Third Generation' Child Support Technology. If you're looking for an overview, see The Child Support Guideline Problem.)
The second problem arises partially due to the lack of data on spending on children. The problem could not be addressed without a complete theoretical model. The theoretical decision model is first needed in order to define the data that is needed for the numeric component of a functional guideline.
In the mean time, states had been changing their laws to compensate for the inadequacy of their guidelines. Most states have now eliminated the conceptual basis of child support awards and have thus eliminated reliance on the constitutional process of legal construction, as well as the right of due process in child support decisions.
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REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS:
DEBATE related to Georgia decision declaring guidelines unconstitutional:
Introduction:
A Return to Welfare As We Knew It? The beginning of the end for child support reform
Debate articles:
Laura Morgan at the Bottom of the Slippery Slope
The Constitutionality of Child Support Guidelines Debate, Part IIGay, Roger F., Congressional testimony on child support and fatherhood, House Ways and Means, subcommittee on Human Resources, for the hearing June 28, 2001
Gay, Roger F., and James R. Johnston Review of Ohio child support law with recommendations for improvement, August, 2000
Gay, Roger F., Congressional Testimony: HR1488, The "Hyde-Woolsey Child Support Bill", In relation to the hearing of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, March 16, 2000.
Gay, Roger F., High Child Support Awards Deny Contact between Fathers and Their Children, Fathering Magazine, March, 2000.
Gay, Roger F., Jim Johnston, and Hans Dutt, Initial Review of Kentucky Child Support Law, January, 2000.
Gay, Roger F., Why Do Current Child Support Guidelines Need Improvement, Fathering Magazine, January, 2000.
Gay, Roger F., Will credit for visitation and shared parenting create resistence from custodial and "primary parents?", November 5, 1999 (UPDATED January 2003).
Gay, Roger F., Accounting for Visitation and Shared Parenting, September 28, 1999.
--, James R. Johnston, and Hans Dutt, Initial review of West Virginia child support law with recommendations for improvement, Released for Public Use on September 23, 1999.
Gay, Roger F., and Barry Koplen, Recommendations for Improvement of Child Support Law in the State of Virginia, June 24, 1999.
Gay, Roger F., The Alimony Hidden in Child Support, Fathering Magazine, June 1999.
--, and Jay H. Todd, Recommendations for Modification of Child Support Guidelines and Reform of their Use Corresponding to the Views of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, June 1998.
--, and Gregory J. Palumbo, The Child Support Guideline Problem, May 1998.
-- The Alimony Hidden in Child Support, New Scientific Proof that Many Child Support Awards are Too High, The Children’s Advocate (NJCCR, Box 316, Pluckemin, NJ 07978-0316), January, 1995, Vol. 7 No. 5.
-- Time Limiting Cash Assistance in President Clinton’s Welfare Reform Proposal, submitted for the record to the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, August 16, 1994
-- Transitional Assistance, Work, The Role of States in Welfare Reform, and Financing Issues, submitted for the record to the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, August 9, 1994
-- Welfare Reform and Parental Responsibility, submitted for the record to the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, July 26-29, 1994
-- New Equations for Calculating Child Support and Spousal Maintenance With Discussion on Child Support Guidelines, Report of the Project for Improvement of Child Support Litigation Technology, 1994.
-- Settling the Debate Once and For All, An Essay on the Nature of ‘Child Cost Estimates’ and their Application in Child Support Award Calculations, A table-top paper available to attendees at the conference book store, at the Eighth National Conference of the Children’s Rights Council, held at the Holiday Inn, Bethesda, Maryland, April 13-17, 1994
-- Child Support Reforms in Perspective: Written statement for Oversight Hearing on Child Support Enforcement, submitted for the record to the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, June 10, 1993
-- An Alternative Child Support Guideline for States to Consider, Preliminary Report, Presented at the Seventh Annual Conference of the Children's Rights Council, Holiday Inn, Bethesda, MD, April 28 - May 2, 1993.
-- Rational Basis is the Key Focus in Emerging 'Third Generation' Child Support Technology, in Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Conference of the Children's Rights Council, Holiday Inn, Bethesda, MD, April 28 - May 2, 1993.
-- Written statement on the subject of the Changes in the Poverty Rate and Distribution of Income, submitted for the record to the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, September 10, 1992.
-- Written statement on the subject of the Downey / Hyde child support enforcement and assurance proposal, submitted for the record to the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, July 17, 1992.
-- Brief History of Prevailing Child Support Doctrine, in Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Conference of the National Council for Children's Rights, Arlington, VA, March 19-22, 1992. {Presented in relation to conference presentations.}
-- w/ Robert Bancroft, Brent Whiting, and Ronald K. Henry, Project for the Enhancement of Child Support Litigation Technology, A Concept Paper Submitted to: the State Justice Institute, Alexandria, VA, December 4, 1991
-- Recalculating Espenshade's 'Cost' of Raising Children. Intelligent Systems Research Corporation Report; Special Report No. ISR-100191.01, Child Support Series Report No. 3, October 1, 1991.
-- Testimony in P.O.P.S v. Gardner, expert testimony consisting of several analysis papers on the technical elements of the Washington State child support guidelines related to the legal issues brought before the court. Produced numerous reports between March and August of 1991 for presentation to the court and as advisory information to attorneys preparing legal briefs.
-- Child Support Guidelines: Resolving the Dilemma, A Summary Report on Design of Federally Mandated Child Support Schedules, Intelligent Systems Research Corporation Report; Special Report No. ISR-091490.01, Child Support Series Report No. 2, September 30, 1990.
-- Pilot Study on the Development and Evaluation of State Guidelines for Calculation of Child Support Payments, Intelligent Systems Research Corporation Report; Special Report No. ISR-032590.01, Child Support Series Report No. 1, April 16, 1990.
Cited or Assisted;
Rowles, Gerald L., The Fatherhood Movement: A Constituency In Search of a Representative, Toogood Reports, February 13, 2001
R. Mark Rogers and Donald J. BieniewiczChild Cost Economics and Litigation Issues: An Introduction to Applying Cost Shares Child Support Guidelines, Presented at the Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting, Section for National Association of Forensic Economics, Alexandria, Virginia, November 2000
Dr. Richard Weiss and William Wood, Joint Statement H.R. 1488, The "Hyde-Woolsey" Child Support Bill, March 16, 2000
Laframboise, Donna, Pilloried, broke, alone, National Post, March 25, 2000
Koplen, Barry, Report to the [Virginia State] Quadrennial Child Support Guideline Review Panel, June 1999, and Minority report to the Virginia legislature, September, 1999.
Ballard, Travis, Esq. Children of America: Fatherless and in Need of Immediate Intervention Understanding the Crisis and Recommendations for Change, submitted to the White House on Monday, November 27, 1995 for a meeting convened to discuss the supporting of fathers in families. National Congress for Fathers and Children.
Calhoun, Janelle T., Interstate Child Support Enforcement System: Juggernaut of Bureaucracy, Mercer Law Review, Federal Judicial Independence Symposium, Winter 1995, Volume 46, Number 2, page 921.
Children’s Rights Council (Washington, DC), Model Child Support Guideline, Donald J. Bieniewicz, et al. (As Consultant) Published in a book on alternative child support guidelines by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Support Enforcement.
-- Comment on Canadian Child Support Guideline Report, Submitted to the Canadian Federal / Provincial / Territorial Family Law Committee by the Associaton of Concerned Academics, University of Alberta, Canada; M.E.R.G.E., Suite 501, 10011 - 116 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T5K 1V4, October 7, 1992
Chavez, Don, Commissioner (editor Phil Holman), Minority (Dissenting) Report of the U.S. Commission on Interstate Child Support, presented to Congress in June, 1992. As Major contributor.
Clarke, Caroline V., Washington Watch: Deadbeats Beware, Working Woman, May, 1992, p 24.
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