What did the Family Support Act of 1988 do?

The goals included making dependence on welfare a last resort, making child support payments a first resort, and creating a system through which low-income families could improve their circumstances permanently by preparing for and engaging in meaningful employment

The Family Support Act is divided into to five sections known as titles. Title I includes changes to the federal child support enforcement program that are to increase the number of eligible children's rewards; providing guidelines for establishing the rewards; and finally strengthening the means by which debts are collected from parents. Title II mandates states to implement "a welfare-to-work training and employment program (JOBS) and is subject to a number of exceptions including mandating that all AFDC recipients participate" (Wiseman, 1991). Title III provides supportive services for recipients of JOBS and their families such as extending childcare and eligibility for Medicaid for those leaving the AFDC rolls of employment. Title IV mandates inclusion of the AFDC-Unemployed Parents (AFDC-UP) program, which allows states to include two-parent families with children to obtain federally subsidized AFDC benefits if the father was involuntarily unemployed (Wiseman, 1991). Lastly, Title V authorizes a series of demonstration projects.