The Behavioral Interventions for Child Support Services (BICS) project explores how behavioral science can increase the effectiveness of child support programs. BICS seeks to build a culture of evolution and critical inquiry in the child support community and rigorously test interventions that take into account the obstacles that people must overcome in order to access programs and services. Ohio is one of eight states participating in the BICS project sponsored by MDRC, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) of the Administration for Children and Families in the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The Families Forward Demonstration project (FFD) seeks to build on previous research on employment focused programs to identify strategies for helping non-custodial parents qualify for higher-paying jobs in their local labor market. Ohio is one of six states testing innovative approaches that can be integrated into the child support programs across the country. Strategies include offering occupational skills training, financial literacy, and responsive child support enforcement to improve financial capabilities of non-custodial parents with child support obligations, but are not able to fully meet their obligations due to low earnings. The FFD project is sponsored by MDRC, the Kellogg Foundation, and the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) of the Administration for Children and Families in the US Department of Health and Human Services.