Nebraska Child Support Enforcement for Relative Caregivers

When you apply for an ADC child-only grant in Nebraska, DHHS requires you to cooperate with the state's Child Support Enforcement Division. For many grandparents and relatives, this is an unexpected — and sometimes unwelcome — part of the process. Understanding how it works, and what protections exist, helps you make informed decisions.

What Cooperation Means

By accepting ADC cash assistance, you assign the child's support rights to Nebraska DHHS. That means the state takes over efforts to:

• Identify the non-custodial parent (the child's absent mother or father)
• Establish paternity if it hasn't been legally determined
• Pursue or enforce a child support order against that parent

You're expected to provide information that helps the state locate the absent parent — names, addresses, employers, and similar details. If the state collects child support, DHHS retains the payments up to the amount of the ADC grant.

When You Can't or Shouldn't Cooperate

Nebraska recognizes that cooperation isn't always safe. You can claim a good cause exemption if:

• Pursuing child support would put you or the child at risk of physical or emotional harm (domestic violence situations)
• The child was conceived through rape or incest
• Adoption proceedings are pending before a court

The report identifies these circumstances as good cause for non-cooperation and says caregivers may claim good cause without penalty.

The 25% Reduction

If you decline to cooperate and do not have an approved good-cause exemption, DHHS reduces the child's ADC grant by 25%. For a one-child grant at the current maximum of $623, that's a reduction of about $156 per month.

Some caregivers make a deliberate choice to accept the reduction rather than involve a parent who poses a safety risk. If safety is the issue, ask DHHS or a legal aid navigator what information to submit for a good-cause determination.

This Doesn't Affect Medicaid

The child support cooperation requirement is tied to the ADC cash grant. It does not affect the child's Medicaid eligibility. Even if the ADC grant is reduced due to non-cooperation, the child retains full Medicaid coverage.

Practical Considerations

Many kinship caregivers are grandparents whose own adult child is the absent parent. The dynamic is emotionally complicated. You're raising their child while the state pursues them for support payments. Some grandparents know exactly where the parent is but face moral conflict about reporting that information.

Nebraska law doesn't give you a way around this other than the good-cause exemption. If there's a genuine safety concern, file the claim. If there isn't, cooperation is a condition of receiving the full grant.

Our Nebraska Financial Help guide walks through the child support cooperation process step by step — including the good-cause documentation requirements and how to handle the 25% reduction if it applies to your situation.

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