To look up your state, see here.

Now what happens if the noncustodial parent can’t pay?

A domino effect of penalties — again, varying from state to state — is set into motion. If the noncustodial parent, usually a father, is employed, his paycheck can be garnished. If he has a driver’s license, it can be taken away. Debt accrues. His credit score plummets. In many states, he is charged interest on the debt; in California, for example, that rate is 10 percent.

For many noncustodial parents, these penalties are economically cataclysmic. Many can’t get to work because of transportation barriers. Others have trouble securing housing because of low credit scores and end up homeless. Some work off the books in hopes of supporting themselves and their children directly, rather than seeing money go to the state. Keep in mind that many are already challenged by the stigma of having a criminal record or having been incarcerated.

The impacts are also emotional. Studies show that when fathers owe child support they have significantly less contact with their children, and when they do interact with them, they are less effective parents. Debt also leads to decreased mental and physical health and worsens family relationships.

“I have seen so many fathers cycle in and out of depression and anxiety as they battle systemic oppression and try to maintain relationships with their kids,” Charles Daniels, a therapist and the founder of a Boston-based nonprofit called Fathers’ UpLift , has written. His organization operated the country’s first mental health and substance abuse treatment facility specifically for absentee fathers and families.

Another cruel reality of the system: Even if the custodial parent manages to get off welfare, the noncustodial parent continues to get bills from the state. In fact, national data indicates that a majority of “payback” payments come from parents whose families no longer receive public assistance.

A recent experiment illustrates the heavy impact that debt, and the erasure of it, can have on families in poverty. In it, the San Francisco child support agency, the city’s Financial Justice Project and philanthropic partners collaborated to pay off the debt of low-income parents (30 fathers and two mothers) paying child support.

They made use of something called the Compromise of Arrears Program, in which parents who owe child support debt need only come up with 10 percent of their debt and the state will pay off the rest. For this reason, the pilot only required 40,000 philanthropic dollars.