Where Does Your Child Support Go? Kentucky’s KTAP Pass-Through Debate Explained

Key Takeaways

• When a Kentucky family receives KTAP cash assistance, the right to child support is assigned to the state under KRS 15.808, and most of the support the other parent pays is kept to repay that assistance instead of reaching the child.
• About fourteen thousand (14,000) Kentucky KTAP families did not receive most of the child support owed to them in 2025, according to testimony given to the legislature’s Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary on October 1, 2026.
• Sen. Craig Richardson plans to ask the 2027 General Assembly to pass through one hundred dollars ($100) per child per month, capped at two hundred dollars ($200) per household, without reducing the family’s benefits.
• A nearly identical 2026 proposal, Senate Bill 337, was introduced but never left committee.
• Nothing has changed yet. Every child support order remains fully enforceable, and a pass-through would not change the amount of any court order.
• If your income, custody, or parenting time has changed, the remedy is a motion to modify under KRS 403.213, and any change runs only from the date the motion is filed.

In Kentucky, child support paid for a child whose family receives Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (KTAP) benefits usually does not reach that child. The state keeps that KTAP child support to repay the cash assistance, and most of it is sent to the federal government. That may change in 2027, because a Kentucky senator told lawmakers on October 1, 2026 that he will again ask the General Assembly to let part of that support pass through to the families it was meant for.

At Bowman Legal, we represent parents on both sides of child support cases in Louisville and across Kentucky. One of the questions we hear most from paying parents is simple: “I pay every month, so why is my child not seeing the money?” Here is the answer, and what lawmakers are proposing to change.

What Is KTAP?

KTAP is Kentucky’s cash assistance program for families with children who need financial help. It is funded through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant and administered by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. To qualify, a parent or caretaker relative must meet income and resource limits, register for work if between eighteen (18) and fifty-nine (59) years old, and, critically for this discussion, cooperate in establishing paternity and establishing and enforcing child support for the children in the household.

That cooperation requirement is where the pass-through problem begins.

Why Does Kentucky Keep Child Support Paid for KTAP Families?

The short answer is assignment. Under KRS 15.808, a person who accepts public assistance on behalf of a needy child “shall be deemed to have made an assignment to the office of the right to any child support or maintenance owed up to the amount of public assistance paid.” In plain terms, once a family receives KTAP, the state stands in the custodial parent’s shoes and collects the support as reimbursement.

Kentucky did not invent this rule. Federal law makes the assignment a condition of receiving TANF funds, 42 U.S.C. 608(a)(3), and a separate federal statute, 42 U.S.C. 657, controls how collected support is distributed. Because TANF assistance is paid partly with federal money, the federal government is entitled to its share of whatever is collected. According to Sen. Richardson, the state “currently intercepts it, and it’s sending 72% of those funds to the federal government,” as reported by the Kentucky Lantern through News From the States.

Dustin Pugel, policy director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, told the committee the approach traces back to the old Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, when support was treated as repayment to the government for helping the family. He called it “a 50-year-old conception that I think needs to be updated.”

Who Handles Child Support Enforcement in Kentucky Now?

Child support enforcement in Kentucky is now run by the Department of Child Support Services within the Office of the Attorney General, after legislation passed in 2023 moved the program out of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. That is why the current version of KRS 15.808 refers to the Office of the Attorney General, and why any pass-through law would direct the Attorney General to make the payments. Parents can apply for services, make payments, and check payment history through the Kentucky Child Support Interactive website or by calling the child support hotline at (800) 248-1163.

What Is Senator Richardson Proposing for 2027?

Sen. Craig Richardson (R-Hopkinsville) told the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary on October 1, 2026 that he will bring the issue back in the 2027 session. His plan would let the first one hundred dollars ($100) per child per month, up to two hundred dollars ($200) per household, pass through to the family. That money would not count against the family’s KTAP or other public benefits, so the household would actually be ahead.

Christian Postel, chief executive officer of the Lexington Leadership Foundation, described the current system from the paying father’s perspective: “You’re working, and you’re making child support payments, and your children and their mother receive none of your hard-earned wages.” He added that “in Kentucky, the line between poverty and neglect is as thin as a blade of bluegrass,” and that “any dollars that make it to these children are dollars that keep them further from the system.”

What Happened to Senate Bill 337 in 2026?

Sen. Richardson and Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe filed Senate Bill 337 on March 2, 2026. The bill would have amended KRS 15.808 to allow the Attorney General to pass through up to two hundred dollars ($200) a month in child support to public assistance recipients, and it would have excluded that money when calculating eligibility and benefit amounts. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Committees and saw no further action before the session ended. The 2027 proposal picks up where SB 337 left off.

How Much KTAP Child Support Is at Stake?

According to Mr. Pugel’s testimony, in fiscal year 2025 Kentucky retained more than four million dollars ($4 million) in child support collected for KTAP families and sent about eleven million dollars ($11 million) to the federal government. Roughly fourteen thousand (14,000) KTAP families did not receive most of the support owed to them. Those are dollars a parent paid, often through wage withholding, for a specific child.

Mr. Pugel also pointed to research showing that when support is passed through, paying parents are more likely to pay, more likely to acknowledge paternity, and tend to pay more, and that children are less likely to become involved in the child welfare system later.

How Do Other States Handle Child Support Pass-Through?

Since the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, states have had the option to pass through up to one hundred dollars ($100) a month for one child and two hundred dollars ($200) for two (2) or more children, with the federal government waiving its share of the amount passed through, as summarized by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Sen. Richardson’s proposal tracks those federal limits. Mr. Pugel told lawmakers that Kentucky would be the thirty-second (32nd) state to adopt a pass-through.

Here is how Kentucky compares with its neighbors, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ state table:

State	Pass-through for current TANF families
Kentucky	None
Illinois	All current support and arrears passed through (since January 1, 2024)
Virginia	$100 passed through, plus up to $100 supplemental payment for two or more children
West Virginia	$100 / $200 passed through, plus a $25 supplemental payment
Tennessee	“Fill the gap” budgeting, no standard pass-through
Ohio, Indiana, Missouri	None

What Would a Pass-Through Mean If You Receive Child Support?

If you receive KTAP, a pass-through could put up to two hundred dollars ($200) more each month in your household without reducing your benefits. For a family living on cash assistance, that is groceries, school supplies, or a utility bill. It would also make the child support case more visible to you, because you would see payments arriving instead of disappearing into the state’s reimbursement account.

What Would a Pass-Through Mean If You Pay Child Support?

For paying parents, a pass-through would mean more of each payment actually reaches your child. It would not lower your obligation, and it would not raise it. Your support amount is set by the court under the Kentucky child support guidelines in KRS 403.212, and where the money goes after you pay it has no effect on what you owe.

The enforcement tools also stay the same. Unpaid support can lead to arrearages, income withholding, license suspension, and contempt proceedings. Since July 2026, House Bill 904 also prohibits people on the Attorney General’s child support arrearage list from placing online bets in Kentucky.

Would a Pass-Through Change the Amount of My Child Support Order?

No. A pass-through changes how collected support is distributed; it does not touch the court order. The only way to change the amount is to modify your child support order under KRS 403.213, which requires “a showing of a material change in circumstances that is substantial and continuing.” Under KRS 403.213(2), if applying the guidelines to the parties’ current circumstances produces a change of fifteen percent (15%) or more in the monthly amount, the change is presumed to be material; less than fifteen percent (15%) is presumed not to be.

Timing matters. KRS 403.213(1) allows modification “only as to installments accruing subsequent to the filing of the motion for modification.” If you lost a job, took on more parenting time, or saw the other parent’s income rise, every month you wait to file is a month the old amount keeps accruing, and the court generally cannot reach back to fix it.

What Happens Next in Frankfort?

Under Section 36 of the Kentucky Constitution, the General Assembly convenes in odd-numbered years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, which puts the start of the 2027 session on January 5, 2027. Odd-year sessions are the shorter thirty (30) day sessions, so a pass-through bill will need to move early. Lawmakers can prefile bills before then, and we will update this article if Sen. Richardson’s bill is filed or advances.

How Bowman Legal Can Help

Whether you pay support, receive it, or are trying to figure out why the numbers on your statement do not match what your child is seeing, the place to start is your own order and your own payment history. Our firm handles child support establishment, modification, and enforcement in Jefferson County and across Kentucky, often as part of a larger divorce or custody and parenting time case. When a trial court gets child support wrong, we also handle family law appeals in the Kentucky Court of Appeals and Supreme Court; see our appellate site, Judge Got It Wrong, and our article on when to appeal a family court decision. For quick answers to other common questions, visit our Kentucky family law FAQ.

If you need a Louisville child support attorney, please call our office at (502) 861-7414 to schedule a consultation and start building your strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

About the author. Jason A. Bowman is the founder of Bowman Legal in Louisville, Kentucky. He has practiced law since 2004, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and focuses on complex divorce, custody, and child support matters at the trial level and on appeal. His published Court of Appeals opinions include Allen v. Newton and McClain v. Taylor.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every family’s situation is different. Laws and proposals discussed here may change after the publication date.