Track 3-Child Support and Finances
Fathers in Focus Conference 2025 » Track 3-Child Support and Finances
Child Support and Finances
In this track, we offer sessions that provide guidance on navigating child support agreements, budgeting tips for single parents, and strategies for managing financial responsibilities. Managing child support and finances can be challenging. Whether you’re seeking advice on negotiating child support or looking for ways to improve your financial literacy, these sessions will provide valuable insights to help you make informed decisions.
Breakout Speakers
Pathways to Economic Stability: Family Income, Child Support, and Development
Investigate the connection between income stability in early childhood and child support systems with their effects on school preparedness and lifelong achievement. Quentin provides practical strategies for fathers to enhance economic and developmental growth while highlighting how financial stability during early childhood leads to a brighter future.
Quentin Riser’s research examines how birth, child, and family characteristics, as well as public policies, influence children’s cognitive and social-emotional development and overall family well-being. He is also interested in the application of quantitative research methods and study design within the fields of developmental and family sciences, drawing on secondary, administrative, and other data sources in his work.
His work aims to inform the development and implementation of evidence-based policies and interventions at the local, national, and international levels.
Child Support 101: Understanding the Process and Your Rights
Understand paternity basics and how to establish court cases along with enforcement guidelines before closing cases. The agency’s representative, Miguel McDonald, provides transparent guidance which enables fathers to confidently manage and understand their child support duties. This session offers clear directions and support for individuals with existing or prospective cases who need more understanding.
Miguel Tovar McDonald has been in public service for over 20 years, and has worked at the Dane County Child Support Agency since 2018. He is the father of two. His areas of specialty are, entering new court orders, enforcing existing orders, fiscal case management, interstate cases, and is bilingual in Spanish.
Fatherhood, Child Support, and Custody: Who defines Fatherhood?
Sylvester details his path from poverty to the Super Bowl while exploring his journey through fatherhood and faith and his triumph over adversity. The talk inspires people to understand how resilience and healing enable fathers to become purpose-driven and present in their children’s lives. Gain knowledge about creating a legacy grounded in love and leadership while integrating life’s hardest lessons.
David J. Pate, Jr. is an Associate Professor in the School of Human Ecology, UW -Madison. He was previously at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, Department of Social Work where he served as the Chair Emeritus and Associate Professor. Prior to entering the world of academia, he was a practicing social worker for sixteen years in the areas of direct practice, administration, and policy advocacy.
Professor Pate’s research projects involve examining the life course events of low-income Black males. He is a nationally known expert on non-custodial fathers.
