January 2024 NCSEA CSQ

experience. Some of the more powerful tools noted in Nudge and in much
other behavioral economic research are described below:
• Default options are powerful. In countless experiments, defaults
have been found to be highly effective. iii The Texas Office of the
Attorney General received a waiver from the federal Office of Child
Support Services (OCSS) in 1996 that allowed the Texas Child
Support Division to bypass the requirement that families must apply
for IV-D services and pay a fee unless the child is receiving certain
federally-funded benefits. With this waiver, Texas enacted a program
that automatically enrolled all new child support orders in divorce
cases into the IV-D program in counties that chose to participate.
These families could opt out if they chose to, but the default option
was automatic enrollment. An evaluation of this program showed it
was effective; it increased the IV-D caseload and improved
collections. iv After allowing this program to operate for many years,
OCSS eventually terminated the waiver in 2021. Since then, the
Texas Division of Child Support has implemented a streamlined
application process for parties in divorce cases who want to opt into
IV-D services in those counties that participated in the waiver.
• Humans are social creatures. There are countless ways in which
the actions of others who share aspects of identity (political affiliation,
parenthood status, job, etc.) have a profound effect on the decisions
humans make. Language such as, “Parents who work full-time like
you…” can be powerful ways to increase customer engagement.
• Give feedback during a decision-making event. Indicators such as
a progress bar showing how much is left on an online application or
green checkmarks next to the correct format for email addresses and
phone numbers provide real-time feedback to customers and
encourage their decision to continue.
• Describe the result of a choice as a real-world outcome. For
example: “By checking this box, a Family Violence Indicator (FVI) will
be placed on your account for you and your dependents. This will
ensure that none of your personal identifiable information including
address or phone number are shared with the other parent.”