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Overview

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) NCP Choices program helps parents who don't have custody of their children and are struggling financially. The goal of NCP Choices is to help parents make regular child support payments and become financially stable. The program is designed to help these parents find better jobs and move forward in their careers.

The NCP Choices program is offered in 21 Workforce Development Boards (Boards) around Texas:

  • Alamo
  • Borderplex
  • Brazos Valley
  • Cameron County
  • Capital Area
  • Central Texas
  • Coastal Bend
  • Dallas County
  • Deep East Texas
  • East Texas
  • Golden Crescent
  • Gulf Coast
  • Lower Rio Grande
  • North Central
  • Panhandle
  • Rural Capital
  • South Plains
  • South Texas
  • Southeast Texas
  • Tarrant County
  • West Central Texas

The NCP Choices program has shown positive results in helping parents find and keep jobs and support their children. From August 2005 to August 2022:

  • Over 52,000 parents have received help from the NCP Choices program.
  • In Program Year 2022, 50.1 percent of the parents who took part in the NCP Choices program found jobs, and 72.8 percent of them kept their jobs for at least six months.
  • Most parents found jobs within eight weeks of starting the program.
  • The program has collected and paid more than $756 million toward child support.

What We Do

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Education & Training

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Employment Services

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Employment Resources

Authority & Funding

The NCP Choices program started in August 2005. OAG, TWC, Boards, Workforce Solutions Office staff, and family court judges all work together to run the NCP Choices program. 

The program gets its funding through TANF. It is allowed through the TANF State Plan – Texas Health & Human Services and these federal laws and rules:

Reports

The University of Texas at Austin provided a report evaluating the NCP Choices program:

Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources (utexas.edu)

Requirements

To qualify for the NCP Choices program, a parent must meet these requirements:

  • Be unemployed or underemployed
  • Live in the area covered by one of the 21 Boards
  • Be allowed to work legally in the United States 
  • Have a child support order issued by OAG and be ordered by a court to join the program

The services offered to noncustodial parents are like the services provided to TANF recipients through Texas' Choices program. These services focus on helping parents find work quickly. Some of the services include:

  • Helping parents find job opportunities
  • Providing support to help parents in their job search
  • Offering short-term training to learn new skills
  • Giving opportunities for job placement with financial support or work experience
  • Offering GED and ESL classes
  • Helping parents keep the job and move up in their career

When a parent is required to join the program, Workforce Solutions office staff members assess their needs and challenges. Then they create a customized plan to help the parent find a stable job.