Expert Child Support Economist

Company Description

The State of Minnesota is one of the largest employers in the state, with over 50,000 employees across more than 100 state agencies, boards, commissions, colleges, and universities. Employees work in 86 of Minnesota’s 87 counties, as well as in some out-of-state locations. Joining the State of Minnesota offers a chance to impact the lives of millions and contribute to improving the quality of life for all Minnesotans.

Description of Project

The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Child Support Division is seeking the services of an expert child support economist with demonstrated expertise in child support policies, practices, laws and regulations, to compile economic data and analyze economic and case data for the 2026 quadrennial review of the state's child support guidelines, required by the Family Support Act of 1988, 45 C.F.R. § 302.56 and Minn. Stat. § 518A.77. The purpose of the quadrennial review is to give the STATE the opportunity to regularly examine the goals and the effectiveness of its child support guidelines.

The selected Responder (Economist) must provide:

• • Support and innovation in the review and analysis process, and with the development of the written report
• • Unbiased research, data, and reports to help the STATE thoroughly analyze the effectiveness of their child support guidelines
• • Flexibility and collaboration, including recommending adjustments to the review process as needed in revising the written report

The STATE is required to submit the final written Minnesota Quadrennial Review 2026 report to the Minnesota Legislature by December 2026. To facilitate this process, the economist will collaborate closely with STATE staff, to ensure that all federal and state requirements for the review are thoroughly addressed. A budget of up to $50,000 has been allocated for the economist's role, which entails compiling and analyzing economic data—particularly labor market research—and assisting in the analysis of case data. This effort aims to assess the impact of the child support guidelines on participants, enabling the STATE to produce a comprehensive review and fulfill the requirements of the written report.

Desired Qualifications

• Research skills and experience in providing analysis and recommendations for modification of federal or state guidelines and legal statutes for human service and governmental programs;
• Knowledge and skills in accessing and analyzing large data sets from multiple resources;
• Expert ability to perform economic research and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data variables having multiple dependent and independent relationships;
• Collaborative skills and flexibility to manage complex data projects with a team of subject matter experts;
• Experience conducting and participating in virtual meetings, as requested;
• Experience repairing and updating project work plans, and any changes that need STATE approval
• Experience writing and presenting accessible expert reports for governmental leadership teams;
• Experience preparing and writing accessible reports for posting on governmental program public web pages (written in plain English and in accessible formats);
• Experience providing data and other research to support recommendations, for STATE records as requested (quantitative data files should be provided in unlocked Excel formats);
• Experience providing documentation of analysis to ensure adherence to academic rigor;
• Experience protecting data privacy and security of any project related information shared by the STATE.

Contact Person

For the full PDF version of the solicitation please contact Niambi Shakir, Grants Specialist 

Niambi.Shakir@state.mn.us, Family Wellbeing Administration, Child Support Division

Questions should be emailed to the contact by December 5 , 2025 not later than 4:00pm Central Time

Other personnel are not authorized to answer questions regarding this Quick Call.