How to Fill Out and Submit the California Support Questionnaire (CW 2.1Q)

The CW 2.1Q Support Questionnaire is the California form you complete during your CalWORKs application so the Local Child Support Agency (LCSA) can identify and locate the noncustodial parent of each child in your home. You fill out one questionnaire per noncustodial parent, and your county welfare office will not process your CalWORKs case without it.¹ The form itself is short, but it asks for a lot of specific detail, and the fastest way through is to collect that detail before you sit down to write.

Where to Get the Form

The CW 2.1Q is a fillable PDF on the California Department of Social Services forms library at cdss.ca.gov, so you can complete it on screen or print it and fill it out by hand.¹ Paper copies are available at your county welfare office, and in many counties an LCSA staff member sits in on the initial CalWORKs interview and can help you fill it out there.²

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull these records together first. The form moves quickly once you have them, and you avoid the back-and-forth of a case worker asking for information you could have brought the first time.

The noncustodial parent’s full legal name, date of birth, birthplace, Social Security number, and a physical description: height, weight, hair color, eye color, race, and any scars, birthmarks, tattoos, or nicknames.
Their last known home address, phone number, and the name and address of their current or most recent employer.
Your relationship history: whether you were married, divorced, separated, or never married, with dates of any marriage or divorce.
Any existing child support order: order number, amount, the court that issued it, and when the parent last paid.
Each shared child’s full legal name, date of birth, birthplace, and Social Security number.
Additional leads such as a friend or relative who stays in touch with the parent, vehicles or property they own, and any criminal or military history.³

You will not have all of it. That is expected. The point is to go in with everything you do have on paper so you aren’t digging through drawers mid-form.

Section 1: Your Information

Section 1 is about you, the custodial parent. Enter your full legal name, home address, phone number, Social Security number, maiden name, date of birth, birthplace, and race. You also identify your relationship to the children listed later and your relationship to the noncustodial parent — spouse, ex-spouse, friend, or other.¹ Nothing in this section should be blank; it is all information about you.

Section 2: The Noncustodial Parent

This is the longest part of the form and the one the LCSA cares most about. Work through it in blocks.

Identity and Description

Start with the parent’s full name, last known address, and when that address was current. Then fill in Social Security number, date of birth, birthplace, race, and physical description: height, weight, eye color, hair color, and any scars, birthmarks, or tattoos.¹

Employment and Income

Enter the parent’s last known employer, that employer’s address and phone number, the type of work, when the parent last worked there, and whether they belong to a union. Check the type of income they receive (earnings, Social Security, unemployment or disability, or none) and note whether they carry health insurance that covers the children.

Relationship and Existing Orders

Mark whether you and the parent are or were married, divorced, separated, never married, or living together, with dates where they apply. If a court has already ordered support, enter the order number, amount, frequency, court location, and how the parent pays — directly to you, to the county, by payroll deduction, or by covering household bills. Note when the parent last paid and how much.

Locator Details

Give a friend or relative who might know where the parent is. List any vehicles the parent owns (make, model, year, and plate number), any real property or bank accounts, and whether they have been on probation, parole, in jail, or in the military. These questions can feel invasive. They exist because a car registration or a parole officer often leads the LCSA straight to a current address.

Section 3: Children in Your Home

List every child in your home who shares the noncustodial parent you identified in Section 2. For each child, provide full name, sex, Social Security number, city and state of birth, and date of birth.¹ If your children have different noncustodial parents, fill out a separate CW 2.1Q for each parent.

Fields You Can’t Answer

Write “unknown” or “not available” anywhere you genuinely do not have the information. Do not leave the field blank. A blank can trigger a manual review and slow your CalWORKs eligibility determination, while “unknown” tells the worker you tried.³ If you attest under penalty of perjury that you cannot provide certain details, the agency weighs the child’s age, the circumstances around conception, and how long it has been since you had contact with the other parent before deciding whether your level of cooperation is reasonable.²

How to Submit It

The CW 2.1Q produces three copies: one for the LCSA, one for your County Welfare Department, and one for your records.¹ Hand it in at your CalWORKs interview, drop it off at your county welfare office afterward, or upload it through the BenefitsCal online portal if you completed it at home.⁴ Keep your copy. The LCSA caseworker may contact you later for a follow-up interview to clarify details or collect signatures on legal declarations, and your copy is the fastest way to answer them.

Cooperation Doesn’t End With the Form

California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 11477 makes cooperation with child support enforcement a condition of CalWORKs eligibility.² Submitting the CW 2.1Q is the first step, not the last. Cooperation also means appearing at interviews and court hearings on reasonable notice, submitting to genetic testing if paternity is disputed, and giving the LCSA any additional information it needs to establish or enforce a support order.

If the LCSA finds you are not cooperating without good cause, your family’s CalWORKs grant is reduced by 25 percent for as long as the failure continues.⁵ You stay in the assistance unit and your needs are still counted; the cut comes off the overall household grant. Return LCSA calls, show up to interviews, and sign what the caseworker asks you to sign.

Good Cause Exemption

If cooperating with child support enforcement would put you or your children at risk, you can claim a Good Cause exemption at any point. Tell your county welfare worker, and they will give you the CW 51 Good Cause Claim form.⁶ Good Cause applies when cooperation could reasonably be expected to cause serious physical or emotional harm to you or your child, when the child was conceived as a result of incest or rape, or when adoption proceedings or active adoption counseling are underway.⁷

You generally have 20 days after filing the claim to provide supporting evidence, and acceptable proof is broader than many applicants expect. Police reports, restraining orders, and criminal records involving the noncustodial parent all qualify, as do medical or mental health records tied to the parent, records from a domestic violence shelter or program, letters from child protective services, and sworn written statements under penalty of perjury from you or others with knowledge of the risk. If you cannot gather proof in 20 days, tell your worker; the county can extend the deadline. An approved Good Cause claim keeps your full CalWORKs grant intact with no cooperation penalty, and the LCSA will not contact the noncustodial parent.⁶ If you have a Good Cause claim on file, confirm your worker has flagged your case so your address is suppressed in the child support system under the family violence indicator required by federal regulation.⁸

1
California Department of Social Services. CW 2.1 (Q) – Support Questionnaire
2
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 11477
3
County of Santa Clara Social Services Agency. Required Forms – Section: Support Questionnaire (CW 2.1Q)
4
BenefitsCal. Reporting Features Awareness Update
5
California Department of Social Services. All County Letter 98-37
6
California Department of Social Services. CW 2.1 NA – Notice and Agreement for Child, Spousal and Medical Support
7
Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services. 82-500 Child Support Enforcement Program
8
eCFR. 45 CFR 303.21 – Safeguarding and Disclosure of Confidential Information