Child support is generally intended to help with the costs of raising the child—including food, clothing, shelter, and education—but laws vary from state to state and are often unclear on the extent to which child support payments are intended to help the custodial parent pay for half of school supplies, health care, braces, glasses, dental care, uninsured medical care, transportation (car), daycare, sports camps, cheerleading camps, school trips, social activities, and extracurricular activities.

Most state laws (statutes) don’t identify the specific child-rearing costs to which the custodial parent is required to contribute payment from child support and other resources—and because these issues are frequently the source of parental conflict, parents should identify all expected future costs and agree to the process for sharing them.

In Arkansas, child support is primarily governed by the Arkansas Family Support Chart and administrative order No. 10, which establishes guidelines for determining the amount of child support. The purpose of child support is to cover the basic needs of the child, such as food, clothing, and shelter. While the guidelines provide a framework for calculating support, they do not explicitly itemize expenses like school supplies, health care, braces, glasses, dental care, uninsured medical expenses, transportation, daycare, and extracurricular activities. However, Arkansas courts have the discretion to consider these additional expenses when making child support orders. The custodial parent is typically expected to use child support payments to contribute to these costs, but the specifics can vary depending on the circumstances of each case. Parents are encouraged to discuss and agree upon how to handle these additional expenses, and such agreements can be incorporated into the child support order. If parents cannot agree, they may seek a court's intervention to resolve disputes regarding the allocation of these costs.