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 Kansas, child support is designed to cover the basic needs of the child, which include food, shelter, clothing, education, and other necessities. The Kansas Child Support Guidelines provide a framework for determining the amount of child support to be paid, taking into account the income of both parents and the needs of the child. While the guidelines aim to ensure that the child's needs are met, they do not provide an exhaustive list of specific expenses. Costs such as school supplies, health care, orthodontic treatment, glasses, dental care, uninsured medical expenses, transportation, daycare, and extracurricular activities are generally expected to be covered by child support payments, but the extent to which child support must cover these costs is not explicitly detailed in the statutes. Parents are encouraged to discuss and agree upon how to handle these additional expenses, and if they cannot agree, they may seek a court's intervention to resolve the matter. It is advisable for parents to clearly outline the handling of these costs in their parenting plan or support agreement to prevent future conflicts.