Two things:
I believe this is Richmond, VA. Unless they live in an expensive area for that part of the country, that $800 goes further there than in much of the rest of the country.
The other thing is that in most states the child support obligation is calculated as though the non-custodial parent (almost always the father) doesn't shoulder the entire financial burden of raising the kid. The custodial parent does as well. And that's not getting into paying things like health insurance too.
So if the mother makes half as much as the father, and if for their combined income it's determined (according to their state's law in the algorithm for calculating child support based on their incomes) that the combined financial obligation is $1,500 per month including health insurance. That means the father's obligation is $1,000 while the mother's is $500 (because he makes twice as much as she does). But if $200 per month of his health insurance costs are to cover the daughter, that means he gives another $800 to the mother to count as him covering his $1,000 portion of the overall financial burden while the mother comes up with the other $500 per month as part of paying her normal everyday expenses. That $500 burden of the mother never changes hands in an official capacity as child support. It's just assumed it's added into everyday costs like spending more at the grocery store for having an extra mouth to feed, more in utilities, etc.
So in other words, it's not like anybody said $800/month is the only financial burden there is to raising a kid (your "$800 doesn't go very far"). Child support should always be perceived as being only part of the complete burden.
$800 still doesn’t go very far. Lol.
Since they gave it all away then I can guess that they didn’t need it.
I don’t know why some enterprising lawyer doesn’t file against the real father in these situations.
I.E. You get married, your wife has an affair and gets pregnant by the other guy. Has the while in the process of divorce. You get nailed for child support even though it isn’t yours. Why can’t your laywer get a dna sample from the father, prove it is his not yours, then file on your behalf to sue the real father for the support.