Filing a tax return with only $3000 of earned income will get you a very small amount of earned income credit --- about $1200 --- and maybe a few dollars of additional child tax credit. You only get additional child tax credit for the amount over $2500----so your ACTC would be less than $40 for $3000 of income from working, assuming all the kids are under 17.
The child support you received is not taxable and is not entered anywhere on your tax return. The child support is not used to calculate any child-related credits you can receive. Only income earned from working is used to calculate child-related credits.
If you are still legally married you do have the option of filing married filing jointly with your spouse, even if you do not live together.
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
