Editorial Sent to Portland Press Hearld

According to a publication released by the U.S. Census Bureau in August of 2007, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support, in 2005, there were about 13.6 million single parents across the United States, and about 6.8 million of these parents were due to receive child support during that year. Child support is paid by the non-custodial parent, usually the parents with equal rights and responsibilities and visitation rights, to the custodial parent, the parent the children live with. Child support is ordered by the court or by a government agency in charge of collecting child support for that state. Of the single parents who were due child support, 22.8% of them did not receive any of the child support due to them during the year, and 30.3% did not receive all the child support they were due. The statistics are staggering when you consider that over half of the single parents households did not receive all the child support ordered to help raise their children.

There are laws to help with child support collection. In Maine, this includes income withholding, suspension of recreational, professional, and driving licenses, tax return interception, and in extreme circumstances, jail time. Unfortunately, there is very little man power to enforce all the requirements. Parents avoid paying support by working under the table and many simply drive with suspended drivers licenses. Tax returns are successfully intercepted only if the parent files taxes and receives a refund. Many either do not file or owe the government money on top of their child support and sometimes other loans. One would think jail time would finally catch a parent’s attention. Unfortunately the civil arrest warrant is difficult to enforce and can actually result in no money and no jail time.

With more time and money, the Department of Health and Human Services division of Child Support Enforcement and Recovery, could follow up with parents who are not paying. With more time, case managers might be able to discover where a parent is working under the table. They might have time to make some phone calls to insure orders and warrants are being honored. In the state of Maine, every new hire is suppose to be reported to DHHS. That does not always happen, with more time, agents could enforce this law and fine companies and agencies that failed to report their new hires. With the heavy case loads case managers at DHHS have, none of this is currently possible.

It is time for society to take this social problem more seriously. The non-custodial parents who do not pay are not simply failing to send the other parent money, they are failing to support their child. If a custodial parent failed to provide the child with food and other necessities, they could face jail time for neglect, and rightfully so. Why shouldn’t it be the same with non-custodial parents? If they fail to provide for the child, shouldn’t they be held responsible in the same manner the custodial parent would be? The answer is yes! By not paying child support, these parents are neglecting their child’s needs, and this matter should be taken seriously.

Parents all over the United States are struggling to raise their children and give them the best opportunities possible. They struggle because of no fault of their own, but because the other parent does not provide the support their children deserve. In the end, it is the children who suffer. It is the children who do not receive all they are entitled to. Children deserve the support of both parents, emotionally, physically, and financially.