‘Deadbeat’ Dad Amnesty to Miss L.A.

Project Amnesty, a pilot program for “deadbeat dads” who have failed to make child-support payments, will be implemented in six California counties--but not Los Angeles--for two months beginning Sunday, it was announced today.

Under the plan, discussed at a State Building press conference in downtown Los Angeles, delinquent parents will not be prosecuted if they make arrangements during the amnesty period--from June 16 to Aug. 16--to pay the child-support payments they owe.

The test program has been approved by the state Health and Welfare Agency and the state Department of Social Services. It will be implemented in Orange, Riverside, Ventura, Kern, Santa Cruz and Sacramento counties. Officials estimate that more than $850 million in delinquent payments is outstanding across the state.

2 Attorneys Credited

State officials credited Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred and former Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Robert Philobosian for suggesting the program to the Health and Welfare Agency.

“This project marks a new era in child-support enforcement and will succeed because it will include a massive public education campaign to educate parents about their legal duty to support their children,” Allred said.

Word about the amnesty program will be spread through public service announcements on radio and television, posters, billboards and bumper stickers.

Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, whose office has been conducting a sweep of arrests of delinquent fathers this week, has said the amnesty plan is “not practicable.”