Delinquent Payments Roll In : Amnesty Bid Attracts Cash for Child Support

A stockbroker told county officials he was behind on child care payments because his life was “feast or famine.” But his expensive car made county marshals suspicious.

A doctor had been making intermittent payments for child support after he lost a paternity suit, but lately the payments had fallen further behind.

These fathers, and others less well-heeled, are among the offenders who have come forward since Father’s Day, when Orange County announced amnesty for parents delinquent in child support payments, said Bruce Patterson, director of the family support division of the district attorney’s office.

Forgiveness Extended

The amnesty, which ends Aug. 16, seeks to reduce the 38,000 cases of delinquency on file with the county. Parents who face civil or criminal action for nonsupport will be legally forgiven if they pay all money past due.

Patterson said those who can’t afford to pay the lump sum may be allowed to pay in installments. “We’re realists, but we want the good-faith attempts,” he said.

An unexpected twist is that while Orange County has received only two requests for amnesty, the floodgates have opened on child support collections. Rushford said all six counties in a special program have experienced increased collections, some of them dramatic.

Record Collections

Four weeks into the program, the county has raked in record collections of child support payments. June was the biggest month, topping $2 million. A similar pattern has occurred in the other five counties participating, said Linda Rushford, a spokeswoman for the state Health and Welfare Agency.

Kern County reported a 100% increase in payments, and Santa Cruz a 58% increase. Rushford said she believes that all the bumper stickers, press releases and radio announcements promoting the program made people more aware of their child support obligations.

The program, involving Orange, Riverside, Ventura, Santa Cruz, Sacramento and Kern counties, was the brainchild of Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred. Rushford said the combined counties represent the largest amnesty program ever begun in the United States.

“Gloria Allred has often said that her goal is to make nonsupport as socially unacceptable as drunk driving,” Rushford said. “Our goal is not just to see people sign up for the amnesty, but to increase collections and the number of people supporting their children.” Fathers’ rights groups, however, say the issue can be more complicated.

Tony Testa, a counselor with Garden Grove’s Fathers United for Equal Justice, said counseling, communication, and “serious talk across the table” between parents are measures needed to strike at the root of nonsupport. Otherwise, Testa said, amnesty programs won’t work.

For example, a physician in Newport Beach who is a member of United Fathers of America said he has been tempted to withhold child support because it was the only weapon he had in a battle to see his children.

“Despite a court order allowing me to see them, I was experiencing constant harassment and frustration. I didn’t see my children on my birthday for eight years. It was to the point where I wanted to tell my wife, I’m not going to send the support checks until I get to see the kids.”

Others may be so deep in debt, Testa said, neither amnesty nor counseling will help. “I’m not sure anybody $15,000 in arrears is going to suddenly turn around and be a nice guy. That’s the price of a Rolls-Royce,” he said.

Patterson said he hopes more parents are saving up funds to pay back child support before the amnesty program ends.

“They should just be sure to do it before Aug. 16, because after that we’ll have marshals out conducting a major sweep,” he said.

Inquires about the program can be made anonymously through a hot line number, (714) 834-4600, or in person at Room A-100 on the first floor of the County Courthouse in Santa Ana. Those who inquire in person don’t have to give names, Patterson said.