Countywide : Parents Missing Support Payments Face Action
Prosecutors Friday were planning another sweep to round up parents who have failed to pay court-ordered child support following the arrests of 35 county residents since Sept. 2 for non-payment.
“We are serious,”’ said Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard E. Fulton. “If we can’t do it the easy way, we’ll do it the hard way.”
Those arrested so far are parents who have ignored court orders to make payments supporting their children.
Fulton headed the county’s 1986 Kids Deserve Support Program, which offered parents who were in arrears amnesty if they resumed payments. The program began on Father’s Day and ended on Labor Day.
In Orange County, a total of $1.7 million in back child support is owed in about 19,000 cases. Fulton said those figures reflect all cases, from parents who have missed one month’s payment to those who have chronically ignored court orders to pay.
Arrests are a last resort and may encourage spouses to resume contributions when they are released, Fulton said.
“Hopefully, it will ultimately be the children who benefit from this,” Fulton said.
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