New Powers to Collect Child Support Urged

States should be given the authority to ask employers in other states to withhold wages of parents delinquent on child support, a General Accounting Office report recommended Wednesday.

At a press conference, Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), who wrote a law that permits the withholding of wages of delinquent parents, said that interstate efforts to enforce child support payments are bogged down by conflicting procedures and spotty enforcement.

Bradley’s 1984 amendment to the Social Security Act authorized states to withhold wages of parents who are at least one month behind in child support payments.

The report said that a request to withhold wages within a state usually takes 16 weeks to process but that an out-of-state request can take up to two years. The GAO said several overlapping methods for handling the requests between states account for much of the confusion and delay.

Bradley said that nearly $24 billion was owed last year in child support and that only $5 billion was collected.

Rep. Marge Roukema (R-N.J.), who sits on the Interstate Child Support Commission with Bradley, said only 43% of mothers who receive payments from fathers living and working in other states reported regular compliance with support agreements.

The Department of Health and Human Services is authorized to withhold part of the welfare payments that it sends to states if they do not enforce child support laws. Roukema said the federal government in effect condones poor enforcement when it does not do so.

Bradley said that a bill has been introduced that would mandate criminal penalties for those who do not pay child support. But he said that making the present system work is the best way to provide quick relief for parents owed back child support.

Margaret Haynes, chairwoman of the commission set up to study the interstate system, said recommendations for improving the system will be released in May.

Bradley, Roukema and Rep. Barbara B. Kennelly (D-Conn.)--all members of the interstate commission--said cleaning up the child support collection system will decrease some mothers’ reliance on the welfare system.