County Pays for Success in Catching Its Deadbeats

Ventura County’s child support agency has proven effective in finding parents who fall behind on payments, but has done a poor job making the program pay for itself, according to a study released Tuesday.

“Ventura is doing quite poorly,” said Amy Abraham, director of policy for Children Now, a nonprofit advocacy group in Oakland. “It’s near the bottom,” ranking 49th among the state’s 58 counties.

According to statistics gathered by Children Now and two other advocacy groups, Ventura County loses $1 million a year administering its collection program.

But the district attorney’s office argues that the program manages to collect more than $2 for every dollar spent.

“How is that inefficient or ineffective?” said C. Stan Trom, who heads the district attorney’s child support division.

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What’s more, the agency ranks third in the state for finding parents who owe back child-support payments. Tuesday, Trom released the county’s list of “Most Wanted Deadbeat Parents,” a poster aimed at locating the most egregious offenders.

Children Now advocates agree that Ventura’s program takes in more than double what it spends, but much of that money goes to families and the state and federal governments.

The county program costs about $14 million--with Ventura footing $4.6 million of the bill--and brings in $29.6 million, according to data collected from the State Department of Social Services. But of that $29.6 million, Ventura gets to keep just $3.6 million. Hence, the $1-million loss.

By comparison, Alameda County collects nearly $4 for every dollar spent and cleared almost $2 million on the program last year.

Children Now argues that child support collection should be centralized at the state level instead of administered county by county.

“Parents move all over the state,” Abraham said. “There needs to be a program with a statewide reach.”

Trom countered that state agencies aren’t exactly a model of efficiency.

“How long does it take to get through the DMV?” he said. “Moving the program to a state agency won’t solve anything.”

He said the Ventura County collection program is expensive because it goes after more difficult cases.

“If I collected only the easiest dollars, I could have a smaller staff,” Trom said. “But the more difficult the money is to go after--the harder it is to find a person or his assets--the more money it costs. It’s a tough job.”

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One technique for finding people is the poster released Tuesday, which includes mug shots of 12 current and former Ventura County residents who owe a combined $639,000 in unpaid child support.

Copies of the new “deadbeat parents” poster will be distributed to police stations, post offices, shopping centers and other places visited by large numbers of people.

“We don’t put them on the poster unless we have some indication that they’re in the area,” Trom said.

Previous campaigns have resulted in the arrests of 30 of 42 parents.

Timothy Lewis, who made news last year as delinquent parent “Timbo the Clown,” is on the statewide list of parents who owe back child support. He is believed to have fled to Lima, Peru.

In addition to the poster, Trom announced a new program Tuesday aimed at getting fathers more involved in their children’s upbringing.

The “Dads Count” program stresses the contribution that men can make to their children’s development and urges separated parents to work together to raise their children.

“We’re trying to encourage visitation,” Trom said. “The actual time you spend with your children is just as important as financial support.”

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There are 10 men on the 1996 list, including two men who have already been arrested but have since fallen behind on their payments.

The list also includes two women, Minette Francine Parmentier, a dancer formerly of Simi Valley who owes more than $27,000, and Sheryl Gath, an unemployed mother of two who owes more than $11,000.

Others on the list include Jeff Erb, Daniel Ruiz, Paul Warnock, Francisco Lopez, Alejandro Picasso, John E. Richards, Deryl Charles Taylor, Daniel C. Jacobe Jr., Ismael Ochoa Lopez and Ramon Padilla Perez.

Anyone with information about those individuals is urged to contact investigators at (805) 654-5232. Callers can remain anonymous.

* MAIN STORY: A1