Children Have a Right to Support

Carrie’s father fled California and doesn’t pay his child support.

“Sure, parents are threatened with letters and court documents stating how much they owe, but those end up thrown in the garbage, along with any respect for the entire legal system,” said Carrie. “If the biological parent does not pay, who does?”

Unfortunately, in most cases, it’s you and I who pick up the several-million-dollar tab. Despite the relief, more than one in four children in this Golden State live in poverty--a disheartening fact, given that many of these children are born to parents who can afford to support them. According to one federal official, up to 40% of our welfare dollars go toward children whose fathers could afford to pay child support. When did they lose sight of the basic value that their children are their responsibility?

Many California parents can and do pay child support, but when some turn their backs on innocent children, it’s time for legal intervention. Supporting our children must be our highest priority. At the California District Attorneys Assn., we have increased our efforts to pass tougher child support legislation and provide enhanced training for prosecutors in all 58 counties. The result is better informed, more effective advocates for children.

District attorneys statewide are beginning to see positive results from their local efforts. Recent data show that total collections in California this fiscal year amount to more than $1.4 billion. This represents a 14% increase from the previous year. Over the past eight years, collections have more than doubled.

The fact is that California district attorneys do much better collecting from those in default on child support than does the IRS in collecting from those in default on taxes.

With August launched as National Child Support Awareness Month, the message remains clear: Not paying your child support is a serious crime punishable by time in the county jail. Paying this support on time for the full amount due can make a significant difference between a family going on welfare or having some financial independence. And with welfare reform, the stopgap measures are shrinking vastly.

Sadly, it often takes enforcement for some parents to start taking some responsibility.

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In many cases, district attorneys report that it takes more energy for the noncompliant parents to avoid paying support than to simply write the check. A little more difficult to enforce are cases involving noncustodial parents who receive their wages under the table.

In one Northern California case, a man was building a home in Southern California and had placed his new home under his new spouse’s name in an attempt to hide his assets. A hold was placed on his contractor’s license and he allowed his license to be suspended. A title company later contacted the district attorney’s office and payment for all of the arrears, totaling $50,000, was collected.

As one child involved in a support dispute said recently: “We deserve to be cared for because we have done nothing wrong. We did not choose our parents, nor did we ask to be abandoned. We are victims of a crime, and sadly, one of our parents is the criminal.”

How can perpetrators of this form of abuse continue to abandon their children to poverty, neglect and emotional suffering?

Although these unfortunate cases are not isolated, there is hope. District attorneys have received the call to action from one of our most important constituencies: California’s children.

It’s time to stand up for the children.