New Steps Seek to Boost Child Support Collection Efforts

The Clinton administration announced new measures Thursday to further crack down on deadbeat parents who owe large amounts of child support, saying it will seek criminal prosecutions in addition to the money owed.

The administration said it will establish four new task forces, expanding coverage to 17 states. Justice Department prosecutors and investigators will be assigned to work with state child support and local law officials to go after those delinquent parents who owe the largest sums.

“Children denied financial assistance are among our most vulnerable citizens,” Atty. Gen. Janet Reno said in a statement, noting that such children are more likely to become school dropouts, engage in violence and experience health problems and teenage pregnancy. By prosecuting parents who fail to provide support, “we will help give these children a better chance in life,” Reno said.

Officials at the Health and Human Services department also announced record collections of delinquent support payments in 1998.

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala said $14.4 billion was recovered through a combination of federal and state collection efforts, an increase of 7% from 1997’s $13.4 billion. The figure represents an 80% jump over 1992, when the administration announced it would beef up its child support collection program.

Also, an additional $1.1 billion was recovered in 1998 from delinquent parents by deducting the money from federal income tax refunds for the 1997 tax year, according to HHS. Those funds affected nearly 1.3 million families, and represent a 3% increase from the previous year and a 70% gain since 1992.

The administration has proposed numerous initiatives in recent years to strengthen child support collection efforts. In 1996, it won congressional approval of legislation establishing new penalties for overdue payments, including revocation of driver’s licenses.

The steps announced Thursday represent a modest expansion of that effort.

“We will use every means at our disposal to ensure that those parents who refuse to meet their responsibilities--but who have the resources--will provide emotional and financial support to their children,” Shalala said.

Under the federal tax offset program, state child support agencies report names of parents who owe money and the amount overdue to HHS. The department notifies delinquent individuals that the money owed will be withheld from their tax refund.

The new task forces, which will be established in Sacramento, Baltimore, New York and Dallas, are based on a model project in Columbus, Ohio, launched earlier in 1998.

The Midwest law enforcement task force consisted of HHS officials, Justice Department prosecutors and investigators, local law enforcement officials and state child support agencies. Covering five states--Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio--they investigated 306 cases, resulting in 181 arrests. Of those, 170 resulted in convictions or settlements of more than $3.6 million.

In addition to California, the Sacramento-based task force will be responsible for investigating and prosecuting cases in Oregon and Washington.

The Baltimore task force office will cover Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The Dallas unit will cover Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The New York office will have jurisdiction over New York and New Jersey.

Leora Gershenzon, directing staff attorney for the child support project of the San Francisco-based National Center for Youth Law, expressed doubts about the value of the beefed-up law enforcement effort.

“While there are people or groups who believe this is exactly what is necessary, it may not be the most effective way,” she said. “The whole point is to collect money, and this approach is very expensive. There are other tools out there that are available to find people and move money. The idea is to get cash to kids, not necessarily putting bad guys in jail. It may make you feel better, but it won’t necessarily help children.”

For a look at the dysfunctional Los Angeles County child-support system, see the series “Failure to Provide” on The Times’ Web site:

https://www.latimes.com/child.support