Dear ELECTED Indiana Governor and ELECTED Indiana Lawmakers,
When taking a hard look at how to help improve our economy, I have a tip for you – why not take a hard look at the child support divisions and their activity?
Currently I’m hanging out in a position where I can clearly see both sides. On one side, I see a man who has paid his support religiously – who has even paid well above what he had to because he cared. Who is currently being drug through the very SLOW process of dismissing the case because circumstances have changed that no longer require child support payment be made. This has been going on since the end of May 2010 and the case is not closed as yet but the court is still clocking up a dollar amount each week as if he actually owes and keeps sending notice of unpaid docket fee to pay for a service he isn’t even using.
At the moment, I am avoiding filing my taxes because I want to know if my local child support office is going to stick it to ME even further by doing a tax intercept on child support that is NOT owed by my spouse. Sure we can file separately, but why should we be out even a few hundred dollars?
On the other side, I’m the custodial parent who has been trying to get child support for damn near 15 years.
In 2001, I was able to get the prosecutors office to take the case and over time, some methods actually worked to get him to send the kids something! Things like body attachments and revoked licenses worked some – however, late last year there was an administrative change in our local office and from what I can see and was told, changes to procedure took place then too.
In my most recent letter to the child support office I told the office that the man is indeed working, making a good chunk of money but is doing it all for cash or in the names of other people. I also shared the general proximity of where he lives and asked them to take a good look at my history, that I’ve essentially raised my boys with very little help – ever. But now, I need help. My kids are turning 18, they are looking at college, driving and I NEED help! I either wanted to figure out how to get him to support our kids or I wanted him in JAIL!
The response I got simply said “they have no luck putting a man in jail when they can’t prove he is working” and that it’s recommended that I file a contempt citation with the Indiana Supreme Court myself. If that didn’t work, I could look at filing criminal charges against him.
How about THIS idea – why not gather up all the deadbeat parents (I say parents because there are just as many worthless mom’s as there are dad’s) and put them in a halfway sort of house on work release.
Get their lazy, no good, non child support paying asses to do the jobs that “Americans won’t do but illegal immigrants will” and intercept their checks to send in support of their kids.
Perhaps if deadbeats realized that ONE WAY or another they WOULD be working and supporting their kids, they would be a little more likely to pay.
As it stands now, they have NOTHING to fear.
People that don’t care for their own kids don’t care about things like tax intercept – because they are working for cash. They don’t care about things like suspended licenses, because they will drive anyway. They don’t care about things like credit report hits, because their credit sucks to begin with.
Get to them in a way that is most effective. They can either work a job they enjoy and pay or they will be working a job the state gives them and pay.
How’s that for a solution?
Sincerely,
Gayla
Attention Readers: Are you a custodial parent who has trouble collecting child support? What has been your experience? What has worked? What hasn’t worked? Please share so we can all learn from one another.
