Wednesday, May 10, 2000

Getting tough on child-support payments bringing results

---

Money collected up dramatically

By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        When Warren County authorities discovered that a man who owed more than $30,000 in child support had just inherited a large sum of money from his mother's estate, they acted quickly.

        The county Child Support Enforcement Agency went to court to collect $31,100 from the estate last month to pass on to the man's ex-wife. It also collected $11,400 for an escrow account for present and future support of the man's two children.

The cashier window at 800 Broadway where parents can make child-support payments. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

        “We felt a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in being able to recover that amount of money for a custodial parent” who had waited more than a year to get it, said Mitch Bonham, agency director. “She was ecstatic that we were able to recover it.”

        Across the Tristate, such aggressive tactics are being used more often to crack down on parents who fail to pay child support.

        And it appears these get-tough strategies are bringing results. In recent years, the amount of money collected annually by county child support enforcement agencies in Greater Cincinnati has climbed dramatically, mirroring a trend seen statewide.

        That success means higher living standards and brighter futures for children and, one state official suggested, an opportunity for more families to avoid public assistance.

        A healthy local economy and a low unemployment rate have contributed to the increased child-support collections. In certain counties, such as Warren and Boone, an explosive population growth also has been a factor.

        But local officials praise recent state and federal laws and administrative remedies for making it easier to force delinquent parents to start paying child support.

        “We have a lot of new tools to enforce child-support cases,” said Lora Jollis, assistant director of the Hamilton County Child Support Enforcement Agency.

        These methods include:

        •Using an automated process for collecting federal and state tax refunds for child support.

        •Utilizing credit reports to locate income and assets of parents who are delinquent with payments.

        •Seizing proceeds from bank accounts.

        •Automatically sending default notices to parents when they're 30 days late with a child-support payment and, when necessary, filing criminal nonsupport charges.

        •Suspending professional licenses, including the medical licenses of doctors.

        •Distributing “wanted” posters picturing the worst offenders whose whereabouts are unknown.

        •Withholding wages.

        “You have a combination of things that work,” said Sally Schatteman, special prosecutor for the Kentucky Attorney General's Office in charge of child-support enforcement in Campbell County. “You target the kind of remedy that best suits the facts of the case.”

        She said society's attitude about child-support obligations has changed in recent years.

        “When I started this work 15 years ago,” Ms. Schatteman said, “a lot of people really didn't expect to receive child support. Now people do expect to receive it, and people are expected to pay it. The laws are just better and make my job a lot easier.”

        Sharply rising child-support collections have been seen statewide. Annual child-support collection in Ohio increased from $1.1 billion in 1994 to $1.64 billion last year. In Kentucky, the annual amount grew from $131 million in 1995 to $215 million last year.

        “We hope that increasing child-support collections will prevent some people from needing public assistance,” said Jane Haller, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Human Services.

        The jump in collections throughout the state is related to stronger enforcement efforts, not an increase in the number of child-support cases, she said.

        Some counties hire private collection agencies to handle the more difficult cases, and some have boosted child-support enforcement staffs.

        The Hamilton County Child Support Enforcement Agency added 120 workers to its staff because of a settlement of a lawsuit filed in 1996 by the Legal Aid Society of Cincinnati. The settlement forced the county to pursue cases shelved for years.

        “To work on our backlog of cases, we had to bring in more staff,” Mrs. Jollis said.

        County child-support enforcement agencies try to work with parents who owe payments so that they can stay out of jail, retain their jobs and and resume paying child support. But in the more serious cases, the threat of prison sometimes goads the parent into complying.

        For six years, Connie Meyer's ex-husband paid no child support for their two children and eluded authorities by repeatedly changing his name, his appearance and his address.

        The man, who owed $55,196 in child support, began making the payments only after police arrested him three years ago and a judge handed him a suspended 18-month jail sentence.

        With child support, Mrs. Meyer, of Sharonville, has been able to help her 22-year-old daughter with college expenses and save college money for her son, now a high school sophomore.

        “Finally, I was able to save a little for my kids' future,” she said.

        “Prison time seems to be the strongest enforcement tool we have,” said Theresa Ellison, lead attorney for the county Child Support Enforcement Agency. “Our magistrates and judges are good about sending them to jail.”

               

---

Deefield ponders/Nordstrom's cost
   RADEL: Price tag
   A closer look at Nordstrom
   City council concerned about Warren store
KIESEWETTER: $30M contract proves Springer's resilience
A.M. REPORT
Auditor waives right to jury for trial
Big Game a big drain on Ohio Lottery
Chiquita's Hagin joins Bush staff
Elie Wiesel looks for meaning
Ex-school official denied in Ky.
Get to it
Getting tough on child-support payments bringing results
Kings schools ready to build
Lebanon city manager's actions probed
Man sought in drug thefts
Monroe measure aims to restrict Bristol's
Nuclear workers aid plan offered
Oxford EMS gets due thanks
Plan OK'd to divvy Middletown, Monroe teachers
Professor: Book overstates lack of objectivity
Robbery case goes to court
Six schools add social services
Springdale schoolkids take hands-on approach
Sundae raises spoons, awareness
Tax case fallout causes worries
Teen to be tried as adult in killing
The Arts Life: A theater is born
Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book