Is the child support system set up to punish non-custodial fathers

For years, men have stated that the child support system has its flaws. People are quick to label them as “dead beat dads” and swat away their complaints. YES ONLY FATHERS ARE LABEL DEAD BEAT...

It is a fact that some men are dreadful parents, but not all of them are. Sometimes, the father who’s trying to take responsibility gets milked by a system that favors women, regardless of any measures men take to provide for their children. LIKE THERE ARE NO DREADFUL MOTHERS OUT THERE

Recently, the Richmond Voice talked to Mason Roberts, a father of two who currently owes $30,000 in back child support. M:

“The courts want to keep upholding the image that people, especially African American men, don’t want to pay or take care of their kids, and that’s not it,” he said. WHICH IS NOT TRUE

“We just want fair treatment.” DAMN RIGHT!!!!

Roberts, 41, separated from his wife in 1998. He offered her three options then.

“I’ll take both the kids and you don’t have to pay any child support and you can come and get them anytime you want,” he told his wife of one year.

“Or, you take the girls and I’ll take our son,” he said in reference to a third child from his wife’s previous marriage.

And finally, he told her, “I’ll take them for the school year and you keep them on holidays and during the summer.”

But none of those options satisfied her. And from there, it was the start of a long road to an ugly child support case. WELL I WONDER WHY, BECAUSE A MOTHER WILL TELL YOU THEY ARE HER CHILDREN ONLY

After his wife was granted custody of their children, Roberts was making about $58,000 a year and his total child support payments was a little over $900 every month. YEAH, AND I BET IF THE MOTHER HAD TO PAID SHE WOULD BE PAYING NO $900 EVERY MONTH..

Roberts had no complaints. He was able to afford it so he gladly paid it.

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A look inside Virginia DCSE as it commemorates CSEM

Like rising tide, money keeps washing up to the doors of the Virginia Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE), teeming in its quest to help Virginia children escape poverty. YES LET GET THE MOTHER AND THE KIDS OUT OF POVERTY SO WE CAN PLACE DAD IN POVERTY..

The money comes from stringent collections of court-ordered child support payments from non-custodial parents and from federal government bonuses. Last year, DCSE increased it collections by five percent to more than $587 million for 484,000 children and the feds awarded a $10.7 million bonus for DCSE’s collection efforts. The $10 million bonuses have been awarded for five consecutive years.
This is just the beginning of good things happening for DCSE. YET THESE DCSE OFFICE STILL CAN'T GET A DAMN THING RIGHT.

Adding icing to the cake is a recent recognition by the National Child Support Enforcement Association, which named DCSE the Nation’s Outstanding Child Support Enforcement Program.
A proclamation earlier this month by Gov. Tim M. Kaine did not hurt either. The governor proclaimed August Child Support Enforcement Month (CSEM) in the state.

“Virginia does an outstanding job in collecting child support payments,” Kaine said in issuing the proclamation. “The interests of the children of Virginia are being diligently pursued and protected by dedicated professionals at the local, regional and state levels.” AT WHAT COST TO FATHERS AND THOSE FEW MOTHERS WHO PAID SUPPORT

Those interests are pursued aggressively in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and private companies. Virginia was the first state in the nation to pursue the cell phone records of non-custodial parents owing child support. Cell phone service providers are subpoenaed for addresses and phone numbers. THAT IS WHY I HAVE A TRAC PHONE.... PREPAID, AND NO PERSONAL INFO..
Non-custodial parents are also tracked through new employment where automatic wage withholdings then begin to take place.

Less than a year ago, DCSE also pioneered the statewide use of full-page newspaper ads picturing non-custodial parents who owe their children large amounts of money but have gone AWOL and cannot be found. The response garnered from missing parents was favorable as many sought to pay off their debts to avoid having their names and pictures broadcast.

Last year, DCSE reports that it located 140,956 non-custodial fathers and mothers and established 9,302 paternities. Collection and tracking efforts are evident even on the DCSE’s Website where a most wanted list of the 11 child support dodgers in Virginia, shows that six have been found.

Anthony L. Cooley, a 29-year-old from Fort Eustis is one of those still wanted. He owes $24,869 for one child

In 1998, the DCSE initiated the Passport Denial Program, which makes it possible to revoke, refuse, restrict or limit a passport previously issued to an individual owing more than $5,000 in child support. Since the program’s inception, more than 62,000 Virginians have been denied passports. The largest child support collection ever paid to retrieve a passport in Virginia was in 2003 when $186,968 was collected from a father living in Jordan. I BET NOT MUCH OF THE MONEY WAS SPENT ON THE CHILD(REN)

DCSE this year implemented a centralized customer service call center, located in Martinsville to provide enhanced services to child support customers. The center is expected to handle some 8.8 million calls per year. I CAN TELL YOU THAT THIS A LIE. EVERY TIME I CALL I'M REROUTED TO THE PORTSMOUTH OFFICE OR SOME OTHER OFFICE..

“Each year we strive to improve so that we can provide the children of the Commonwealth what is owed to them,” said DCSE Director Nick Young recently. HE CAN'T EVEN GET THE LOCAL OFFICES TO DUE THEIR JOB, THESE OFFICE LEAK NCP PERSONAL INFO THE EX
Still out of 363,000 child support cases in the state, more than 300,000 children in the state are owed more than $2.2 billion in child support. HOW MUCH OF THIS IS CURRENT SUPPORT AS WELL AS ARRAERAGE
“This fact compels us to continually seek innovative ways to encourage parents to become responsible in meeting their obligations to their children,” said Young. “The end result we are seeking is improving the self-sufficiency of families.” WELL LET THE FATHER BE FATHERS IS A GOOD STARTING POINT.....

But even as the division celebrates this month and its apparent right moves, criticism is never far away.
Some custodial parents want DCSE to do more to locate missing parents who have been ordered by courts to pay child support. They want DCSE to take out more arrest warrants on non-child support paying parents.

Also, a number of non-custodial parents who have “fallen victim” to DCSE’s crutches say that it is riddled with mistakes. A parent who spoke to a Voice reporter last year said that he was still obligated to pay child support for a child who had passed away years before. Another parent said he was ordered to pay back child support from 1989 when his first child wasn’t born until 1993. Both had been fighting to get the situations redressed for years to no avail. YET THESE ASSHOLES DON'T MAKE MISTAKES... THE COURT/JUDGE WON'T DO NOTHING ABOUT, WHY BECAUSE THE STATE MAKES MONEY OFF OF CHILD SUPPORT

Aubrey El, who has had to pay back child support for years when he wasn’t a father yet angrily said that the DCSE’s motives were to perpetuate “a money making scam.” EXACTLY, ITS A SCAM

DCSE’s Young said that mistakes and human error happens. “But we try to fix them [when there’s no] questionable information” provided by parents. WELL THIS IS BULLSHIT, IF THE OFFICE OF DCSE KNOW A CHILD AS DIE AND THERE ISN'T ANY ARREARS, THEN WHY DON'T THEY CLOSE THE CASE ANYWAY..

He emphasizes that everything is done to help Virginia’s children. So if any custodial parents with child support court orders need help locating their children’s other parents, DCSE can step in.

Custodial parents are advised to not accept direct payments for child support from the non-custodial parents after the non-custodial parents have been ordered to pay child support through DCSE. Those who receive a payment directly are urged to send the payment to DCSE so the amount can be applied to delinquent accounts.

To help find parents who are delinquent in their responsibilities citizens can call (800) 257-9986.
–M.J.

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Vt. high court: Mom must pay child support

ONLY A FEMALE CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS ONE, HASN'T PAID SUPPORT SINCE 1991, IF THIS WAS A FATHER HE WOULD HAVE BEEN THROW IN JAIL.. YET, THEY CLAIM THE CHILD SUPPORT ARE NOT BIAS AGAINST FATHERS.. WHAT A BUNCH OF SHIT..

By The Associated Press
10.13.06

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. — The state Supreme Court has ruled that a former Vermont resident must pay child support despite her religious beliefs.

In a split decision, the court said the state can revoke the driver's license of Joyce Stanzione, a member of Twelve Tribes Messianic Community in Arcadia, Fla., who has not paid child support since 1991.

Stanzione was ordered to pay $50 per week in child support when she and her husband divorced and he left the religious community to return to Vermont along with three of the couple's five children, according to court papers.

She never contested the order but made no payments, court papers said.

In 2002, Stanzione was ordered to pay $4,800 to the state to make up for the welfare payments Vermont taxpayers supplied her children while they lived with their father.

Stanzione again made no payments, and in 2003 the Office of Child Support successfully moved to have her driver's license suspended.

Stanzione, 54, appealed that order.

Her lawyer argued that as a member of Twelve Tribes, which has a community in Island Pond, Stanzione is not permitted to have an income under church law. Suspending her license because she has no income violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects religious freedom, said attorney Jean Swantko, who is also a member of the Twelve Tribes Community.

The Vermont suspension bars her from driving in Florida which prevents her from doing church work, Swantko said.

Three of five justices ruled in September that Stanzione is able to pay child support from her share of the Twelve Tribes' annual income.

They also said Stanzione did not show how the license suspension impinged on her religious freedom.

Associate Justice John Dooley dissented, saying her license should be restored.

The evidence "conclusively showed an inability to pay," Dooley wrote.

Twelve Tribes has some 25 settlements worldwide, including Island Pond, which was the site of a raid by the state of Vermont in 1984. State officials alleged the community was abusing its children, but a judge dismissed all charges for a lack of evidence.

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Hacker breaks into Treasurer's Office

By NATE JENKINS / Lincoln Journal Star

Personal and financial information of more than 300,000 people may be in the hands of a hacker following a Wednesday break-in of the state computer system that processes child support payments.

A preliminary investigation of the incident suggests that the hacker did not download the information, said State Treasurer Ron Ross. But the possibility does exist.

“Based upon the method of attack, it is more likely the hacker’s intent was not to steal information, but rather to do something malicious since the hacker inserted a virus onto the server, which we immediately removed,” Ross said.

The child-support payment system was centralized in the treasurer’s office five years ago and now processes $1 million in transactions daily. Identity information potentially stolen by the hacker, which investigators believe may be based outside the U.S. and possibly in Asia, includes: names, addresses, bank account numbers, social security numbers and tax identification numbers.

Roughly 300,000 individuals and 9,000 employers may be affected. Ross said it was the first time the computer system, called KidCare, had been hacked. He was not aware of similar security breaches in other states.

The break-in, which Ross said lasted about 40 minutes, was detected by an employee after coming to work Wednesday morning. The system is not monitored 24 hours a day by a person.

The State Patrol has initiated a full investigation that could include help from the FBI and other agencies. Ross pledged to “get to the bottom of it” and implement new safeguards to prevent future break-ins. But that won’t likely include round-the-clock monitoring of the system by a person.

“I don’t think we’re at a point in government we want somebody standing by a computer screen 24-7, but we do need protocols in place,” Ross said.

“We thought we had good safeguards...somebody got in a door we didn’t think they’d be able to get into.”

The hard drive and server affected by the breach were immediately replaced.

Unlike many arms of state government, the child-support system is not part of the state’s centrally controlled computer system, said Brenda Decker, chief information officer for the state. The incident will prompt state officials to take a closer look at whether it should be.

“We’re working with the State Patrol to see if we can make this as secure and hardened as the rest of the system,” Decker said.

Asked during a press conference if the child-support system had the best available security system, Ross said he believed it did.

Those who pay or receive child-support should closely monitor their bank accounts, and are advised to close them if the see suspicious activity

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Injured spouse claims

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Injured spouse claims. A noncustodial parent’s spouse typically does not have a duty to pay support for the noncustodial parent’s child from another relationship.[110] Thus, if the noncustodial parent and the spouse file a joint tax return, the portion of the tax refund attributable to the spouse is not subject to intercept. If an intercept includes an amount owed to the spouse, there is recourse. The nonobligated, or injured, spouse is allowed to request relief directly from the IRS.[111] The IRS requires submission of an Injured Spouse Claim and Allocation of a Joint Return form for the spouse to claim his or her portion of the offset refund. Money received through a tax refund intercept can be held for up to 6 months to see if an injured spouse will file a claim for a portion of the refund.



Distribution.[121] Collections received by a IV-D agency as a result of a Federal tax refund intercept, both for TANF and non-TANF cases, must be distributed as past-due support as required by 42 U.S.C. § 657. For individuals who have never received public assistance, the amount collected will be sent to them. In former assistance cases and in current TANF cases, some past-due child support payments are assigned to the State as a condition of receiving TANF. When the State receives intercepted Federal tax refunds, the refunds are retained to satisfy any support assigned to the State. After the debt to the State has been satisfied, the refund amount can be applied to any child support owed to the family.

Constitutionality. Federal tax refund intercept has been challenged in both State and Federal courts. Originally, noncustodial parents raised issues of denial of due process based on notice requirements and on an interpretation of the earned income tax credit portion of a Federal return.[122] As courts routinely upheld the validity of Federal tax refund interception, noncustodial parents have raised questions pertaining to the definition of the term “past due.” Courts have held that a supporting parent must fall behind in his or her ordered payments before having his or her Federal tax refund intercepted. The issue often arises in the context of a modification when the court orders that a modification take effect retroactively. Courts have found that, although the noncustodial parent was in arrears based on the entry of a modified order, he or she was not in arrears as the term “past due” was defined by 42 U.S.C. § 664.[123]

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