‘Tis The Season For. . . Deadbeat Parent Round-Ups!
December 31, 2010 Minneapolis MN – It’s the end of the year, and the holiday season serves as a reminder of the hardships faced by millions of families that are not receiving their child support. That recognition is evidenced by the numerous “Deadbeat Round-Ups” taking place across the nation. The round-ups are typically initiated by government child support offices working with the courts and involve issuing warrants for the most egregious offenders. Once the “deadbeats” appear before the court, they are faced with the option of paying-up or being locked-up. “The round-ups serve two functions,” observed Support Collectors’ President, Tim Turner. “First, they are effective for bringing in a number of large lump-sum payments and, second, they serve as a reminder to the others not paying child support that their delinquent behavior can result in severe consequences.
According to a report issued by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement this year, there are 15.8 million child support cases in the United States. Unfortunately, the report also shows that 43% of the cases, or 6.8 million, didn’t receive any child support at all during the fiscal year. Turner stated “I commend the government child support agencies for holding their own during this economic downturn, but that’s still a tremendous number of families not receiving their child support. It leaves a lot of people wondering why parents don’t pay in the first place.”
Exploring that question further, Turner noted that “many of Support Collectors’ clients refer to the non-paying parent as ‘deadbeat dads’, but that term doesn’t apply to all parents. Really, there are two types of non-paying parents: those that can’t pay and those that won’t. In my experience, parents who can’t pay are usually disabled, truly can’t work and have very few assets. Many of the other parents can pay – something anyway – but choose not to. Those are the parents my clients refer to as ‘deadbeats’, and Support Collectors deals with them every day.”
In Turner’s experience, the top reasons for not paying child support include lingering hostility toward the custodial parent, financial responsibly to a new family, not being allowed court-ordered visitation and poor financial planning. “Our job at Support Collectors is to refocus those parents so they understand that their first priority is the well-being of their child. All other personal issues and financial obligations have to take a back seat to that. Period.”
Turner has specific advice for parents in 2011: “For the non-paying parents, it’s time to turn over a new leaf – a resolution of sorts. Make paying child support a personal priority. Sit down for a couple of hours and write down all your expenses in one column and your income in another. Figure out how to increase your income or decrease your expenses so child support can be paid.” And for custodial parents not receiving child support: “Take action. Now. Anyone who has ever tried collecting child support will tell you that the longer you let the other parent go without making payments, the harder it is to get them started again.”
About Support Collectors – Support Collectors is a leading national private child support enforcement agency that contracts directly with parents to help them collect their child support and spousal support. The company has been in business since 1996 and maintains an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. For more information visit the company’s website at www.supportcollectors.com or call toll-free at 888-78-CHILD (888-782-4453).