Supporting Our Children

Although financially supporting your child is important, it takes more than money alone to raise a child. Children require quality time and guidance in addition to financial support. 

A Broken Money Making System

The Child Support System was developed in the 1980's as a way to ensure that once a couple divorced, a documented arrangement was set in place that outlined the financial responsibility of the non custodial parent inregards to any child(ren) that they both shared. It also outlined the responsibility for medical coverage. Over the years, things have changed. 

Although the child support system may have had good intentions when it was established,  it has now transformed into a brick wall that separates custodial and non custodial parents while taking the importance away from the child(ren). The system is based on generating money, via the use of 3rd party organizations that seek out those parents who have failed to pay their monthly obligation. The system has hindered parent's ability to come together and raise their children.

The Unbalanced Justice

The amount of money that the court system legally requires the noncustodial parent to pay is sometimes outrageous. The grounds for these monetary amounts are based on allowing the child to maintain the same financial quality of living as they had enjoyed when the parents were together, although the situation is no longer the same. As a result of this law, many non custodial parents are being subjected to a list of unjust actions such as:

• Driver licenses suspension
• Incarceration
• Loss of Jobs and wages
• Bank and tax finances being forfeited 
• Liens
• Wage garnishment
• Homelessness
• Loss of passports
• Many parents express the feeling of being treated like criminals or having no rights. 

Parents with and without disabilities are having up to 65% of their income garnished, leaving them unable to live a normal life. For non custodial,disabled veterans, whom many of their children's college tuition are covered by the Veterans Administration, few if any receive credit towards their child support case. All support that is made outside of the Child Support Payment system is considered "Gifts" and is often overlooked by the courts. This treatment causes many non custodial parents to reframe from spending any additional money on their children that they would normally have no problem spending.

Once the child is 18, Child Support continues to force the noncustodial parent to pay a parent who is no longer raising a child, as if the noncustodial parent is Indebted to them. All odds are stacked against the noncustodial parent, who often stop working, loose their homes and cars because of the unfair treatment and garnishment of a large portion of their hard earned income

However, Custodial parents aren't monitored monthly. There is no system of accountability set in place for how they spend Child Support Money. Many have no jobs and are choosing to live off of Government assistance and Food Stamps instead of seeking gainful employment, leaving the non custodial parent responsible for all monies paid to the custodial parent. If a custodial parent falls behind and family or friends have to step in to financially provide for the child, the custodial parent is not punished by any of the methods listed above, nor is the custodial parent given credit for any outside support. This is not a FAIR system.

Between Child Support and A Hard Place

For the children, many of them are pressured to choose sides with the parent that has custody, while viewing the noncustodial parent as a Dead Beat. Many children miss out on the parental bonding with the non custodial parent because of tensions between both parents regarding Child Support Issues and money. Non Custodial parents often limit or block visitation if the non custodial parent fall behind on Child Support for any reason. The non custodial parent then has to go through the court system, which can take upwards of 4-6 months, loss of work, loss of wages and filing fees, before this matter can be addressed.

Conclusion

While I agree 100% that our children should be raised equally by both parents and that there should be a system in place to ensure this is done correctly, we currently have a broken system that is not fulfilling it's original purpose. It is not bringing families together. It is in fact tearing families apart. It is causing good parents to become inmates and deemed worthless. It is leaving many children to carry the burden of blame, often feeling that they are the cause. Children are being viewed as Property and have a price tag attached to them that must be paid in full by the non custodial parent or they  will face harsh penalties.

Please help me take a stand against a system that is tearing families apart.

 

Terrence Downing