For decades, Gila County has been an aggressive venue regarding child support enforcement. In fact, Gila County was a national leader. I have seen pleadings where persons who are due support asked to transfer their case to Gila County because it was a place where the Courts and the County Attorney took the problem seriously.
The task of trying to persuade noncustodial parents to pay their child support obligation is an ongoing and, at times, futile duty for many judges. The threat of jail—or actual incarceration— for failure to pay child support is widely acknowledged to be just a temporary fix, but many judges contend that it is their most productive leverage in child support cases.
In FY2010, about 67% of the $32 billion collected by the states for child support payments was obtained through income withholding, 6% from the unemployment intercept offset, 6% by way of the federal income tax refund offset, 4% from other states, less than 1% from the state income tax refund offset, and 16% ($5 billion) from other sources.
http://www.ncsea.org/documents/CRS-Report-on-CSE-and-Incarceration-for-Non-Payment-March-6-2012.pdf
In the Winter of 1998, Ronald B. Mincy and Elaine J. Sorensen published a paper in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management , Vol 17 Issue 1, entitled:
Deadbeats and Turnips in Child Support Reform
[“Turnips”, as in “you can’t get blood from a turnip”, are those who can’t pay child support including the seriously mentally ill, the totally and permanently disabled, persons in prison, etc.; “deadbeats” was a reference to those who won’t pay child support.]
[There are] stark differences between turnips and deadbeat dads. Turnips have characteristics that are similar to those of long-term welfare recipients. Over half of turnips have not completed high school, have never married and are ___________. Thirty percent of turnips did not work in the preceding year. Their personal income averaged only $3,559 in 1990.
In contrast, the average deadbeat dad - who is able to pay child support but does not - is considerably more successful in the labor market than the average turnip. In 1990, over 70 percent of deadbeat dads were working the entire year and earned, on average, about $20,000. Their family income was even higher, averaging $33,000. Over half of them were _______ and nearly three-quarters had completed high school. Furthermore, over half of the deadbeat dads were married and had a new family with new children to support.
In 2011, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Turner v. Rogers, 131 S. Ct. 2507 dealing with right to counsel in civil contempt for collection of child support. The Justices’ decision was split 5-4, but there were some points that are worth noting from the opinions:
… 70% of child support arrears nationwide are owed by parents with either no reported income or income of $10,000 per year or less, the issue of ability to pay may arise fairly often.
…children whose fathers reside apart from them are 54 percent more likely to live in poverty than their fathers.
Less than half of all custodial parents receive the full amount of child support ordered; 24 percent of those owed support receive nothing at all.
[S]ome fathers subject to a child support order report little or no income but that “does not mean they do not have the ability to pay any child support.” …many “deadbeat dads” opt to work in the "underground economy” to shield their earnings from child support enforcement efforts. To avoid attempts to garnish their wages or otherwise enforce the support obligation, “deadbeats” quit their jobs, jump from job to job, become self-employed, work under the table, or engage in illegal activity
“Many judges . . . report that the prospect of [detention] often causes obligors to discover previously undisclosed resources that they can use to make child support payments”
Whether “deadbeat dads” should be threatened with incarceration is a policy judgment for state and federal lawmakers, as is the entire question of government involvement in the area of child support.
This and other repercussions of the shift away from the nuclear family are ultimately the business of the policy making branches.
“Easy-come, easy-go marriage and casual cohabitation and procreation are on a collision course with the economic and social needs of children.”
The task of trying to persuade noncustodial parents to pay their child support obligation is an ongoing and, at times, futile duty for many judges. The threat of jail—or actual incarceration— for failure to pay child support is widely acknowledged to be just a temporary fix, but many judges contend that it is their most productive leverage in child support cases.
In FY2010, about 67% of the $32 billion collected by the states for child support payments was obtained through income withholding, 6% from the unemployment intercept offset, 6% by way of the federal income tax refund offset, 4% from other states, less than 1% from the state income tax refund offset, and 16% ($5 billion) from other sources.
http://www.ncsea.org/documents/CRS-Report-on-CSE-and-Incarceration-for-Non-Payment-March-6-2012.pdf
In the Winter of 1998, Ronald B. Mincy and Elaine J. Sorensen published a paper in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management , Vol 17 Issue 1, entitled:
Deadbeats and Turnips in Child Support Reform
[“Turnips”, as in “you can’t get blood from a turnip”, are those who can’t pay child support including the seriously mentally ill, the totally and permanently disabled, persons in prison, etc.; “deadbeats” was a reference to those who won’t pay child support.]
[There are] stark differences between turnips and deadbeat dads. Turnips have characteristics that are similar to those of long-term welfare recipients. Over half of turnips have not completed high school, have never married and are ___________. Thirty percent of turnips did not work in the preceding year. Their personal income averaged only $3,559 in 1990.
In contrast, the average deadbeat dad - who is able to pay child support but does not - is considerably more successful in the labor market than the average turnip. In 1990, over 70 percent of deadbeat dads were working the entire year and earned, on average, about $20,000. Their family income was even higher, averaging $33,000. Over half of them were _______ and nearly three-quarters had completed high school. Furthermore, over half of the deadbeat dads were married and had a new family with new children to support.
In 2011, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Turner v. Rogers, 131 S. Ct. 2507 dealing with right to counsel in civil contempt for collection of child support. The Justices’ decision was split 5-4, but there were some points that are worth noting from the opinions:
… 70% of child support arrears nationwide are owed by parents with either no reported income or income of $10,000 per year or less, the issue of ability to pay may arise fairly often.
…children whose fathers reside apart from them are 54 percent more likely to live in poverty than their fathers.
Less than half of all custodial parents receive the full amount of child support ordered; 24 percent of those owed support receive nothing at all.
[S]ome fathers subject to a child support order report little or no income but that “does not mean they do not have the ability to pay any child support.” …many “deadbeat dads” opt to work in the "underground economy” to shield their earnings from child support enforcement efforts. To avoid attempts to garnish their wages or otherwise enforce the support obligation, “deadbeats” quit their jobs, jump from job to job, become self-employed, work under the table, or engage in illegal activity
“Many judges . . . report that the prospect of [detention] often causes obligors to discover previously undisclosed resources that they can use to make child support payments”
Whether “deadbeat dads” should be threatened with incarceration is a policy judgment for state and federal lawmakers, as is the entire question of government involvement in the area of child support.
This and other repercussions of the shift away from the nuclear family are ultimately the business of the policy making branches.
“Easy-come, easy-go marriage and casual cohabitation and procreation are on a collision course with the economic and social needs of children.”