Deadbeat Parents

There's no question that most deadbeat parents with a job or the means to get one deserve to go to jail. Sad as it is, the threat of incarceration is often the only way to make them pay child support.But what about deadbeat dads (and mothers) who would rather not be deadbeats? What about those who would pay, but can't because they have neither the education nor the skills to find steady work? Jailing them for a short time may send a message, but in practice it helps no one.The children don't get the support they need.

A state legislative audit has found that the Child Support Enforcement Administration is owed $1.5 billion in unpaid child support payments. That sounds like a lot of money - and a lot of deadbeat dads - until you realize the figure includes the cumulative unpaid child support since the agency began keeping records in the 1974. Much of the debt still on the books was incurred by absent parents who have long since died or disappeared; the state's chief auditor estimates that only about half of it would be considered collectible today.

The state Department of Human Resources has been underusing tools available to collect $1.57 billion in unpaid child support from deadbeat parents in nearly 200,000 cases, according to a legislative audit released yesterday. For example, the department's Child Support Enforcement Administration did not use its ability to have the occupational licenses of delinquent parents suspended, did not always collect and record their Social Security numbers and did not fully use automated techniques to identify and seize their bank accounts, the audit said.

The state Department of Human Resources has been underusing tools available to collect $1.57 billion in unpaid child support from deadbeat parents in nearly 200,000 cases, according to a legislative audit released yesterday. For example, the department's Child Support Enforcement Administration did not use its ability to have the occupational licenses of delinquent parents suspended, did not always collect and record their Social Security numbers and did not fully use automated techniques to identify and seize their bank accounts, the audit said.

A statewide sweep by sheriffs' deputies early today resulted in the arrests of more than 450 men and women at their homes on warrants charging them with failing to pay child support and ** related offenses.More than 500 child-support violators were targeted.The sweep was to continue through the day, and was expected to include places of employment.As of 8 a.m., 459 violators, who owe more than $1.18 million in child-support payments, had been arrested in Baltimore and in Carroll, Charles, Montgomery, Howard, Prince George's, Calvert and Harford counties.

The 5 a.m. chill of a May morning causes nary a shiver among the five men and one woman in short-sleeved shirts as they stand in a parking lot next to the Arundel Center. And they don't seem to mind being fully awake and alert while nearly everyone else is asleep."OK, we're ready to go," says their leader, Sheriff George F. Johnson IV.This morning, he will have his first chance since being elected in November to accompany deputy sheriffs as they sweep southern Anne Arundel County for deadbeat parents and probation violators.

WASHINGTON -- Under a recent directive from U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, the Justice Department is stepping up the pursuit and punishment of deadbeat parents who fail to make court-ordered child-support payments after moving across state lines.The move is intended to put sharp teeth into a 1992 law that made the practice a federal crime for the first time.Ms. Reno hopes the accelerated enforcement will have a genuine impact on a national problem of staggering proportions.More than half of all court-ordered child support goes unpaid, and the accumulated IOUs total an estimated $34 billion.

The Maryland Child Support Enforcement Administration has pulled in nearly $40 million in child-support payments since October 1996 from deadbeat parents who drive cars or look for jobs.But the state still has a $1 billion backlog of unpaid support, in part because, as some Baltimore-area women have found out, there are ways to avoid paying even when state officials track those who owe through driving records and employment applications. Their husbands -- 90 percent of deadbeat parents are fathers -- have moved out of state or have arranged to be paid under the table for their jobs.

A story about delinquent child support payments in the Nov. 15 issue of The Sun misstated the amount of payments collected by Maryland officials. The state collected $250 million in payments.The Sun regrets the errors.Charles R. Fort Jr. got a 4 a.m. wake-up call yesterday from Baltimore County Deputy Sheriff Donald G. Frederick -- part of an eight-state sweep to collect back child-support payments from "deadbeat" parents.Mr. Fort was among hundreds of parents arrested yesterday and today in Operation Northeast Express, a first-time collaborative effort by law-enforcement officers in Eastern corridor states from Maine to Maryland.

A state legislative audit has found that the Child Support Enforcement Administration is owed $1.5 billion in unpaid child support payments. That sounds like a lot of money - and a lot of deadbeat dads - until you realize the figure includes the cumulative unpaid child support since the agency began keeping records in the 1974. Much of the debt still on the books was incurred by absent parents who have long since died or disappeared; the state's chief auditor estimates that only about half of it would be considered collectible today.

NOT ALL "deadbeat parents" shirk their responsibility willingly. Some just need a second chance to start or resume regular payments for the care of their children. Proof comes in their response to Maryland's two-weeks-only offer to ease or waive the penalties for nonpayment if parents would come into a social services office with a good-faith payment. In the first seven workdays, 1,293 people have walked in - and paid $250,000. It's a mere slice of the estimated $1.4 billion the state is owed, but it's something.

The Baltimore County justice system is working to track down more "deadbeat" fathers and mothers and is pushing for new ways to collect the nearly $30 million they owe in child support to county parents. County Sheriff R. Jay Fisher's deputies are serving more nonsupport warrants than ever before. Prosecutors have started charging nonpaying parents criminally. And judges and other county officials are trying to secure federal funding for a program that would meld job training with strict child support enforcement.

The man came to court in leg chains, full of excuses for not paying $30,000 in back child support.It wasn't his fault, he told the judge. He had been in prison for two years on a drunken-driving charge. Now he has a job that pays only $200 a week."I've got a second job for you," said an impatient Baltimore Circuit Judge Lawrence R. Daniels."Have you ever heard of Martin's West? [Martin R. Resnick] will hire you on the spot and pay you $7 an hour, more than you're making now," said the judge.

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration announced new measures yesterday to crack down further on parents who owe large amounts of child support, saying it will seek criminal prosecutions in addition to the money owed. The administration said it would establish four new task forces, expanding coverage to 17 states. They will be established in Baltimore; Sacramento, Calif.; New York and Dallas, and will be based on a model project in Columbus, Ohio, launched last year. The Baltimore task force office will cover Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

The Maryland Child Support Enforcement Administration has pulled in nearly $40 million in child-support payments since October 1996 from deadbeat parents who drive cars or look for jobs.But the state still has a $1 billion backlog of unpaid support, in part because, as some Baltimore-area women have found out, there are ways to avoid paying even when state officials track those who owe through driving records and employment applications. Their husbands -- 90 percent of deadbeat parents are fathers -- have moved out of state or have arranged to be paid under the table for their jobs.

The Maryland Child Support Enforcement Administration has pulled in nearly $40 million in child-support payments since October 1996 from deadbeat parents who drive cars or look for jobs.But the state still has a $1 billion backlog of unpaid support, in part because, as some Baltimore-area women have found out, there are ways to avoid paying even when state officials track those who owe through driving records and employment applications. Their husbands -- 90 percent of deadbeat parents are fathers -- have moved out of state or have arranged to be paid under the table for their jobs.