Delinquent Parents

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.

Not making your child support payments? Then forget about having a Maryland driver's license.That has been the case for tens of thousands of delinquent parents who have lost their licenses in the past three years, and the suspensions have led to the collection of more than $103 million in child-support payments during that time, officials said yesterday.In releasing the numbers, Gov. Parris N. Glendening said the suspensions are an effective tool to force deadbeat parents to meet their obligations.

Stepping up their efforts to collect overdue child support, Maryland officials said yesterday that they will begin suspending the driving privileges of delinquent parents later this year.Under a law that takes effect Oct. 1, state Motor Vehicle TC Administration officials will be able to suspend the licenses of drivers who are 60 days or more behind in their court-ordered child support payments.The state doesn't want those suspensions to cost people their jobs, so affected drivers may obtain a restricted license that allows them to drive to and from work only.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton will sign an executive order intended to help states track down members of the military and other federal workers who do not pay child support or have avoided efforts to establish their paternity, administration officials said yesterday.The directive, to be issued today, will affect at least 105,000 federal employees, including 74,000 in the military, whose names have been provided to the government, the officials said. It will give the government more power to assist states in finding federal workers wanted in child-support or paternity cases and in garnishing the wages of those who are delinquent in making court-ordered payments.

About 80 people, including nine women, were arrested early yesterday by Baltimore sheriff's deputies on warrants charging them with failure to pay child support and related offenses.Another seven were arrested in eastern Baltimore County in a separate operation by county authorities.City Sheriff John W. Anderson said the Baltimore arrests were part of several planned citywide sweeps aimed at forcing delinquent parents to provide support for their children."Our goal is to help dependent children get the money they rightfully deserve through court action," Sheriff Anderson said.

A team of agencies has again exceeded its record for collecting child support from delinquent parents, said M. Alexander Jones, director of the Carroll County Department of Social Services.The team includes the DSS Child Support Unit, the Carroll State's Attorney's Office, the Carroll County Sheriff's Department and the courts.The team has collected $4 million since July 1, 1992 and expects to net another $100,000 by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, Mr. Jones said."This is also the fourth year in a row this team has collected a half- million more than the year before," Mr. Jones said.

Ten people turned themselves in Friday to the county Department of Social Services for failing to pay child support, one day after police conducted raids to arrest deadbeat fathers.Police served 20 arrest warrants in Baltimore City and Baltimore, Cecil and Harford counties Thursday to people who have not made child-support payments.The raids, organized by the Harford Sheriff's Office, targeted nearly 300 parents, mostly fathers.The delinquent parents were charged with contempt of court and failure to obey court orders.

The city Sheriff's Department early today sent a Happy Mother's Day message to 110 people in Baltimore who are delinquent in their child support payments.Sheriff's deputies began executing warrants for parents who have been tardy or negligent in their payment of child support fees. Twenty-nine people had been picked up by noon.The two-day sweep, dubbed Operation Mother's Day, will conclude by Monday. Officials would not disclose when they will make their next round of arrests to avoid tipping off offenders.

The Baltimore Sheriff's Department yesterday sent a Happy Mother's Day message to Baltimoreans who are delinquent in their child-support payments.At 4 a.m., sheriff's deputies began executing arrest warrants for 110 child support scofflaws. By day's end, 32 deadbeats had been arrested, including one man who owed more than $10,000 in child support, Sheriff John Anderson said.The sweep, dubbed Operation Mother's Day, will resume early next week.To avoid tipping off offenders, officials would not disclose when they will make their next round of arrests.

BEL AIR -- Police swept through Baltimore and three Maryland counties last night, delivering Father's Day surprises to deadbeat dads: warrants for their arrest.The sweep, the first of its kind organized by the Harford County Sheriff's Office, targeted nearly 300 parents -- mostly fathers -- who have not made child-support payments."This is going to be a Father's Day some of these gentlemen are going to remember for quite some time," said Lt. Jesse Bane, who organized the raid for the Sheriff's Office.

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.

Martin Hall says there are two reasons he's taking steps to start paying the $16,725 in back child support he owes: his newfound faith and his mother. Hall, who has a 7-year-old son with a former girlfriend, became a Jehovah's Witness in June. The Scripture, he says, instructs a man to "take care of his household." Meanwhile, his mother sent him an e-mail about a two-week statewide amnesty program to help parents pay up. "Some things you take even more seriously as you get older," said Hall, who is 37 and unemployed.

Maryland's first statewide amnesty for parents facing arrest for nonpayment of child support coaxed about 4,500 dads and moms out of hiding, and raised about $705,000 in overdue payments. The five-day amnesty, which ended Sept. 15, resulted in liens against the wages of 1,470 of those who came forward - meaning money will be automatically deducted from wages. And 557 delinquent parents who were unemployed or held low-wage jobs were referred to job training programs. Helps re-establish ties Most important, state officials said, the effort probably helped hundreds of people - most of them fathers - re-establish ties with their children.

Not making your child support payments? Then forget about having a Maryland driver's license.That has been the case for tens of thousands of delinquent parents who have lost their licenses in the past three years, and the suspensions have led to the collection of more than $103 million in child-support payments during that time, officials said yesterday.In releasing the numbers, Gov. Parris N. Glendening said the suspensions are an effective tool to force deadbeat parents to meet their obligations.

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.

Stepping up their efforts to collect overdue child support, Maryland officials said yesterday that they will begin suspending the driving privileges of delinquent parents later this year.Under a law that takes effect Oct. 1, state Motor Vehicle TC Administration officials will be able to suspend the licenses of drivers who are 60 days or more behind in their court-ordered child support payments.The state doesn't want those suspensions to cost people their jobs, so affected drivers may obtain a restricted license that allows them to drive to and from work only.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton will sign an executive order intended to help states track down members of the military and other federal workers who do not pay child support or have avoided efforts to establish their paternity, administration officials said yesterday.The directive, to be issued today, will affect at least 105,000 federal employees, including 74,000 in the military, whose names have been provided to the government, the officials said. It will give the government more power to assist states in finding federal workers wanted in child-support or paternity cases and in garnishing the wages of those who are delinquent in making court-ordered payments.

About 80 people, including nine women, were arrested early yesterday by Baltimore sheriff's deputies on warrants charging them with failure to pay child support and related offenses.Another seven were arrested in eastern Baltimore County in a separate operation by county authorities.City Sheriff John W. Anderson said the Baltimore arrests were part of several planned citywide sweeps aimed at forcing delinquent parents to provide support for their children."Our goal is to help dependent children get the money they rightfully deserve through court action," Sheriff Anderson said.

A team of agencies has again exceeded its record for collecting child support from delinquent parents, said M. Alexander Jones, director of the Carroll County Department of Social Services.The team includes the DSS Child Support Unit, the Carroll State's Attorney's Office, the Carroll County Sheriff's Department and the courts.The team has collected $4 million since July 1, 1992 and expects to net another $100,000 by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, Mr. Jones said."This is also the fourth year in a row this team has collected a half- million more than the year before," Mr. Jones said.

Ten people turned themselves in Friday to the county Department of Social Services for failing to pay child support, one day after police conducted raids to arrest deadbeat fathers.Police served 20 arrest warrants in Baltimore City and Baltimore, Cecil and Harford counties Thursday to people who have not made child-support payments.The raids, organized by the Harford Sheriff's Office, targeted nearly 300 parents, mostly fathers.The delinquent parents were charged with contempt of court and failure to obey court orders.