We Need Stronger Child Support Laws

1962 Words4 Pages

The amount of child support cases in arrears would decline if a few things were changed, hopefully providing incentives to pay child support on time and regularly. There are also harsher consequences that could be carried out to prevent future mistakes. There are things being done, but is it enough? As it stands the noncustodial parent can face loss of visitation, probation, and even jail time for none payment of child support. By not enforcing court ordered child support and making examples out of those who are not in compliance, we are sending out a message that child support is more of an option than a legal obligation. Think about the ones who are really suffering here, the children involved.

There are many low-income families who are not receiving court ordered child support simply because they cannot afford the legal representation and court costs to fight for what they are legally entitled to. What should be done to start helping in these cases? The Office of the Attorney General Child Support Division is set up to help parents locate non-custodial parents who have not paid their child support. This is a free service; they also help provide the custodial parent with information regarding government programs including: Medicaid, TANIF, Food Stamps, and WIC. They can help you get health insurance if the non-custodial parent is not covering those expenses. The government help is easy to obtain only requiring information that would be easily obtained like proof of income, household members, SSN, expenses, and other personnel information. Once you have filed a case with them they will send paperwork to fill out, this will consist of; the noncustodial parents full legal name, last known address, last known telephone number,...

... middle of paper ...

...e best interest of their children. It’s not the amount of child support that is being paid that is important while you are doing the best you can for your children and supporting them the best way you can. Enforcing child support and having greater punishments are not just to make the nonpaying parents lives more difficult but to ensure a better life for their children.

Works Cited

(Texas Child Support Enforcement Resource Center, 2011) Retrieved from http://www.supportcollectors.com/resources_texas.php#stats

(Huffington Post UK, 2011) Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/09/02/child-support-dodgers-mos_n_946102.html#s348352&title=Ive_Become_A

(Texas' child support collection data presents varied picture, 2010) Retrieved from http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/080310dntexnuchild.2b72be0.html

Show More
Related

  • Welfare For Children of Illegal Immigrants

    4120 Words  | 9 Pages

    The United States is in the midst of a major debate over immigrants and their place in our economic and political life. As during other times in our history, immigrants, are being blamed for causing or contributing to the social, economic and political ills of our society. Politicians from both major parties, at both the national and state levels, are promoting a range of punitive legislative proposals that single out immigrants for adverse treatment by the government. Many violate basic civil liberties principles.

    Read More

  • Deadbeat Dads are Not Criminals

    2046 Words  | 5 Pages

    My stand on the issue is clear, and I believe I have the evidence on my side. I’ll tell you why this is a failure of society with statistics, testimony, experience, and court records. I should hope that once you have seen the evidence, and the pleas from the downtrodden fathers of society who have been forced to turn tail and run, endure endless nights in prison, and lose their jobs or even their licenses, you will see that this approach is not only a violation of their civil liberties but, is a violation of their very rights to live. First, I provide two interesting cases which clearly demonstrate my reasoning that prosecution of child support makes a man run for violating his civil liberties. My presentation begins with, Robin Miller.

    Read More

  • Research Paper On Katrina Gilbert

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    be ex-husband, who does not help financially. He should be paying child support but has had trouble

    Read More

  • Child Support and Three Income Models

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is child support benefiting the children as well as the parents to keep a stable environment? There has been an increase in children that go through a process called child support, which is the cause of their parents’ divorce or their split up before the child was even born. This process helps the custodial parent receive a certain amount of income from the noncustodial parent to help provide for the minor child(rens) necessities. Every single case is different, depending on what state you reside in or the income that each parent earns are two major factors. Over the years many people thought that only men were the ones that played for child support and where the noncustodial parent, but now the roles have changed and women are becoming more empowered to becoming successful.

    Read More

  • Permissive Parenting Essay: Having A Healthy Family System

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many ways that a child can grow up healthy, they could eat right the parents have a genetic code that allows the child to be a healthy baby. But these are some factors that shows that a child is healthy. But what needs to know is there are others ways that a child can be healthy and unhealthy. When discussing on how a child is healthy we are looking at the family system and how that affects the way the baby learns and acts in a society. Having a child that is brought up with a healthy family system can result in your child having a healthy development.

    Read More

  • Fatherhood, Responsibility, and the Internet

    1773 Words  | 4 Pages

    The website that contains the above sentence is a site that discusses stories about some men that do not believe they should pay child support. In some of the cases, the man is unaware that he was the biological father of the child, but was ordered by court to pay to help support the child. Other cases were about divorced couples where the man is upset about providing for the children after the separation even if they are his biological children. In the view of Daniel Callahan, the author of the article “Bioethics and Fatherhood”, this website is nonsense. He argues that, “given the obvious importance of procreation in bringing human life into existence, fathers have a significant moral responsibility for the children they voluntarily procreate”. In the situations where the biological fathers just don’t want to give up their money for the children, Callahan’s argument can be directly applied. For the other cases, the argument can still be used because those men had believed that they were the real fathers at first. The fact that they aren’t obligated to take on the responsibility of caring for that child, does not mean that all responsibility should be taken off the real biological father and put on the man that thought he was. The website, Women’s Health Care Services, also agrees with argument and says, “The father of a child has a legal responsibility to provide for the support, educational, medical and other needs of that child.” Therefore the dad should at least be there financially for their child.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Child Support

    531 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, there are still a great number of single-parent mothers who need the help with the cost and expense it takes in raising a child. When the extra help it not given, children go without the necessities of life. Consequently, many of our children suffer from mal-nutrient, not having proper shoes and clothing, even living in poverty type conditions because they are not getting the extra help. Unfortunately, these are mothers of usually three to five

    Read More

  • Exploring Ethical, Legal, and Social Dilemmas in Surrogacy

    1533 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Sometimes when making something so precious, beautiful and unique, it takes an extra helping heart” (Author Unknown). To me, surrogate motherhood is giving the gift of a child to an individual who cannot carry a child themselves. I chose this topic because it interests me to see what kind of problems are linked with the journey of surrogacy. I have seen plenty of fictional movies about surrogate mothers, and I wanted to learn if any of these issues happened in real life situations. Before I began my research I thought about the ethical, legal, and social problems that could arise during the process of surrogacy. Legally, I thought you could be a surrogate

    Read More

  • Spanking: Discipline or Abuse – Who Decides?

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main issue, as is so often the case with controversial subjects has been lost along the way. Everyone has become caught up in the right vs. left fight and ensuing name calling so few people are truly paying attention to the children themselves. America already has enough laws. What parents need most is education and support, not legislation. Also, those without children need to mind their own business and stick to subjects they have experience with, not just opinions. Having been a child does not give one insight into how to raise a child.

    Read More

  • Negative Impact Of Divorce

    1735 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Alan E. Kazdin, PhD(2000) in his book”Encyclopedia of Psychology: 8 Volume Set,” ”Currently in the United States, about 40% of the first marriages end in divorce. In addition more than half of all divorces involve children under the age of eighteen”( Kazdin,364). Some people believe that parents tend to get a divorce for one reason or another and not for disbelieve that people just can 't get along. However in the end divorce is just a stressful event. Consequently, divorce can have an important and life changing impact on the well-being and development of children. A parent can diminish the negative impact of a divorce by supporting and reassuring their children, before, during and after the separation. However most separated parents tend to pull apart from their childs once going through a divorce. Leading to lack of support for those childs.Divorce settlement process is inequitable and should be determined on a case-by-case basis,rather than by general formulas. The change I am seeking is that if the second parent(not the one that has custody) does not pay the child support or has over $2,000 in overdue payments then they should not be allowed to get the child for their time until they get caught up in payments.

    Read More

  • Child Removal Policy

    1604 Words  | 4 Pages

    Domestic violence has a long historical presence in our society. Initially, it was viewed strictly as a family matter. It was an acceptable means for men to discipline their wives and children, who were regarded as little more than man’s property. There was a lack of, if any, legal ramifications for the abuser and, in fact, domestic violence had been previously sanctioned by English Common law (The National Center for Victims of Crime). As the issue infiltrated public consciousness, advocacy groups rose to the forefront and championed for the rights of abused victims. They demanded change, not only to the laws, but to the way victims and abusers are treated by law enforcement and legal institutions. As a result of these efforts, many changes have been successfully implemented.

    Read More

  • Essay On Mass Incarceration

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mass incarceration in America has left millions of people without the means to survive. Former offenders are discharged from prison without any income. Many owing outstanding child support payments. Some will likely re-offend to pay their outstanding debt, while others will be subject to contempt of court for failure to pay outstanding support accrued during

    Read More

  • American Dream Persuasive Speech

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the Washington post, a single mother of 7 died in a Pennsylvania Jail because she was arrested for not being able to pay fines for truancy. In Duval County Florida, not too far from here, 18 parents were arrested for their kids skipping school according to the Bradenton Patch news service. Most of these children were already in their teens. Most parents don 't have as much control over their kids by then, so they are being punished for something that it ultimately beyond their control. Perhaps if instead of punishing, the school system focused on helping educate the kids, these tragedies wouldn 't happen. Is it too much to say that a struggling parent should be jailed for being too busy doing the job of both parents? If they no longer felt afraid of the fines and the punishments, maybe they could gather a bough time or money to engage with their kids and actually encourage them to stay in

    Read More

  • Should Parents Be Allowed To Pay Child Support

    502 Words  | 2 Pages

    All parents have a responsibility to provide for their children. For many parents, due to certain circumstances, providing for their child is something that is court ordered. When a parent has been ordered to pay child support, it is imperative that they pay it because their child depends on this money for food, clothes and other things necessary for survival. While many parents have no problem providing for their child financially, others may be under the impression that paying child support is optional. Regardless of whether or not parents want to make payments, the law has required them to, so when they choose to not pay, there are consequences they will have to face.

    Read More

  • The Psychological Detriment of Single Parenting

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the 2012 Census Bureau report, in 2012 the average household family income was around $51,017 dollars a year. The income is nearly split in half for the income of a single parent. Single parents are often financially unstable, decreasing opportunity and lifestyle quality for their children. “The single mother lives with the competing priorities of earning money and providing caring services to their children” (Bronnimann). To provide some aid to single parents, the government requires for the noncustodial parent to pay what is known as Child Support. Child support is a payment that the noncustodial parent must pay to make up for the financial costs he or she would need to contribute to the child or children to support their lifestyle. However often times the noncustodial parent does not earn a large enough income to pay a significant amount of child support. In some cases the noncustodial parent may be unemployed and unable to contribute at all. Children coming fr...

    Read More

More about We Need Stronger Child Support Laws

Open Document