No pay could equal no driver's license.

A new bill introduced aims for crackdown on child support non-payment. Kansas parents who fall behind on — or never bothered making — their child support payments may soon find their driver’s licenses restricted.

Their hunting and fishing licenses also could be in jeopardy.

Welfare officials are pushing several bills aimed at increasing child support collections.

Kansas ranks 34th in the nation in the percentage of children receiving their due financial support.

Officials from the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services testified on Monday in favor of House Bill 2706, which would suspend the driver’s licenses of parents who fall more than $500 behind in their court-ordered child support payments.

The bill includes provisions that give delinquent parents the option of paying off their debts or entering payment plans that garnish their wages. Big deal, we can do that now. The court can order an income withholding order which is just as good as garnishing someone wages. But, if there are not the jobs for people to get so they have a wage to garnish. What good will that do?

The bill also directs the Kansas Department of Revenue’s Division of Motor Vehicles to share its driver’s license database with SRS. Another example of Big Brother watching over us.

I certainly understand the purpose of the proposed bill. If you don't pay, they want to get your attention and make sure you pay. However, is it not a little counter productive? How is the poor sap going to get to work if he/she does not have a driver's license to get there and back? If they can't work because they lost their DL, how are they going to pay their support? I am all in favor of giving non-custodial parents an incentive to pay. I just question if this is the best way to do it.

Those supporting the bill also point out that 30 percent of all babies born in Kansas are born out of wedlock. Perhaps we should be looking at the real problem here and not at a bandaid. Maybe we should be encouraging our young adults to finish high school and go on to a post-secondary education. Maybe we should be encouraging more economical development in Kansas so our young people can get better paying jobs.

Perhaps, and I am going to step out on a limb here, we should make it more difficult to get a divorce so we don't have so many children living in a one parent home where one parent is suppose to pay child support.

I just don't see the proposed bill fixing anything. Nor do I see it as good law. Now if this post does not generate some comments, I don't know what will.

Source of Post: LJWorld.com

Technorati Tags:
Divorce, Child Support, Criminal Non-Support, Child Custody

Comments

[Chris]

$500.00 is what I pay each month, there are a few months I get behind. Since my divorce both of us have moved on. I am married with 2 children and she re-married and had a another child. With medical bills and unexpected debts that come up every so often I would lose my licience at least a couple of times a year with a bill like this. I've always pay my child support, and will continue to do so. This bill would cause even more of a problem as far as taking care of my children. This bill is unfair for the decent men who are trying to survive and be a good father.

Chris

[Tina Thomas]

I totally agree with the comment about it needs to be fixed both ways. My boyfriend has two boys he doesn't get to see due to the ex. It affects my boyfriend everyday. He has to pay $466 a month for those boys. Therefore it is hard on us to get attorneys to fight for visistation. Me on the other hand, I have two children whose fathers keep changing jobs due to the childsupport order. If SRS finds them they will quit and move to a different job. I have finally gave up all hope into collecting childsupport. We can fight and fight to get it, but the odds are not in out favor. Granted the fathers who are suppose to pay chooses not to see the children. The want to sign their rights over and not deal with the responsibilities. To me that is the easy way out. Sooner or later the person who is suppose to be paying will get a rude awakening by these children that really one have one parent.

[Niel Leon]

In principal I can agree that better action and reasonable sanctions need to be taken against non-custodial parents who do not pay appropriate and reasonable child support, but there are two sides to this situation.

If more signifant sanctions are to be applied to parents who do not pay child support as ordered by the courts, then there should also be more serious sanctions against those parents who restrict or prevent court visitation in violation with court ordered guidelines.

My childern have all reached the age of majority and child support is not longer required. When child support was due I was never late on a payment (total of 15 years) and only had arrears when payments due went up retroactively as the result in changing jobs and salary increases.

Unfortunately I was isolated from my childern for over 8 years because my exwife had moved to a different state and the visitation order was not honored.

There was little I could do except pay for lawyers to fight again in court to get a visitation order reinstated in the new state. Finances prevented me from doing this and could have adversely affected my ability to pay child support.

To be fair this issue must cut both ways. We can not simply be punative against parents who do not pay.

Niel Leon

PS: I now have contact with all my children. I hope to have a good long term releationship with them now that they are adults.