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Can’t anybody catch the deadbeat parents?

The Philadelphia Tribune June 6, 2003 | Richardson, Carlamaria Richardson, Carlamaria Philadelphia Tribune, The 06-06-2003 Recently, I’ve had the necessity of calling New Jersey child support as well as Pennsylvania child support. The purpose of my call was to re-direct mail and phone calls that I had been receiving at my home address.

I knew the individual that New Jersey and Pennsylvania child support were trying to locate. I also knew his address and thought it might be important and would, perhaps, divert some future repercussions. And, in all honesty, I simply didn’t want this man’s mail coming to my home, as we were not on friendly terms at all and I didn’t feel a need to protect his interest in any way.

Like many women in Philadelphia as well as across the country, I also am due child support arrears for my youngest child. Of course, I have no idea of the whereabouts of my younger son’s father, which I’m finding is the typical M.O. of a fugitive and delinquent parent – generally the father.

Although I’m sure that is not always the case across the board.

Upon calling New Jersey child support I was able to speak to a woman (not a recording) and give the correct address of the individual New Jersey was trying to locate. I was informed that as along as this individual resided in Philadelphia, New Jersey could not pick him up on charges of non-payment of child support even with a warrant for his arrest. If this person actually lived in New Jersey they would have arrested him even if it meant going to his residence at 3 in the morning.

I was also informed that Philadelphia child support rarely even sought out individuals owing child support arrears. Generally, I was told if the police happened to stop an individual on a “traffic or parking” violation and if they did a thorough background check they may or may not hold that individual on non-payment charges. Holding that individual, of course, would depend on whether or not there was a warrant for his arrest. A warrant for his arrest depended on whether a hearing notice had been sent out and ignored. Of course these individuals move constantly from place to place and from job to job, and may claim to be unaware of any hearing notice.

Philadelphia child support has a customer service line, a general information line and a hotline. The first two lines are recordings giving information and addresses in the city of Philadelphia where you may go to file for support or make a complaint. The hotline is also no more than a recording welcoming information about the whereabouts of a “fugitive parent.”

That’s where my curiosity peaked. What happens after information was taken off the hotline? A hearing notice would be sent out. If that individual did not respond or appear at the time of the hearing a warrant would then be issued for his arrest. And again, the arrest may or may not take place, depending on whether or not that individual runs into the law due to some other major or minor infraction. Of course at the time the individual receives the hearing notice, most likely he will have moved and/or changed jobs. here pennsylvania child support

Another interesting aspect of this issue is the profile of the “fugitive parent.” Like an abuser, if you were to sit with a support group of women recovering from abuse, you would think they were all talking about the same man. It is the same with a fugitive parent. The profile of a fugitive parent reads something like this: They don’t hold wage-paying jobs for fear of being located through their Social Security numbers or having their wages attached. If they do hold wage-paying jobs, they move from job to job, holding one job for only 3-12 months – maybe. Often their driver’s license has been suspended. Even having a bank account is sometimes too risky. They generally don’t feel obligated to pay any bills at all.

And what’s even more interesting is their use of other women and whatever resources those women may have to offer at the time (i.e. a home – shelter, money, etc.)

These men seem to be abusive as well, using one woman and quickly moving on to the next once it’s realized that the next woman has more to offer and is not “on” to him as is the former woman.

This type of behavior goes on for years and even decades, leaving a tremendous amount of mental, emotional and financial loss as well as physical scars in some cases. I’ve known a man who moved all the way from North Carolina to live with a woman he met over the Internet and abused her mentally, financially and emotionally for two years. All this to evade the responsibility of supporting his own children. Using women seems to be a way for these men to hide out.

I have recently come through a similar experience with a man owing as much as $23,000 in back child support. I was in this relationship only one year with this man – thank God, during which time he was extremely emotionally and mentally abusive, making every effort to belittle and demean me every chance he got. Thankfully, my view of myself and support from my family and friends helped me to put him at a distance as fast as possible. I have raised a family of three sons virtually all on my own, going from homelessness to owning a three- story five-bedroom home in North Central Philadelphia. I am disillusioned and angry that any man having only himself to take care of – physically — would put so much effort into using hardworking struggling single women and mothers for financial gain. These men who abuse the privilege of fatherhood, like any other abuser of women and children, are cowards. this web site pennsylvania child support

The question is: When former President Clinton initiated welfare reform, forcing thousands of women off the welfare rolls, where was the initiative to find the fathers to the children these women were struggling to support?

The question is: What messages have these women, including myself, been fed into that cause us to fear demanding financial support from the fathers of our children? Is it the red tape, knowing that once we report the whereabouts of these men that they will simply disappear before the system catches up to them? Why is the system so slow to respond to child support issues? Why are fugitive fathers allowed to go on with their lives while owing thousands and thousands of dollars in child support? And what do we tell our sons when they ask, as my son did two years ago, “Mom, why does my father ignore me?”

It seems to me that if the city of Philadelphia has the stamina to implement programs such as “Safe Streets,” to boot and tow vehicles with delinquent parking tickets, to take women off the welfare rolls and put them in “Transition to Work” programs just so they can secure low-paying jobs with no benefits — why is it that the city of Philadelphia lacks the balls to address the suffering of so many women and children whose fathers have outright deserted them?

Carlamaria Richardson is a resident of Philadelphia.

V.119 Richardson, Carlamaria