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Child support alienates fathers from their children



 
 
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Old October 15th 03, 07:56 AM
dani
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Default Child support alienates fathers from their children


www.ANCPR.com
One-Click-Link for Unsubscribing at bottom.

Hello,

Below is a story that was recently published in the Washington Times by
people at the Social Policy Action Network. Here is a short clip from
the article:

Research by the Center for Law and Social Policy shows that some
laws meant to help families have the unintended effect of alienating
fathers. The most obvious case of this lies with the child-support
system, which allows states to charge high rates of interest on overdue
payments — often sinking low-income fathers into thousands of dollars in
debt. In California, for example, child-support officials often set
support orders without first determining fathers' incomes — or even
whether they are working. Rather than trying to maintain relationships
with their children, many low-income fathers stop trying altogether,
abandoning both their financial responsibilities and their children.

What makes this abandonment even more unsettling are results from
the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a joint project of
Princeton and Columbia universities. The project is studying poor, unwed
parents and their children in 20 cities over a five-year period
beginning at the birth of their children. The study's results so far
strongly contradict the stereotypes about low-income unmarried fathers.
Researchers found the new fathers want to be involved in their
children's lives and support their new families. Clearly, many fathers
end up not paying child support not because they don't want to, but
because they lack sufficient skills to earn the money to do so.

ANCPR's position: You should never confuse paying child support with
supporting your children. The two are not related. Child support is a
single mother household enabler. That is what it was designed, as a
social policy, to do. Is it any wonder then that the
institutionalization of the child support industry, and the
establishment of child support as an entitlement for single parents who
are able to manipulate the court system to give them sole custody has
the effect of alienating fathers?

Lowell Jaks, ANCPR
Searchable Archive of Recent Newsletters
http://ancpr.org/mojo/mojo.cgi?f=archive&l=ancpr
Archive of Newsletter Prior to September, 2003
http://ancpr.com/oldmaillistarchive/
Questions about your case
http://ancpr.com/send_a_question_to_ancpr_concern.htm
ANCPR Discussion Forums http://ancpr.com/forums

May we suggest our Hosting Provider

What about fathers? http://www.span-online.org/washtimes.html

By Kathleen Sylvester and Jonathan O'Connell

Published in The Washington Times
July 27, 2003

A 25-year-old father struggles to keep up a good relationship with his
5-year-old daughter. Each weekend, he leaves the public housing complex
where he lives in Roanoke to visit his daughter at her mother's home.
When he gets there, he sings songs with her, helps her practice her ABCs
or takes her to visit relatives.

Like many noncustodial fathers, he has overdue child support payments.
But he is no "deadbeat dad." In addition to sharing a loving
relationship with his daughter, he desperately tries to earn enough
money to make his child-support payments. Unfortunately, while he was
working for a local housekeeping company in the spring of 2002, his
mother had knee surgery and required his care. Because his job didn't
provide time off, he was forced to quit. His child-support bills began
to mount, and in September the Commonwealth of Virginia sentenced him to
30 days in jail for overdue support.

When he got out of jail, the young father found a short-term job at an
auto repair shop. When that ended, he signed up with a temporary
employment agency so that he could be assigned to jobs that provide
frequent paychecks — and the chance to stay out of jail. None of these
jobs has offered benefits or opportunities for permanent employment. In
addition, Virginia has suspended his driver's license for not paying
support, severely limiting his job options.



With only a high school degree and a limited work history, he is like
millions of young men who are forced into jobs that offer low pay, no
benefits and little opportunity for advancement. Such limited options
keep these fathers — many of whom are unmarried — from being the
dependable child-support providers and caregivers that they would like
to be.



Stories of such men are not rare. Indeed, research demonstrates that
there are many who share his plight.



First, single fathers face many of the same obstacles as single mothers,
but are much less likely to receive needed services. In 2001, the Urban
Institute reported that low-income, noncustodial fathers suffer from
similarly low levels of educational attainment and high levels of
unemployment as their female counterparts. Despite the similarities of
the two, far fewer noncustodial fathers benefit from
government-sponsored education or job-training programs. The most recent
study of federally funded job programs found that only 4 percent of
low-income, noncustodial fathers had received job training or GED
classes, compared with 19 percent of low-income mothers.



Research by the Center for Law and Social Policy shows that some laws
meant to help families have the unintended effect of alienating fathers.
The most obvious case of this lies with the child-support system, which
allows states to charge high rates of interest on overdue payments —
often sinking low-income fathers into thousands of dollars in debt. In
California, for example, child-support officials often set support
orders without first determining fathers' incomes — or even whether they
are working. Rather than trying to maintain relationships with their
children, many low-income fathers stop trying altogether, abandoning
both their financial responsibilities and their children.



What makes this abandonment even more unsettling are results from the
Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a joint project of Princeton
and Columbia universities. The project is studying poor, unwed parents
and their children in 20 cities over a five-year period beginning at the
birth of their children. The study's results so far strongly contradict
the stereotypes about low-income unmarried fathers. Researchers found
the new fathers want to be involved in their children's lives and
support their new families. Clearly, many fathers end up not paying
child support not because they don't want to, but because they lack
sufficient skills to earn the money to do so.



And more recent research specifically demonstrates the obstacles that
low-income fathers face in paying child support. A new report from the
Social Policy Action Network examined what happens when noncustodial
fathers in four cities — Austin, Tex.; Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis; and
Philadelphia — tried to get the services they needed to nurture and
support their families.



The report found that caseworkers in many social services agencies don't
think of fathers as their clients. Although they frequently inform and
refer women to available services, caseworkers rarely considered doing
so for men. In part, this stemmed from lack of training on how to work
with men. Many front-line workers don't view fathers as members of the
families they serve, but as the cause of their families' problems.



The report also found a widespread mistrust of government among
low-income fathers. In some cases, these feelings are warranted. One
father in the study told researchers that he was jailed for not paying
child support soon after he started a new job; the state had checked the
Social Security numbers of newly hired employees against a database of
those who owed child support. Instead of being able to support his
children, he went to jail.



The study also highlighted an additional barrier faced by these fathers.
In many cases, private-sector employers are reluctant to hire low-income
men — especially men of color. Employers actively screen out these men
through credit checks, criminal background checks, literacy requirements
and the GED test — regardless of the skills needed for the jobs they are
seeking.



In reality, some fathers do not assume responsibility and must be
compelled to support their children. But for those fathers who want to
support their families, giving them a chance would be well worth the
investment. If the changing makeup of our nation's families has taught
us anything, it is that the fathers' absences can be devastating for
children. Census figures report that the 23 million children who live
without their biological fathers are nearly three times more likely to
grow up in poverty.



The non-economic costs of fathers' absence may be even more serious:
Children raised without fathers at home are more likely to engage in
alcohol use, drug use and sexual activity at a young age, and are less
likely to do well in school. Conversely, children whose fathers engage
in their lives benefit immensely; they are more likely to have high
self-esteem, be better learners and be less likely to be depressed.



All of these facts point to the need for some incentives for states and
communities to work with fathers. Politicians of both parties have
promised their support for "responsible fatherhood," often in
combination with efforts to promote healthy marriages. The House of
Representatives included in its version of welfare $20 million in
funding for service projects and demonstration projects to help
noncustodial parents get the jobs and parenting skills needed to be good
fathers.



The Senate has the opportunity to further fulfill these promises to
promote responsible fatherhood. When it reauthorizes welfare reform, the
Senate should allow states to count the work of fathers who are paying
child support toward welfare's work requirements for families.



In addition, it should eliminate the current law's separate, higher
work-participation rate for two-parent families because that discourages
states from providing help to such families.



Since 1996, millions of former welfare mothers have left the rolls and
begun working. But while they have left welfare behind, they have not
escaped poverty. Children who grow up with two parents working have the
best chance of escaping poverty.



Kathleen Sylvester and Jonathan O'Connell are director and policy
associate at the Social Policy Action Network.



Copyright © 2003, The Washington Times



Social Policy Action Network
444 North Capitol St., Suite 309 • Washington, D.C. 20001
Phone: (202) 434-4770 • Fax: (202) 434-4769
www.span-online.org

© Copyright 2002 Social Policy Action Network


 




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