WV Story Over $750 Million Owed in Child Support

We have a response! Her response (and mine) below, and maybe you get a
leetle reason why I have no more consideration of CSE workers than I do
a dung beetle.

Gina Long wrote:
Mr. Meyer,

Thank you for your feedback. I have been told by the Bureau for Child
Support Enforcement that non-custodial parents are allowed to return to
court to get a reassessment for their child support arrearages if they
change jobs, become unemployed, etc. While I recognize it is still up to
the judge to decide how much is owed, this is one option regarding your
concern.

While I also acknowledge there may be various reasons as to why the
number of unpaid child support is so high, that is what the bureau and
Department of Health and Human Resources has reported to West Virginia
state lawmakers.

For more on the presentation to lawmakers, I would refer you to the West
Virginia DHHR and/or Bureau for Child Support Enforcement Commissioner
Susan Perry.

Sincerely,

Gina Long

A couple of replies to that and I do appreciate the timely response
response:
First off, I don't know how it is in your jurisdiction, but in Colorado
there is a backlog of cases in both civil and criminal courts. They did
not have a judge exclusively assigned to hear child support cases and
rule on them promptly in order to mitigate any arrears. When I called
the Adams County CSE up asking when they would decide my case, I was
told they would "when they got to it", in a condescending tone that made
me think I had interrupted some government workers hour-long lunch. In
my own case, it took two and a half months, from mid April to the
beginning of July. During that time those same arrears kept creeping up
and up and up, even when I made the case that I could not pay those
amounts because I had lost my job and had to seek a much lower paying one.
I have personally been told by the county that it was not "their policy"
to forgive or make an offer in compromise to lower those retroactive
arrears, as you said. I have a $5,000 albatross around my neck that the
state can jerk whenever it damn well feels like.
I don't know what the judges are like back there, but I highly suspect
that it is much the same. Fathers having this weight wrung around their
neck and expected to swim. And these are not just deadbeats living
the high life with their younger, prettier and bouncier girlfriends
while poor old mom slaves over the oven and the kids go to bed hungry;
these are "beatdeads" men beat dead by the system or turnip parents
that are in danger of going under in debt just because of one bad month
or one bad layoff.
So when I hear stories like the one you wrote, stories of lawmakers
screaming for blood and a few nice stories in the pictures, I and others
like me have to be the voice in the wilderness telling the other half of
the story, the story of men in debt with no real way out.
So, when you tell me about this policy, why don't you give an example.
Why not give an example of where West Virginia CSE acted like the Non
custodial parents were human beings and helped them out instead of
hounding them to death? I suspect ma'am, that you can't because there
aren't any stories like that.

John Meyer

"John Meyer" wrote in message
...
We have a response! Her response (and mine) below, and maybe you get a
leetle reason why I have no more consideration of CSE workers than I do
a dung beetle.

Gina Long wrote:
Mr. Meyer,

Thank you for your feedback. I have been told by the Bureau for Child
Support Enforcement that non-custodial parents are allowed to return to
court to get a reassessment for their child support arrearages if they
change jobs, become unemployed, etc. While I recognize it is still up to
the judge to decide how much is owed, this is one option regarding your
concern.

While I also acknowledge there may be various reasons as to why the
number of unpaid child support is so high, that is what the bureau and
Department of Health and Human Resources has reported to West Virginia
state lawmakers.

For more on the presentation to lawmakers, I would refer you to the West
Virginia DHHR and/or Bureau for Child Support Enforcement Commissioner
Susan Perry.

Sincerely,

Gina Long

A couple of replies to that and I do appreciate the timely response
response:
First off, I don't know how it is in your jurisdiction, but in Colorado
there is a backlog of cases in both civil and criminal courts. They did
not have a judge exclusively assigned to hear child support cases and
rule on them promptly in order to mitigate any arrears. When I called
the Adams County CSE up asking when they would decide my case, I was
told they would "when they got to it", in a condescending tone that made
me think I had interrupted some government workers hour-long lunch. In
my own case, it took two and a half months, from mid April to the
beginning of July. During that time those same arrears kept creeping up
and up and up, even when I made the case that I could not pay those
amounts because I had lost my job and had to seek a much lower paying one.
I have personally been told by the county that it was not "their policy"
to forgive or make an offer in compromise to lower those retroactive
arrears, as you said. I have a $5,000 albatross around my neck that the
state can jerk whenever it damn well feels like.
I don't know what the judges are like back there, but I highly suspect
that it is much the same. Fathers having this weight wrung around their
neck and expected to swim. And these are not just deadbeats living
the high life with their younger, prettier and bouncier girlfriends
while poor old mom slaves over the oven and the kids go to bed hungry;
these are "beatdeads" men beat dead by the system or turnip parents
that are in danger of going under in debt just because of one bad month
or one bad layoff.
So when I hear stories like the one you wrote, stories of lawmakers
screaming for blood and a few nice stories in the pictures, I and others
like me have to be the voice in the wilderness telling the other half of
the story, the story of men in debt with no real way out.
So, when you tell me about this policy, why don't you give an example.
Why not give an example of where West Virginia CSE acted like the Non
custodial parents were human beings and helped them out instead of
hounding them to death? I suspect ma'am, that you can't because there
aren't any stories like that.

John Meyer

Well written John.