more bull ****

Many tools used to keep parent's paying child support
By TJ HEMLINGER
Staff writer
Whitley County has one of the most successful programs in the state for
getting child support payments from parents who are in arrears.
The county goes after parents who are ?irresponsible,? according to
Darlene Rose of the Whitley County Child Support Office, housed in the
county courthouse.
?We do a lot of court hearings that require the non-custodial parent to
appear,? said Joanne Behm, also of the Child Support Office. ?It's a
matter of getting their attention. We try to monitor files regularly and
have status hearings. Every file comes out every few months. We try to
be proactive rather than reactive.?
Rose said one of the tools they use was developed by former prosecuting
attorney John W. Whiteleather Jr., who used the IV-D program, so named
by its numbering system in Social Security law. It created the ability
for county prosecutors to set up programs to go after parents in arrears
on support.
Current prosecuting attorney Matt Rentschler is continuing the program.
Chief deputy prosecutor Lindsey A. Carter oversees it.
?One of the tools (Whiteleather) created was the status hearing, which
has been a really good tool,? Rose said.
Behm said, ?It keeps them up-to-date and sends out the (parent's) name
to employers.?
Rose said, ?We call them FYI and it lets them know the status of the
case. That watchful eye keeps more of them on track.?
Every day each caseworker has a work list of cases to check, Behm said.
When an employer hires somebody who is on the list, he is supposed to
report it to the prosecutor's office.
The state is supposed to send a list of new hires to the federal
government as well.
?The employers are doing a better job at reporting,? Rose said. ?It's a
good tool, obviously. We have a new place to send holding orders to.
?We also have a tool not many others have,? she continued. ?We have
access to bank information, but only if an individual has arrearage of
more than $1,000. We send an order to a bank for a lump sum payment.?
The county also has access to credit bureau reports and Bureau of Motor
Vehicle licenses in case an individual attempts to transfer a title.
?The state becomes the first lienholder,? Rose said.
Sometimes not all of that works.
?If we have done everything we can, we file criminal charges,? Behm
said.
Rose added, ?Usually we don't file criminal charges unless we have tried
all civil remedies because that's the most serious. Mostly we use tools
of encouragement.?
Whitley County also does a lot of networking with other counties to
track down individuals in arrears.
The county's size also helps.
?We're a smaller county, so we can look at files a bit more often,? Behm
said.
Carter referred to ?hallway hearings,? where the county officials try to
work with those in arrears so the Circuit Court docket doesn't get
overloaded.
?We try to find why they're not doing what they're supposed to do,?
Carter said. ?The next time we're not as nice. It's in front of a judge,
and it could mean jail time.
?We don't threaten them with jail, we promise them. We don't give them
chance after chance after chance.?
Another tool is suspending the driver's license of the non-custodial
parent. ?That's probably the last thing we do,? Behm said.
Carter agreed. ?We don't use that tool that often. We can put liens on
homes, vehicles or property they may have.?
Rose said, ?It's not done frivolously.?
Carter said, ?The easiest thing to do is go through where they work.?
The county also can intercept tax returns, both state and federal, of an
individual in arrears.
All these tools and efforts of the prosecutor's office have made Whitley
County one of the best counties in the state at collecting back child
support, based on the amount of money collected averaged across the
number of cases.
?We average $2,000 per case,? Carter said. ?We run the whole gamut (of
tools).
?We represent the child.?

"barb 702" wrote in

?We represent the child.?

Yes

Yes, they certainly do! If only the child knew how much they were raping their Dad each month?