Child Support Scams Don'T Even Need A Child

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141525,00.html

(Reproduced for educational purposes only)

Agency Culpable in Child Support Scam
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
By Wendy McElroy

Last week, Viola Trevino carried her 5-year-old "daughter" into an
Albuquerque (search) court to satisfy a judge’s demand to produce
the child.

Complications arose.

One: Trevino had kidnapped the child moments before to pass off as
her daughter. Two: the "real" daughter never existed. Three: the
"father" and ex-husband Steve Barreras had paid $20,000 in child
support. Four: the system finally noticed Trevino was lying.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has asked the state’s Human Services
Department for a full report.

Specifically, he wants to know how several government agencies became
not only unwitting partners in the fraud, but also resisted efforts
to correct it.

Richardson deserves a tip of the hat for taking responsibility. The
official response to child support (search) or welfare debacles is
usually silence.

Sometimes a finger of accusation is pointed at specific individuals
as though the abuse resulted from a few "bad apples" in an otherwise
clean barrel. Richardson is acknowledging there is a problem with
the system itself.

The system is broken. In recent years, heartbreaking stories from
every state have flooded the media. Often they focus on the plight
of children who are abused or neglected by those assigned to protect
them. But just as often they highlight the abuse of parents -
especially non-custodial fathers - who are processed as paperwork,
not people.

With Trevino, several government agencies processed papers. Trevino
falsified a paternity test by using a sample from an adult daughter
who is Barreras’ child and then had a family friend process it at
the lab. On the basis of the test, Trevino obtained a court order
for child support.

Trevino also obtained a Social Security card, a Medicare card and
a birth certificate for the "daughter."

When a fraud is so blatant, there is a tendency to blame the victim
for somehow facilitating his or her own victimhood. But Barreras,
who works as a corrections officer in law enforcement, attempted
repeatedly to expose the fraud and to protect himself.

His petition for a restraining order was denied. Evidence that his
vasectomy, conducted a year prior to the child’s "birth," had left
him with a zero sperm count, was ignored. Phoning and writing to New
Mexico’s child support agency to have them verify his daughter’s
non-existence resulted in a letter. The child enforcement worker
stated, "your daughter does exist, as I am sure you already knew."

Barreras went so far as to hire a private investigator to expose
the scam. Indeed, without his persistent refusal to be victimized,
the fraud would have probably never come to light. It would have
remained just one more injustice tucked away and protected by the
system’s closed file.

Richard Farr of the family-oriented KRightsRadio has spearheaded
an investigation of the matter. [For an interview on this topic
with Barreras’ second wife, click here.] Farr calls the case "an
egregious example of an overzealous child support agency who
apparently ignored the alleged father's repeated cries ...
Unfortunately, too many child support agencies are virtually
accountable to no one."

Reports from an investigative journalist at KOBTV, Albuquerque,
finally brought enough pressure to bear that Trevino was ordered
to produce the child in court. On the day of her hearing, Trevino
went to a mall, where she convinced a grandmother and her 2-year-
old granddaughter that they should all go to see Santa Claus.
Instead, Trevino took them to the courthouse, snatched the girl,
and tried to pass her off as the missing daughter.

The panicked grandmother could not keep up with Trevino and got
left behind in the parking lot. She stated: "I thought I was never
going to see my baby girl again. It's the scariest thing."

Richardson’s question keeps rising: how could this happen?

A partial explanation is that the child welfare system seems to
automatically favor the claims of custodial mothers over
non-custodial fathers.

Consider one scenario. A custodial mother swears under oath to
have given birth and perhaps provides false documents. In many
states, if she also swears that the absent father is violent, her
statement can result in a restraining order that de facto
terminates the father’s visitation rights. If a subsequent order
to pay child support is delivered to an invalid address, which
is often provided by the mother, then the father may not respond
within the window of time provided for a protest. Now he must pay,
go to jail or endure a process similar to the one Barreras
suffered.

But why did the child support enforcement system not follow up
despite complaints? Farr suggests an answer: "[S]ome officials see
child support agencies as revenue-generating agencies. States make
money off the collection of child support while the taxpayers lose
money at the federal level overall. Too often, this money-mindedness
does not give incentives for agencies to do the right thing for
children and families."

The stakes are higher than money, however. If Barreras had fallen
behind in support payments, he would have been sent to jail. His life
might have been destroyed.

Barreras is reportedly suing to recover the $20,000. There is some
indication he may also sue other individuals who "perpetuated" the
fraud. According to Barreras' attorney: "the parties that were
involved in this fraud will be sought. We've played defense. Now,
it's time to play offense."

It’s about time.

Wendy McElroy is the editor of ifeminists.com and a research fellow
for The Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif. She is the author
and editor of many books and articles, including the new book,
"Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the 21st Century"
(Ivan R. Dee/Independent Institute, 2002). She lives with her
husband in Canada.
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" I'm a man... But, I can change... If I have to... I guess. "
The Man Prayer, Red Green.