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Last night was a meeting of the Colorado Child Support Commission in
Pueblo, Co. I attended. Some of the point's I hit on:
Support:
Support guidelines are too high. I can support my kids _and_ send them
to private school for less than I would be required to pay under the
guidelines.
Accountability:
Need more accountability from CP that the CS payments actually go to
support the kids. When the CP claims that all they can find is a
minimum wage job (if any), and your kids continually show up hungry,
dirty, and in rags while the CP is driving a new car, it's not hard
to figure most of the "support" is not reaching the children.
Welfare:
What is the difference in "deadbeat dad" and "welfare mother". Do
not both have the responsibility to work and support their kids?
I lambasted one woman who was crying about her deadbeat ex and how
her current husband had to support her kids. Where was _her_
responsibility to support her kids?
Even after mother is off of welfare, Social Services will continue
to confiscate child support payments until all back payments owed
them are caught up. Children receive nothing until back payments
to Social Services are caught up.
Married:
In Colorado, if a man is married and the wife gets pregnant by any
means, even artificial insemination or another man, the husband is
held responsible for the child. This is WRONG!
College:
It is discriminatory to make divorced parents provide "support" for
college while married parents are not. There should be some proof
provided that the child is actually enrolled, attending classes, and
making grades.
Visitation:
Visitation is the CHILD'S RIGHT as well as the NCP's right. There
should be more penalties for violation of visitation. States will
support collection of CS but not enforce visitation. States will
not extradite CP from another state for contempt of court. Yet they
will support other states child support orders.
Custody:
It may be time to consider giving custody of children to parents who
are willing and able to support the children. Colorado law says that
custody is to go the parent who serves the best interest of the child,
but for some reason that is still considered to be the mother in the
vast majority of cases.
Deadbeats:
Penalties for being one dollar short are the same as not paying at all.
One man said he had been two dollars short on his payment and it cost
$750 to get the record straightened out. So if you can't pay full
amount, why pay anything?
Collections:
More "deadbeat parents" would be willing to pay if there was more:
1) Enforcement of Visitation
2) Accountability of CP for support
3) Guidelines were less punitive and more to what a person could
pay and still maintain a standard of living.
4) Incentives for making at least partial payment.
Many of these points were echoed by several of the other attendees.
Social Services (Human Services) took a lambasting from both sides.
One man there said he has quit Social Services because of all the B.S.
No lawyers or judges were in attendance.
We may have made at least one impact. State Senator Gigi Dennis, who
was at the meeting, said, on the radio this morning, that more had to
be done to collect child support _and_ to make sure support paid was
actually reaching the children.
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