Reality of Child Support in North Carolina

This is an email we sent to a member of a News Organization outlining issues. We removed names to protect privacy

There are two faces to the social issue of Child Support.

• There is the inactive father who refuses to be apart of his child(ren) lives and who has money but does not pay child support. Our contention is that these individuals are the problem.

• There are active and responsible fathers who want equal shared parenting with their children who are denied 82% of the time in the NC Courts and are regulated to seeing their children 4-6 days a month and who pay child support.

People have financial issues. You are well aware of the unemployment rate and foreclosure statistics. A lot of North Carolinian’s are having serious issues with money and many literally have NONE. In many cases it is NOT refusal to pay support it is inability.

In the history of American Society, there has never been a federal ENFORCEMENT Agency that jailed US citizens for inability to pay a financial obligation. Even back in the Civil Rights and Womens Suffrage days was their a federal agency that jailed African-Americans and Women who just wanted to vote. They were certainly denied, but rarely jailed.

Many men who cannot pay child support want to offset their payment by taking financial burden off women in other ways. For instance, instead of paying a babysitter, let Dad keep them. There are tons of avenues that can be explored to decrease the amount of money a custodial mother puts out that could be decreased by increased visitation with their father. And quite frankly, the money spent arresting, housing, feeding, and providing medical care for non-violent men jailed simply for an inability to pay a financial obligation does NOTHING except cost taxpayers money and does nothing for children. Many argue it hurts children because fathers lose what job they had while incarcerated. You see NO NC Sheriff advocating for house arrest which allows fathers to keep their job. Oh no, this does not win elections.

Some History of Child Support Enforcement

I will refer you to this post to click on the federal legislation’s that are the problem:

https://ncfathers.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/nc-child-support-and-enforcement

The problem with child support enforcement is that Judges MANDATE that all new cases go through this agency. According to the Social Security Act Title IV-D (and others) , ALL US States receive federal monies for INCREASED collection and REPORTING of child support each year. They either collect more support, or don’t get payed. This money is then used by the State to replenish Medicaid programs. States need deadbeat dads, or minimal visitation dads to make money.

Many paternal families feel like this is an incentive to deny one group of people custody and increased visitation with their children. If men had equal time spent with their children there would be less child support, thus less collection, thus less federal money for States. We all know how the State loves their Federal Money.

Also, custodial mothers receive FREE LEGAL care within Child Support Enforcement. Non-Custodial Fathers have to come up with $5000 retainers EACH and EVERY time Enforcement calls to retain competent representation. Do you have any idea how hard it is to come up with routinely $10,000-$15,000 dollars each year to fight a massive federal agency?

Our Issue with NC Sheriffs, Judges, and Legislators

Nobody can deny that the National Womens Rights Groups and Domestic Violence Groups have untold federal funding and lobby potential. These groups are at the forefront of legislation that keeps CUSTODIAL mothers in place and fathers regulated as visitors of their children. These groups spent a lot of money in elections.

We actually support Womens Rights and Domestic Violence Groups, just not this faction of their organizations.

We believe that Sheriffs ( Judges and Legislators ) are simply posting sad looking, despondent mug shots of child support delinquents to keep the special interest groups happy. We also believe that every time someone sees pictures of the HORRIBLE people, it strengthens the concept that men are deadbeats and it decreases GOOD Fathers in the trenches.

Sincerely,
NC Fathers