September 17, 2011
Under new Ohio policies, child support enforcement agencies will not be able to seize the driver’s licenses or professional licenses of any obligors who are paying at least half of their child support obligations.
Donald Hubin, Ph.D., Chairman of Fathers and Families of Ohio”s Executive Committee, was quoted in several Gannett newspapers over Ohio’s child support enforcement policies this week. Under new Ohio policies, child support enforcement agencies will not be able to seize the driver’s licenses or professional licenses of any obligors who are paying at least half of their child support obligations. Given the terrible economy, and the fact that many oblgors’ obligations are not being modified downward to accommodate for their lower wages and/or job losses, this is an important measure.
The license seizures have been widespread, serious, and damaging. Gannett reports:
From Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 of this year, 100,533 parents lost a drivers’ license, 83 lost a professional license, and 997 lost a recreational license for failure to pay child support, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Reporter Jessica Alaimo wrote:
Don Hubin, executive committee chairman of Fathers and Families of Ohio, said taking away a driver’s license for failure to pay makes it harder for a deadbeat parent to work, further hampering ability to pay. “Most of this money is not collectable at all,” Hubin said, noting that many of the parents in default don’t have the money to begin with. “This is a serious problem, but not a problem that is solved by not allowing them to drive.” Hubin said the proper solution is to better track those who don’t pay, and help them find work. Once they are in a job, the wages can be garnished to cover child support. The state needs to “set child support amounts to make it easier for people to pay them,” Hubin said.
To read the full article, see the Media Network of Central Ohio’s Ohio changes child support collection tactics (9/17/11). To comment on the piece, click here. Reporter Jessica Alaimo can be reached at jalaimo@centralohio.com.