September 26, 2011
Donald Hubin, Ph.D., Chairman of Fathers and Families of Ohio”s Executive Committee, was quoted in Child- support changes arrive: New provisions give struggling parents leniency (9/25/11) in the Columbus Dispatch, a 200,000 circulation newspaper in Ohio’s capital. Under the new Ohio policies, for which Fathers and Families has advocated and supports, 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 obligors’ obligations are not being modified downward to accommodate for their lower wages and/or job losses, this is an important measure. 
Reporter Catherine Candisky wrote:
Parents who pay at least half of their court-ordered child support will no longer face suspension of their driver”s or professional licenses… Another provision will allow parents to have prior suspensions for failing to pay child support removed from their driving record. The changes come on the heels of a sentencing-reform law that encourages judges to sentence nonpayers to probation or community service instead of jail. The less punitive measures aim to encourage work and seem to buck long-standing practices of cracking down on parents who fail to pay child support. “The problem is not going to be solved by putting parents in prison or taking away their ability to pay child support,’ said Donald Hubin, chairman of Fathers and Families of Ohio. For years, many child-support policies have been predicated on the assumption that parents are able but unwilling to pay, but that”s not the case, Hubin said. The vast majority of overdue child support is owed by parents who can”t pay it. “Two-thirds of the money is owed by people who earn less than $10,000 a year,’ Hubin said…
To comment on the piece, click here. Reporter Catherine Candisky can be reached at ccandisky@dispatch.com.