June 28, 2020
Kenya N. Rahmaan
As the country struggles to rebound from CoronaVirus, the second-class citizens of America are being stolen from and punished for being poor. Starting with mass layoffs and furloughs, already vulnerable non-custodial parents (NCPs) were forced, like everyone else, to stop working abruptly. If eligible, they could file for unemployment benefits which were subject to child support garnishments. While the rest of the country experienced financial relief from bills such as rent, mobile phone, and utility payments, The government denied NCPs any relief pertaining to the suspension of child support obligations during this difficult time. When parents approached child support officials about granting some relief or break during the pandemic, most responded that parents needed to file for a downward modification immediately. That is if they responded at all.
The United States has and continues to experience catastrophic financial conditions both in the business world and within individual households. Unemployment numbers spiked during the pandemic to numbers that we have not seen in decades. According to Sarah O’Brien of CNBC (2020), about 22 million Americans filed for those benefits in the four weeks ending April 11. Some NCPs have yet to receive a payment, while others have complained about being garnished too much. As for the overpayments, Missouri, Arizona, and Oklahoma have reported absurd amounts of child support deducted from NCPs’ unemployment benefits. One mother from Arizona told Laura Gomez of the AZMirrior (2020) that her child support obligation is $80 a month for her 16-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter. However, the state is charging her $295 a week for child support.
In Missouri, a father typically paying less than $50 of his unemployment benefit noticed a larger deduction for a child support payment. Shawn Kennedy said that the $291 deduction that mistakenly showed up on his claim status page was taken out of his payment (Emma Jones, 2020). Another father in Oklahoma claimed that child support enforcement has been making double deductions from his unemployment benefits. Based on an article written by Taylor Adams (2020), John Cochran said that the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) and Child Support Services have plucked hundreds of dollars a week from his traditional unemployment and the pandemic unemployment assistance.
To add insult to injury, Mr. Cochran says that his ex has only received one payment over two months of overpayments. The Oklahoma Child Support Office offered a flimsy statement that failed to address the overpayments and who had possession of the money. Arizona officials explained that overpayment issues are part of the policy, which mandates that 50% of unemployment payments be garnished when a parent owes child support. According to Gomez, the Department of Economic Security or DES, Brett Bezio,
the Social Security Act requires states to have automated processes for withholding child support payments from UI benefits. Fifty percent will be withheld from Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) payments.
While every state has its own guidelines about what percentage of unemployment compensation can be deducted for child support, Arizona is the highest. California garnishes 25%, but the Department of Labor (DOL) rules are clear. According to a program letter released in April 2020, child support obligations must be deducted from FPUC payments in the same manner and to the same extent as these obligations are deducted from regular Unemployment Compensation (UC). Unfortunately, even when an NCP is current on their payments, having an active support order triggers the automatic deduction from unemployment benefits in every state. Arizona and Oklahoma have at least attempted to answer questions posed by overcharged parents, Missouri child support officials failed to respond to questions submitted by KSHB Channel 41 Action News.
Regrettably, the financial abuse executed against NCPs occurred early during the pandemic when the Federal government began issuing stimulus payments to struggling individuals and families. Failing to consider that NCP fell within the parameters of out-of-work employees forced to stay home and forego earning a living, the government declared that the government would offset stimulus payments if NCPs owed child support. This new mandate was and continues to be devastating to hundreds of thousands of parents forced out of work and finding themselves indebted even deeper to the unconstitutional child support system. When the government declared payments of $1,200 to citizens, there was a sigh of relief from many around the country. Then the news was released that, according to the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) (2020),
the economic impact payments made to eligible noncustodial parents who owe past-due child support and who are subject to intercept under the Federal Income Tax Refund Offset Program will be offset by the amount of past-due child support. Because these economic impact payments are treated as a tax refund offset, and not an administrative offset, the Act does not provide states the option to suspend federal tax refund offset in cases meeting the eligibility criteria under section 464 of the Social Security Act and 45 CFR 303.72.
This new regulation meant that already struggling NCPs would not receive a stimulus payment even though other government owed debt, such as student loan debt, would be exempt from garnishment or offset. What made matters direr for NCPs was that states were not offering any relief, such as child support payment suspension, during this economic catastrophe. Instead, many agencies advised NCPs to file for downward modifications if they were under or unemployed due to Covid-19. Although that same letter stated that NCPs had to meet specific criteria to offset the payment, mainly being $150 past due on the child support, hundreds of payers have reported being current on the payments and still having the stimulus payment snatched by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Although the agency has admitted to sending incorrect amounts, primarily attributed to garnishing the refunds of insured spouses, the only remedy offered is to complete Form 8379, an Injured Spouse Allocation document, and submit it to the IRS. By filing this document, Karin Price Mueller (2020) reports that it allows the spouse who is not responsible for the child support to get back their share of a joint refund. This process is not guaranteed to work out in the innocent spouse’s favor. If it does, the innocent spouse may receive the original payment amount lowered to cover unwarranted processing fees charged by the government . Either way, the child does not receive the total payment amount, and neither does the parent. The government, of course, receives something out of every offset, whether legal or not.
Not only are these payments due every month, and the only remedy offered by child support officials is to file for a downward modification, child support agencies and courthouses have been closed for months due to Covid-19. Traditionally, modifications have taken months, sometimes years, even to be reviewed by a child support caseworker. And once reviewed, it is up to their discretion whether the downward modification is approved or denied. The OCSE stated that Federal law obliges states to review an order upon either parent’s request if the requesting parent demonstrates a “substantial change in circumstances. Indeed, the health pandemic that has immobilized the country, the economy, and the world, along with utterly halting child support employees from working at all, should qualify as a substantial change in circumstance. However, the child support payments continue to accumulate, and the debt balloons out of control.
Unfortunately for the NCP, no time restrictions mandate how long a child support agency can take to process a modification. Parents have reported waiting several months to several years before receiving any response to applications requesting a downward modification. In the meantime, the child support order remains the same, despite the changed circumstances. The Bradley Amendment prohibits states from retroactively erasing child support arrears. Specifically, under current law, no matter the circumstances, a State cannot modify delinquent child support obligations (Douglas Reid Weimer). The amendment guarantees that any debt accumulated during the modification process is the responsibility of the NCP if and when the child support caseworker denies the application.
While these horrible child support policies continue to wreak havoc on the second-class citizens of the US, there is yet another problem on the horizon. For a couple of parents, the situation has already presented itself. The public asked child support officials to suspend child support payments and all enforcement practices during the pandemic. Significantly few states responded and only one state implemented a mandate suspending child support enforcement. Chief Justice of South Carolina, Donald W. Beatty, suspended all active bench warrants issued for failure to pay child support debt. The order states, in part, that according to the South Carolina Judicial Branch (2020),
it is so ordered, that any and all unexecuted bench warrants issued by Family Courts of this State, for the non-payment of child support and alimony, shall not be executed and no person subject to such bench warrants shall be arrested, for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of this order.
Although Beatty only issued the order for 30 days, there was at least an effort by a government official to suspend arrests. Unfortunately, two states, in particular, are failing to extend this courtesy to struggling NCPs and not embarrass or arrest them during a time when the nation is still fighting for financial survival. The sheriff’s department in Dutchess County, New York, believed it would benefit NCPs and their children to release the names, birthdays, and birthplaces of parents who allegedly owe child support debt—posting the list of over a hundred parents on Facebook. The since-deleted post had the caption which read that, due to the National Pandemic, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office would like to extend the opportunity for those with Family Court warrants’ for FAILURE TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT, to make good, (Saba Ali, 2020).
The post was a poorly camouflaged attempt to assist NCPs in catching up with child support payments. The fact that the department reverted to an old enforcement tactic of public shaming is highly disheartening. Public shaming poor parents in an attempt to collect a debt during such an economically strenuous time display the callousness and absolute disregard that those in control of child support enforcement have for non-residential parents. The original post was deleted and replaced with a statement reiterating that opportunities are afforded to NCPs to pay child support, minus any consideration to all adverse conditions caused by Covid-19. The department or the state failed to make an effort to forego any enforcement punishments due to non-payment of child support. Releasing personal information by law enforcement needs to stop before other states follow suit.
Traveling to North Carolina, the police department decided to conduct a child support arrest roundup dubbed Operation ‘Pay Up.’ According to an article written by Stacia Strong (2020), Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes says that finding and arresting those who fail to pay their child support is a priority for his office. The officials seem to have ignored a new executive order issued by Governor Roy Cooper just one day before the mass arrests.
Executive Order No. 147 is an extension of the Phase 2 order and new measures to save lives in the Covid-19 pandemic (State of North Carolina, 2020). This order will undoubtedly delay parents returning to work and hinder their ability to pay, which means they are not ‘willfully’ failing to pay child support. Willful failure to pay child support is the foundation of how the government justifies incarcerating NCPs for failure to pay child support. This foundation is contrary to a statement made by Hughes, who inferred that,
These people you see here have been avoiding apprehension, if they put a quarter of the time in effort into paying their child support and meeting their obligations as they have in avoiding detection and apprehension by us, they probably would not be a board right now (Strong).
Other barriers plague the state that was present before Covid-19 and that still exists today. The North Carolina Justice Center reported that amid an economic recovery that has taken nearly a decade to bring poverty back to pre-Recession levels, poverty in North Carolina is still worse than in 35 states. Yet, police departments are blaming low-income, unemployed NCPs for the inability to pay. In contrast, custodial parents can apply for cash and food benefits courtesy of the government during their hardship. In the city of New Berns, where Operation’ Pay Up’ was conducted, the unemployment rate reached 10% in April compared t0 4.3% reported just one month prior (BLS, 2020). This city also has a higher amount of people living in poverty.
The poverty levels, while high for the entire state was reported at 18.5% in New Bern in 2019. Child support officials must consider these factors before issuing arrest warrants and arresting parents for child support debt. Instead of sharing assumed financial information attempting to justify charging unemployed, low-income, poverty struck, and desperate NCPs, state officials should use their resources, including funds that would best assist both children and parents during these difficult times. Personal experiences, statistics, and numerous studies have proven that arresting parents who cannot afford to pay is counterproductive and damages the parent/child relationship.
Society needs to ensure that all citizens are protected, financially and otherwise, while we recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. While all others out of work have some sort of safety net to assist with bills, food, rent, etc., NCPs are left to fend for themselves. They are now, once again, being robbed, hunted, and jailed for owing a debt that they cannot afford to pay. Not only is this practice illegal and unconstitutional, but it is also immoral and unethical. Our government should NEVER treat non-custodial parents as second-class citizens.
References:
Adams, T. (2020, June 11). OESC, DHS facing backlash after child support payments taken out twice from unemployment benefits. KFOR.com Oklahoma City. https://kfor.com/news/local/oesc-dhs-facing-backlash-after-child-support-payments-taken-out-twice-from-unemployment-benefits/?fbclid=IwAR2-7vqUBE_GX0FyN1ZmUiJGu2aPln-HSYKJzYUgkXB8O1GYWA8phgW2TkA
Ali, S. (2020, March 19). Dutchess Sheriff’s office discloses child support warrants, encourages social distancing. The Poughkeepsie Journal. https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2020/03/19/coronavirus-dutchess-sheriffs-office-discloses-child-support-warrants/2878821001/
Beatty, D. W. (2020, May 7). SC judicial branch. SC Judicial Branch. https://www.sccourts.org/whatsnew/displayWhatsNew.cfm?indexId=2497
Department of Labor. (n.d.). Unemployment Insurance Program Letter No. 15-20. ETA advisories, employment & training administration (ETA) – U.S. Department of Labor. https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/UIPL/UIPL_15-20.pdf
Gomez, L. (2020, May 13). DES overcharges parents paying child support, leaving them with little unemployment aid. Arizona Mirror. https://www.azmirror.com/2020/05/13/des-overcharges-parents-paying-child-support-leaving-them-with-little-unemployment-aid/
Jones, E. (2020, June 11). Kansans report child support unemployment deduction error. KSHB. https://www.kshb.com/news/coronavirus/kansans-report-child-support-unemployment-deduction-error
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Strong, S. (2020, June 25). 27 arrested in child support roundup ‘operation pay up’. https://www.witn.com. https://www.witn.com/2020/06/25/27-arrested-in-child-support-roundup-operation-pay-up/?fbclid=IwAR3sqllFvRWSoJJR9jOgF41pRlVL2DNgpMgHcIriJDAtaDL1wCA7kXC5Ung
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Weimer, D. R. (n.d.). The Bradley amendment: Prohibition against retroactive modification of child support arrearages. Congressional Research Reports. https://congressionalresearch.com/RS20642/document.php?study=THE+BRADLEY+AMENDMENT+PROHIBITION+AGAINST+RETROACTIVE+MODIFICATION+OF+CHILD+SUPPORT+ARREARAGES
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