A Government Agency That Delivers Christmas for Some Children | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Yes, for some children there really is a government Santa Clause. That agency is Child Support Enforcement which is usually a part of the County Department of Social Services. This agency is also known as the dead beat dad department. Yes, to be fair, there are also a few dead beat moms. There are. plenty of parents who provide for their separated children. I commend them.

    About 15 years ago the public became aware that a lot of (mostly) fathers were evading their responsibility to provide basic and minimal support for their natural children. It did not matter that the court order required them to provide a certain amount of money each month to support your children, the great majority simply ignored the order. It was easy to ignore because, in some cases, the clerk of court was charged with enforcement. With one hundred clerks of court, one for each county, the amount of attention given to child support cases varied from non existent to mediocre. When orders were issued Sheriffs had a tendency to chase hardened criminals first and worry about people who simply did not pay their bills last. Even if the family had enough money to hire a lawyer to get the father to court, he, depending on the judge, would simply show up and either promise to pay or make a partial payment. This would allow the father to run free for as much as another year. Most care givers did not have the money to counter this kind of nonsense.
Commissioner Hood explains it all in the "The Hood Territory": Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage
    The legislature and federal government took a comprehensive look at he situation and ultimately passed a series of laws that have been effective in solving the problem.

    When families did not have enough money to buy food, provide medical care and clothing they landed at social services. Another expense on the public. Even now, not all parents are paying their court mandated child care for a variety of reasons. Many parents suddenly became disabled and shifted their child care back to the taxpayers. Others, because of legal entanglements in crossing state lines hid in another state. This is another case of state and county governments looking after their own residents first and then cooperating across state and county lines when they had the time.

    Taken as a whole this program has been effective. It provides Beaufort County children with about five million dollars each year. Most of that money would probably never have got to the child without this law.

    No longer must a parent hire a lawyer in order to collect child support. Any parent can contact Child Support Enforcement through their local Social Services Department and file a complaint for child support. The Child Support Services Department will conduct an investigation, determine paternity and proceed with a complaint in the court system without the requirement that a lawyer be provided by anyone. A word of advice for those filing. Some counties are much better at handling these cases than others. You can file in any county you desire. Therefore, check out the reputation of the county in which you intend to file, you may be better off filing in an adjoining county with a reputation for getting results.

    Beaufort County had a few ups and downs in getting to the good service we now provide. Commissioners became concerned when a huge staff was requested after the laws were passed. We contracted with a private company who had organizational and management problems. We ultimately contracted with smaller company who had an effective on site manager. The operation is housed in the Department of Social services on West Fifth Street. This department operates well, with good management, and within the approved federal, state and county budget guidelines.

    Because those who do not want to pay child support are no different from those who do not want to pay debts, Child Support Enforcement has been given the authority to seize money from many sources. Among these are insurance settlements, worker compensation settlements, life insurance beneficiary settlements, funds deposited in bank accounts and retirement accounts, tax refunds, savings and bank accounts, etc. The lien law also applies to the child support debt. That means the lien can be collected for up to 10 years after the end of the support period The support period usually ends when the child is 18 years of age. Wages can be garnished for up to 50 percent of the absent parent's income. The Beaufort County Child Support Enforcement agency pays for a full time deputy to do nothing but serve papers and locate defendants. Looks like you can run but you cannot hide. Because of this, there can be some large and joyous pay days.

    Large lump sum collections usually happen several times each year. This year is no exception. Tim Osborn who heads Child Support Enforcement reports his office is pleased with some or the this year's collections.

    He collected a single payment of $19,024.94 from a delinquent and absent parent. The State of North Carolina was repaid $5,445 for work first expenses. The parent providing care received $13,578.94. No doubt everyone on the receiving end was happy.

    In another case he located the funds and intends to collect for another client about $18,000.00 in past due child support before the first of January. Even if this money is delivered after Christmas it will still be a great holiday season.

    He sent a Qualified Domestic Relations Order During November to seize past due child support from an absent parent's retirement account. That family should have a good Christmas. Note that Child Support Services does the research to locate accounts like this and then seizes them.

    In another case Child Support Services managed to put enough pressure on the absent parent so payments were started in time to avoid the foreclosure of the family home and vehicle. That is a good Christmas.

    Of coarse the absent parent can always avoid all those searches and seizures by simply writing the monthly child support check.