Recordpub.com - Amnesty offered for child support Portage parents can regain license

By Mike Sever
Record-Courier staff writer
Parents who've had their driver's license revoked because of nonpayment of child support can apply to get their license back this month by signing up for an amnesty program through the Child Support Enforcement Agency of Portage County.
Noncustodial parents who have had their licenses revoked for nonpayment are normally required to pay a minimum of one to three months of back support. They also must provide the agency with a current employer so wage deductions can be arranged.
During August, the agency will reinstate licenses based on noncustodial parents' participation in job training at the Portage County Workforce Connection.
Kevin Gowan, head of the county's Child Support Enforcement Agency, said the amnesty on the past due child support is "a little incentive" to get them to come in and take advantage of the job training program. The amnesty does not absolve delinquent parents from paying their past due support, Gowan said.
By the end of June, Gowan said there were 617 people eligible, meaning their cases originated in Portage.
Gowan said the agency is trying to encourage more people to participate.
"We did direct mail on the program to people who live in Portage County. Some people don't always keep us apprised of their address," he said.
This is the second year the county JFS is offering the program.
"We had about same number eligible, but less than 100 that signed up (for the program) and even less signed up for the first class," Gowan said. "We're hoping for better this year."
Gowan said for noncustodial parents to be considered for the program, they must first contact their child support caseworker and sign a partcipation agreement.
Once they've begun the program their license will be reinstated. The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles charges $25 to complete the reinstatement.
Gowan warned that failure to follow through with the program will result in a re-suspension of the license.

26.	Posted by the monsters money has made us(CJ) August 7, 2008
	OK here it is the post that have been left are from the GOOD percent of the parents who you all seem to be going the right thing. But lets face it you all are a slim few who do the right thing. Again in my co-works defense. it's not that the children are not being taken car of. READ MOST OF THE POST!!! IT TAKES TWO to make the child, child support should be 50/50. The grandparents should be the one getting my co-works child support in that case. If the mother can just sit at home one her butt and just keep living off her parents then she really don't deserve the child support. That the point Im making. If there was more moms and dads out there who just did the "right" thing with there child support then my be the dead beat list might not be so long. I hate to rude, but if there is a parent just sitting at home not working or in school (who are ABLE to work) then they are NOT doing there part in the raising the child. So then why not take there driving privileges? Why should they get away with not working? In the case of the my co-work she should have the same punishment that a non-paying parent should get. If she don't contribute lock her up in prison so then 50/50 should mean 50/50. It takes 2 remember!

25.	Posted by Beegirl August 7, 2008
	I have raised my kids without any government assistance or child support. I am a full time college student, have 2 jobs, and 3 kids. Where is the father? Could not tell you. He is a drug addict, so sometimes you weigh the bad with the worse. Do I want him around my kids or do I just keep raising my kids without his assistance. My children are better off in the long run.

24.	Posted by CmdrKJon August 7, 2008
	It is a sad state of affairs when a man or woman has to be forced to support their children. The drivers license suspension program is for those who flat out refuse to pay. These folks are either self employed, work under the table or change jobs as soon as they are located by the agency. This is more of a last ditch effort to coerce these people to pay their court ordered support. What most of these offenders fail to realize is that this obligation does not go away. If you come across hard times, step up and inform the agency. Support can be adjusted. Believing that if you hide out long enough it will go away is what brings the harsh sanctions. These are YOUR CHILDREN. It is natural to have hard feelings for your ex, but when they suffer, so do your children. For goodness sake, how can someone financially abandon the child. I am raising my child, and I tell you what, $500 to $1K per month does not even begin to cover the expenses. It is a 2 way street though. If you need government assistance to raise the children you have, why have more?

23.	Posted by ROUDY_4 August 7, 2008
	Monster I would LOVE for the father of my children to pay a bill, if he doesn't want to give me the money, fine pay, part of the rent, gas, electric, water and food bill. Perfect! Then maybe some of the hard earned money I make I can spend buying myself clothes, uniforms etc. By the time I get done paying for everything..there is nothing left for my needs( and I don't go to bars or drink, or smoke cigarettes) I don't get a dime from my children's father. My children come first and foremost. These parents who do not support their children should have stronger consequences brought against them, how about abandonment or neglect charges?

21.	Posted by the monsters money has made us(CJ) August 6, 2008
	May be some of you didn't read all my post. I did say I spend all my child support on my twins and I never said that some parents don't get the short end of the stick on how much money it takes to raise a child. I at any given time can give a detailed list of what child support is being spent on. I have the dead beat MOM!! Who didn't want her kids and she is getting away with paying me 27.00 dollars a week YEA 27.00!!! So do I know how much it is to raise kids you bet I do! Im simply saying that there should be away the money should be spent in certain cases. If I was the one paying the child support and knew my ex was taking to a local bar every week. You bet I would be on the dead beat dad list the money is for the children NOT the parent! Beegirl Im a single father will full custody of my twins read all my post! In regards to my co-worker he also knows what it coast to raise kids. The point was she has a free place to live 2 cars that are newer and all running and the point was he pays 125.00 a week and she DON'T spend it on the kids and to the feeding them I do think he said she get the EBT. Which Im a firm believer if you need it you deserve it. free rent ok. EBT that's ok . Clothing coast are high. But to spend the child support on a new car just because you WANTED it and not needed it is a different story. I know you can look on line and see your transactions the parents who use there cards at a bar should feel ashamed! Key words CHILD SUPPORT not DRINKING or CIGARETTE SUPPORT.

20.	Posted by Beegirl August 6, 2008
	monsters, You obviously have not a clue as to how much raising a child costs. And as long as the child is being taken care of then it is none of the father's business as to what the mother uses her support on. 125 dollars a month isn't but a pair of shoes and maybe an outfit or 2 for each kid, A MONTH!! Give me a break ! I have 3 children whom I do not get any child support for and never have. One of them is in sports which I just paid $240 to put them in for 3 months. So, boohoo to the deadbeat dads. They don't even deserve the chance to get their license back because had they been paying in the first place, they would still have their license. Are you one of the non payers?

19.	Posted by Ohio Gal August 6, 2008
	Monsters: In your example the guy basically pays $541 per month for two kids. If Momma worked the daycare would cost that. Regardless if she has 3 cars and a boat, are the kids fed, clothed and sheltered? Heck I wish I could send two of my kids somewhere to live for $541 a month. If dad had both kids full time the cost of transporting them, feeding them and housing them would far exceed the 541 and whatever percentage she'd pay him, lets say the exact same amount. You can't raise two kids for 54l a month. Why was it good enough to live with her parents while they were married and not good enough now? You create the kids, you take care of them, plain and simple. Have you bought a box of cereal or a bottle of juicy juice lately? I have a teenager who can inhale food faster than I can put it away. The older they get the more expensive. Equipment for sports, shoes, baseball gloves, uniforms, stuff for school projects, school supplies, toiletries, daycare, etc... the list is never ending. Each situation is diffent and there is a mathmatical formula used to input the income of the parents and it's all calculated out. Heck with your figure that's only $ll6,000 if he started paying the 541 a month for an entire l8 years, less the medical insurance of course. Not bad, I want to sign up to raise two of my kids on that plan!

17.	Posted by the monsters money has made us(CJ) August 6, 2008
	I just feel you should not be able to buy alcohol or cigarettes. Child support is for the child and there needs not the mothers or the fathers habits. Maybe I just have been exposed to a few parents who see the child support money as hey lets go clubbing I got money on my child support card! There is a slim amount of mothers who do the RIGHT thing with there child support. I have a co-work I was talking with about child support and I think the CSEA should calculate a few more things in to child support Im going to use my co-work with his permission to write this for an example. His ex-wife lives with her parents.(no change since the divorce, they were married and living at her parents because the ex did not work) So she still lives with her parents pays no rent. Pays no day care. My co-worker pays insurance and 125.00 a week for 2 kids. So in return his ex-sent him a photo of her new car and with a note that said thanks! Not like the 2 cars she got and the boat wasn't enough he said. So as that as an example I can see why many parents do want to give up the money to there ex's. So if the parent buys the cloths and other things and pays on the water bill and has proof that they have done so should be justifiable for the Child support agency. Maybe then there wont be so many "parents mostly fathers" who loose there drivers licence and go to prison. As much money as we pay now for people in prison we really should give another thought into the CSEA and how they calculate there terms of how much support is made and how the money is spent! I can almost bet that if some fathers didn't have to pay the money to the ex and was able to pay part of the water bill or pay the rent there would be a lot less fathers on the dead beat dad list!