Columnist Sandra Thompson: Children need emotional support, too

Sandra Thompson

Sunday, June 11, 2000 | 9:52 a.m.

Sandra Thompson is vice president/associate editor of the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at 259-4025 or through e-mail at thompson@lasvegassun.com

A LOCAL teacher sums up the complex issue of child support very simply:

"It is about the children, not the power."

If we all remembered that, there would be no need for tougher laws, expanded programs and a costly bureaucracy to ensure parents lived up to their financial obligations.

As pointed out here in recent weeks, child support enforcement has become a national social issue. Although the federal government and local agencies point to successes in collecting vast sums of money for support, it's not enough to quell the enforcement debate.

Many noncustodial parents pay child support regularly. At issue are those on the opposite ends of the spectrum: the ones who don't (or won't) pay and those who are assessed unfair amounts, most of which go to pay back welfare systems.

The issue, however, extends beyond collection of money.

"It's providing for the emotional and financial needs of the child" and building up the family, according to Thomas Leeds, child support hearing master for Clark County Family Court.

In some cases, payment of support is tied to the relationship between a child and the noncustodial parent.

"The Child Custody Book," written by retired California Judge James Stewart, points out that of fathers who have joint or shared custody, 90 percent pay child support. Of fathers who have visitation rights, 79 percent pay. Only 45 percent of fathers who have no visitation or custodial time pay child support.

"All states have some way of lowering child support as the supporting parent spends more time with the child," Stewart writes.

"Don't expect the child support to be timely and fully paid if you are thwarting the relationship of the children with the other parent."

According to the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, federal legislation recognizes the importance of children's access to noncustodial parents. There are federal grants to support and facilitate visitation and access.

Locally, Family Court offers several programs to help noncustodial parents, Leeds says. An employment assistance program helps people who owe support to get jobs so they have money to pay the support. Counselors help them get vouchers, IDs, transportation, health cards, etc. Leeds says the program is modeled after the national "Parents Fair Share" program.

Another program provides access to mediation to re-establish a noncustodial parent's relationship with a child.

Some states go as far as suspending child support arrears if the custodial and noncustodial parents reunite and meet certain income guidelines. It follows the federal government's policy of encouraging two-parent households.

For the noncustodial parents who don't fall in that category, the federal government and states have stepped up efforts to collect child support. Licenses can be revoked, cars booted, passports denied, wages garnisheed and tax funds intercepted. There also are parent locator services and a directory of new hires that's matched against lists of delinquent parents.

Despite these efforts, a good number of custodial parents still cannot get support orders enforced. A common complaint among local parents seeking help is that the District Attorney's Family Support Division is not aggressively pursuing their cases. Caseloads are too high, and caseworkers are difficult to reach.

Increased technology should make their jobs easier, but Nevada is one of eight remaining states whose child support enforcement computer systems aren't up and running.

The other side of that technology is that states now can compute arrearages, especially as they relate to reimbursing welfare payments to custodial families. So an increasing number of noncustodial parents are being hit with staggering bills they never will be able to pay.

Caught in the middle are children who need financial -- and emotional -- support.