Saturday, February 14, 2009
The South Carolina Department of Social Services has recently come under fire for mismanagement of various sorts. However, this may not be the end of the criticism and the scrutiny.
We remind everyone that STATE LAW REQUIRES REPORTING OF NEW HIRES BY EMPLOYERS. However, the case of Staffing 200 suggests that at least some South Carolina businesses are either ignoring the Law or are unaware of the Law. This raises several questions. Is DSS monitoring compliance with the Law? Are there widespread violations of the Law? Is the Child Support Enforcement Division being funded sufficiently both to insure compliance with Federal law and to collect the arrearages? Why are the total arrearages owed in South Carolina increasing by $50 Million per year? What do the Family Courts do with the 5% administrative fee that is collected for processing all child support payments? How much money is collected in fines and penalties each year from parties who are found to be in contempt for failure to pay child support and what is done with that money? Does the Family Court's gain constitute a loss to County Sheriffs who have to house and feed these "deadbeat parents" or have the counties found other ways to profit off of inmates?
Until these questions are answered, the public will not know whether recent reports constitute merely the tip of the iceberg.
Labels: Child Support Collection, Institutional Mismanagement, Problems at DSS
