PARENT'S RIGHTS NOW!

NEWSFLASH: "ECONOMY COULD BE AFFECTING CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS"

WJBF-TV reported in the article Economy Could be Affecting SC Child Support Payments that "The economy and South Carolina’s high unemployment rate appear to be affecting child support payments in the state."

Gee, do you think?

The article goes on to say that "Larry McKeown, child support enforcement director for the state Department of Social Services, says, 'I can’t specifically attribute it to the economy, but we have seen a decrease of about a little over two percent in collections, when comparing January of ‘09 to January of ‘08.'“

We suspect that there is a twofold reason why Mr. McKeown has no clear idea of whether the economy is affecting the child support payment rate in the State of South Carolina.

First, the historical child support payment and collection rate is so abysmal in South Carolina that a two percent drop may appear statistically insignificant. And second, South Carolina’s continuing failure to either enforce the New Hire Reporting Law or develop a computerized child support tracking and enforcement system means that South Carolina cannot locate a significant number of “Deadbeats” and, therefore, cannot ascertain the reasons they are not meeting their Court-ordered obligations. It could be the economy. Or it could be petulance. Or it could be that they are dead.