Monday, May 04, 2009
WHY NOT A FUGITIVE SAFE SURRENDER PROGRAM FOR "DEADBEATS?"
The Federal Marshall's Safe Surrender Program is touted as a "unique, creative, and highly successful, initiative that encourages persons wanted for non-violent felony or misdemeanor crimes to voluntarily surrender to the law in a faith-based or other neutral setting...[which] offers individuals with felony and misdemeanor warrants the ability to turn themselves in to law enforcement and have their cases adjudicated in a safe and non-violent environment."
Last week, this program "resulted in more than 400 people turning themselves in at a Wilmington (Delaware) church in the first two days of the four-day effort to get wanted fugitives off the streets." And last July, this program was implemented in South Carolina.
This program appears to be very effective. Therefore, we would like to see similar programs implemented for "Deadbeat" parents so that they too can come out of hiding, "turn themselves in to law enforcement and have their cases adjudicated in a safe and non-violent environment." 70,000 parents in hiding and ever-increasing child support arrearages in South Carolina is testament to the fact that the system is "broken into pieces" and that new approaches have to be considered.
Labels: "Deadbeat Dads", Child Support Collection, Family Court Reform, Wasting Court Time
