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Committee hears possible solutions to child support problem Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 By Betsy Turner Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - State officials suggested ways to curb non-payment of child support, including a grant program to provide prosecutors with more resources to handle the caseload and a freeze on property transfers by deadbeat parents, during a joint committee meeting Tuesday. Testimony was taken at the House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs and the Senate Committee on Children and Youth meeting in the Capitol on a study proposal by Sen. Sharon Trusty, R-Russellville. Trusty said she was motivated to study the prosecution of non-support cases after receiving complaints from constituents in her district and from across the state. "We would like to know why there is such a problem in collecting child support," Trusty said. Saline County Prosecutor Robert Herzfeld said the lack of prosecution of non-support in certain judicial districts could be due to a shortage of staff or resources to handle a larger case load. Under state law, a parent can be charged with a felony if he or she owes more than $2,500 in child support. With a limited budget and manpower, Herzfeld said, prosecutors put a higher priority on taking violent crime cases, such as murder and rape offenses, to court. He recommended creation of a state-funded grant program to disburse funds for additional staff or resources to prosecutors, with the purpose of getting more of the child-support cases to court. He said the program could give out $500,000 to $1 million in grants. "I think a good innovative solution would be to come up with a competitive grant, let people come up with new ideas," Herzfeld said. If collections were increased by 2 percent to 3 percent through such a program, several millions dollars more in child support could be recovered annually, he said. He said the creation of a Saline County Child Support task force in December 2004 has resulted in an estimated increase of $800,000 a year in payments. Herzfeld said he disagreed with the idea of a mandatory referral system because it would overwhelm prosecutors with hundreds of new cases. Before turning over non-support cases for prosecution, the Office of Child Support Enforcement can take administrative action such as intercepting tax returns, suspend drivers licenses and put liens on personal property, according to Director Dan McDonald. The OCSE attorney supervisor, Keith Griffith, said one problem with the personal property lien is deadbeat parents sometimes transfer property before action is taken. Griffith said a change in the law was needed to freeze the offending parent's assets so no transfers could be made to avoid payment of support. The committee took no action on the recommendations, but after the meeting, Trusty said she would likely draft legislation for the 2006 regular session after additional meetings with prosecutors. |
