Let's give our children some hope, and a better standard of living

I, along with other custodial parents that reside in Montgomery County Maryland, have a huge problem with the child support laws, and guidelines. It is not that we don't appreciate the agencies, but we would really like the agencies to communicate with each other in an attempt to collect the child support owed to the custodial parent. Every month that child support goes unpaid is another month a single family household must struggle to make ends close, and another month where the children%u2019s financial needs are not fully met.

A lot of our states do not consider failure to pay child support a criminal offense, and have reduced our children's way of living to a civil matter. It is not fair to the children, the custodial parents, or the state agencies that help support the child when the non-custodial parent decides they will not support the children they helped to create. According to my case worker, Jazaan Abdula, in the Montgomery County Child Support Agency, there is no reason to put the non-custodial parent in jail, and this woman even tried to persuade me to close my case and forget about it. This is not professional behavior from the agency that is supposed to be helping in collecting this debt from the non-custodial parent.

In Montgomery County Maryland the child support owed to custodial parents is astounding. Did you know that if you have a child support obligation of $500.00 a month, you can satisfy the Child Support Enforcement Agency with a payment of $0.13-not $13.00. Although there can be criminal action taken against the non-custodial parent, it rarely is, and some non-custodial parents go for years without supporting their children, while accumulating a large child support debt.

The amount of unpaid child support in Maryland in 1989 was 4 billion dollars; by 1999 the amount climbed up to 13 billion dollars. That is almost a billion dollars a year, and the amount keeps rising with no end in sight. Non-custodial parents continue to evade the responsibility to the children, and that which was set fourth by a court of law. It makes us all wonder if there is any justice for our children, or if anybody, besides the custodial parent, is working on their behalf.     

All we want is a just system that works in the best interest of our children. There is no reason the non-custodial should fall into arrears of $10,000.00, and there is no reason they should not be sent to jail for child neglect. The non-custodial parent avoids child support, (mine just quits his job when he is located) and since there is no fear of prosecution, they continue to avoid paying their court ordered child support.

We are asking that child support be a criminal matter if it goes unpaid, with arrears that exceed $8,000.00, and we would really like it if Montgomery County Maryland worked with the Federal Child Support Enforcement Agencies in an attempt to collect the child support owed to the children of custodial parents. I guess what we are asking for is justice. I know that things take time when it comes to changes. How long do the children have to wait for justice? How long will the laws allow the non-custodial parents to neglect the children?

Thank you, in advance, so much for your time, and effort on changing the laws in order to help our children.

                                                            The Undersigned,