Things aren’t going so well in the Department of Child Support Services, according to this article in the LA Times:
Before 2000, the district attorney in each of the state’s 58 counties was responsible for helping parents collect delinquent child support. But the individual counties lacked uniform regulations and had such poor records of collecting child support that the state stripped prosecutors of the responsibility.
In its place, the state created a department that supervises child-support services in each county under a new set of guidelines.Since the system was overhauled, state officials have reported steady improvements in collection rates. The new state program is expected to collect a record $2.3 billion statewide this year, a nearly 7% increase over last year. With improved state funding, several county child-support departments began adding staff.
County officials now fear that the progress made over the last three years may suffer a serious setback. For counties such as Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San Diego, cuts will mean fewer resources to collect child support.
Most of what this agency actually does is collect money funds from dads that’s retained in the state and federal treasury to defray costs of welfare payments to moms, but the advocates never spin it that way, preferring the “for the children” dance for its obvious resonance.
Ironically, the spin is now biting them in the ass. The state isn’t cutting revenue collection programs, just service programs. For example, when it was learned that the 93 sales tax auditors on the layoff list brought in $24M more than their salaries, the state decided to keep them on board. The state actually makes a profit of several million dollars a year from collecting child support for welfare reimbursement, and cutting these collectors will cost the taxpayers money. But to admit that child support is a revenue program for the state is to admit that it’s not all that it’s been cracked-up to be in the media.
In a round-about way, lax efforts to collect court-ordered support also hurt the dads, because their unpaid support accrues 10% interest and isn’t dischargable in bankruptcy. It’s best to pay as you go, if you possibly can, dads.
It appears that the Department is putting the word out to friendly columnists about the revenue nature in order to avoid cuts, which is why we had Joan Ryan quoting Department staffer Leora Gershenzon a few days ago.