Posted on 01/04/2006 5:02:01 PM PST by mylife
Courts may tag fathers who don't pay By Toby Helm, Chief Political Correspondent (Filed: 04/01/2006)
Parents who refuse to pay child maintenance could be electronically tagged under a curfew system being considered by ministers.
John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary, confirmed yesterday that the Child Support Agency may be given powers to apply to courts to tag parents who failed in their obligations.
"I am very much in favour of getting tough with people who are not meeting their responsibilities to their children," Mr Hutton said.
Asked about tagging, he told Today on BBC Radio 4: "I have already said to the CSA that I wanted to get tougher with those dads who aren't paying for their kids and I am sure there will be a strong groundswell of support for such an approach."
Mr Hutton, who will make a statement to Parliament within a fortnight on his plans for CSA reform, is also understood to be ready to order the extension of little-used powers such as confiscation of driving licenses.
The agency has been dogged by administrative and computer problems since it was set up in 1993. It has failed to collect about £1.7 billion in unpaid maintenance and has a backlog of 350,000 cases. Its running costs far outstrip the amount of money recouped for broken families.
Between April 2001 and last September, 27 absent parents were jailed for up to six weeks and 507 were given suspended sentences over failed maintenance payments.
Powers to confiscate driving licences were used only nine times in the same period amid concerns that doing so could stop parents working.
Tony Blair suggested before Christmas that the CSA might be dismantled because it was "not properly suited" to its roles of investigation, making judgments in disputes and enforcing rules.
Let's just sell them into slavery and have done with it
/sarcasm
Ah, the lovely examples of liberalism,
Behold the efficiency of Government
This country really does seem to hate Fatherhood.
I'm at a loss to explain the abandonment of the personal responsibility mantra when it comes to deadbeat dads. Should we raise taxes to cover the costs of the kids whose fathers take a pass?
My ex-husband sees our son Logan every other weekend. So my son comes home and says "We bought a big screen tv on Friday. We were going to get the $1000 one, but it was already sold,so we got the $700 one."
Meanwhile, the last time I got any child support (I'm supposed to get $258 a month) it was in November of 2004. If it will get monetary support for children, go for it.
"I'm at a loss to explain the abandonment of the personal responsibility mantra when it comes to deadbeat dads."
I'm not opposed to tagging "deadbeat Dads" as long as we also put leashes on the worthless Mothers who spend all their kids' child support money and time on booze, drugs and new cars for their boyfriends........
The family courts in this country are extremely biased against men. Let Dad fail to make a support payment on time and they will burn the woods and sift the ashes looking for him.
But will we do a damn thing about Mothers who neglect their kids in the manner mentioned above?
If it's the governments job to make sure the kids get the money (which they ARE entitled too) then let them make sure that once it's in Mom's hands that it's spent on what it's supposed to be spent on!
That's a bit severe.
What about mothers that don't pay child support to a custodial father? Will the courts seek to make them pay?
At some point one must realize that the custodial parent needs to bear equal, if not greater, responsibility for the well-being of the child.
Especially if that parent deliberately brought the child into this world over the express objections of the other parent.
How about tagging illegal aliens? They should be the first test case. We should tag or tattoo (on the forehead preferably) those who repeatedly enter illegally . Man, I can see Vicente Fox in sputtering apoplexy
Debtors prison. Great, A guy can't pay, so take away his means of bing able to pay.
I am not going to make excuse for scumbags who refuse, but this doesn't seem right.
Are you trying to say a dad should be able to force the mother into accepting murder of their offspring?
I hope you are referring to Great Britian, the newspaper is the UK Telegraph.
Maybe they just hate deadbeat Dads. I know I do.
Amen Sister!!!
My no-good soon to be ex-son-inlaw became a deadbeat Dad within two weeks of the separation. My daughter and grandchildren had to move in with us. She WAS a stay at home mom. We had to get a restraining order against him for the safety of all of us. He managed to get a FREE LAWYER by claiming he had no money. Meanwhile, we paid for the divorce lawyer, the movers (even his moving van) (anything to get rid of him) food, medicine, clothing, school supplies and housing for my daughter and grandchildren. She is now working at temporary positions while she recuperates from more than a decade of mental and physical abuse that we knew nothing about. As soon as she blew the whistle on him we got her out of there within 24 hours.
Don't ever expect me to side with the abuser in a situation like this, it won't happen. Just be glad I didn't take justice into my own hands.
Any decent custodial parent is taking far more responsibility for the child than the non-custodial parent regardless of child support. The hours of helping with homework, taking sick kids to doctors, cooking, cleaning, taking to ball practice, ball games, school programs and endless other things keeps the custodial parent busy constantly. It is a great joy; but, also a great burden. I'm sure the vast majority of custodial parents are good decent parents doing the best they can.
A system in which one parent can surreptitiously or overtly cause a child to be conceived, born, and awarded to herself creates a profit motive to abuse the process. Indeed, this happens constantly. Abusive individuals routinely crank out unwanted children knowing that the courts will award them hundreds of dollars (or more) in child support each month.
Personal responsibility is all about making both parents accountable for their actions - not just the wealthier one.
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