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Marion County, Florida is in the central part of the state in between Cedar Key on the west coast and Daytona Beach on the east. It is the county seat of Ocala. It also boasts a 31% child poverty rate in the county and 15,166 cases being monitored for child support enforcement by the Florida Department of Revenue. In just the last fiscal year 2017-18 the DOR left 7,448,691.00 of those child support dollars uncollected.

Marion County is also the home of S. G. a single father of two, ages 10 and 11. S. G. has been fighting to collect the child support owed to his kids.

Like most parents, S.G. did not set out to become a single parent. His marriage dissolved in his home state of Kansas due to his ex-wife’s extra-marital affairs and “partying”. He says that he did consider 50/50 custody at first. S. G. felt that the courts were stacked against him as a single father, A female judge stated that she did not want to hear anything about the wife only what S.G. had done to end the marriage. His ex-wife eventually surrendered the children to him and 10 days later the house she was living in was raided as a drug den. 50/50 was no longer an option for S.G. Children’s safety is more important than the rights of an addicted parent.

S.G. moved to Florida and sued for full custody and won.

Collecting child support in Florida has been another matter… The DOR has an order in place but only enforces it “when I ride them about it. The collection is another matter.”

S.G. has been forced through the inaction of the DOR to take enforcement into his own hands, filing his own motions to enforce with contempt. The discrimination continues in the courtroom as this non-paying parent has been let off with a “purge” at least 8 times. S.G. has lost count, it may be up to 10 times now. S.G. says she has “never paid the purge at the time of hearing to get out of jail time.” She has “hidden” till she was picked up on the writ for not paying the purge or had someone else pay her purge to keep her out of jail after the writ was issued. The last time she was already in jail on other charges at the issuance of the writ for nonpayment.

S.G. states, “Parents who work under the table to circumvent the system such as my ex-wife should be required by law to find a regular job as covered on the Contempt Filings and eventually be held for felony Non-Support of Dependents per the Florida Statutes!”

S.G. is angry for good reason. The Florida statutes list non-support of dependents under Chapter 827- Abuse of Children. And in 827.06 it clearly states that no payment in one year OR amount owed of greater than $5000 in unpaid support is a third-degree felony. However, Florida courts are not enforcing their own laws.

It cannot be mere coincidence that in a county where 1/3 of the children are below the poverty line $7.4 million in child support is going uncollected per year?

Florida now has 512,478 cases on file with the DOR owed a staggering $5,994,890,966.00 in arrears.

These figures are staggering until you consider the national totals these numbers contribute to. Nationally according to the latest Report to Congress per the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement there are now 11,712,928 cases owed arrears totaling $118,058,611,558.00 dollars. That would be billion, with a “B”. Unpaid child support… in America.

Why is this?

I have heard other journalists state that “family matters are not newsworthy.” I have had sheriff’s state to me that “this is a civil matter, not a criminal matter.” As well as, “There is no room in the jail for that!”

As far as sending these cases to the Federal level to be prosecuted under the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act signed into law by President Clinton, Florida has not sent a single case that I have been able to locate for federal charges since 2009. Sources state that there is “not enough resources for these cases.”  This can not be the vision of President Gerald Ford when he signed laws allocating resources to the IV-D agencies with the intention of keeping children OUT of the poverty stats…

And let’s look at the “resources” for a moment: in the same year that Marion County DOR cases left $7.4 million dollars uncollected the Florida, DOR received approx. $156 million from the Federal Grants Trust Fund for child support enforcement. In this same fiscal year 44 Florida counties left at least, if not more, than one million dollars go uncollected in EACH COUNTY…

So where exactly are these resources going?

Not into enforcement. S.G. can tell you that. So can multiple other single parents across the Sunshine State, also known as the Deadbeat State. In the fiscal year 2016-17, 44 of Florida’s 67 counties had over 1 million dollars in uncollected child support owed to its children. Hillsborough County was the worst leaving over $28 million uncollected for the fiscal year. Broward, Duval, and Orange counties also are in the $20+ million clubs… This is shameful and absolutely outrageous.

The DOR does not enforce its laws regarding suspending driver’s licenses for nonpayment of support and in St. John’s county the DOR accepted a payment of 0.05 cents on an arrears balance of over $17K and refused to suspend the license of the obligor involved. The DOR then turned around and told the parent that “if that is all he can afford then he is making an effort!”   

If all he has a nickel for child support how does he afford gas? Regular unleaded was 2.68 a gallon this morning at the gas station. And what is that gas going into? A gas can cost more than a nickel!

The trigger criteria for suspending a license in Florida is supposed to be “15 days late on an “a” payment.” Considering the average child support award is $329 if that is what this obligor owed and had an arrears balance of $17K he was over 3 YEARS LATE, not 15 days!

Where is the ENFORCEMENT?

Where are those federal dollars going?

What is this costing YOU as a taxpayer? When you have 1/3 of the children in one county below the poverty line where do you think the support is coming from? It’s coming in the form of federal and state aid that you pay for, TANF, EBT, Medicaid, school lunch programs… YOU as a taxpayer pick up the tab for deadbeats across this county. It was estimated in 2012 that deadbeat parents are costing the taxpaying public $53 Billion dollars a year.  Of the current arrears total of $116 Billion dollars nationally, the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement admits that approximately 30% of that 116 is owed back to the federal budget for expenditures to children who are not receiving court-ordered support. That is a current debt of approximately $35 Billion. To let deadbeats off the hook. Are you okay with this?

Now I don’t know about you, but I’m having a hard time supporting my own children. I don’t need any extra. Maybe YOU can take these extra kids on?

Like most child support cases, S.G. is not unusual, or alone. Just as there are single moms all over our great nation, there are also single fathers. And they need support too.

Deadbeats come in both flavors…

B.C of Minnesota can tell you about a deadbeat ex… His ex-wife has stolen from the kid’s piggy banks, taking all their Christmas cash, stole from the girl scout troop when she was “cookie mom”. She has put up fraudulent crowd-funding accounts claiming DV and that she was in a shelter with the kids… this also got her busted-on welfare fraud… She was ordered to pay $50 a week for two children. I don’t care how good you are with coupons, this ain’t going far at the grocery store. But B.C. states, “I have learned to restructure my life because I know she will never pay.” B.C. further states, “I have to juggle bills to pay for anything extra for them” His deadbeats latest was to have her $50 a week reduced to ZERO by the courts claiming she is disabled…. Anyone claiming medical disability should have PROOF from licensed medical physicians.

Tom M. of Ohio was told by CSE that his case was being thrown out, after 18 months and 9 court dates that his deadbeat had either tried to reschedule or simply did not show up for. CSE further told Tom “why do you need child support anyway?” This is extremely discriminatory… Tom is a PARENT—with FOUR teenagers at home. Of course, he needs and deserves child support! I can only imagine four teenagers drawing straws to see who gets the $80 school yearbook this year… Can’t you?

So, for all you out there who get up in arms over the word “deadbeat”. It applies to BOTH SEXES. If you do not support your children, you ARE A DEADBEAT. No matter your gender. If the shoe fits, wear it and walk away. Because that is what deadbeats do…

Readers, I think this “family matter” IS newsworthy. I think the taxpaying public in America needs to know these numbers and be aware of what deadbeats do and how much they are costing all of us. I am asking you to find out the numbers for YOUR state and help spread awareness of this epidemic.  Your state and national representatives need to be aware of local and national numbers. I can assure you that most of them have no idea the problem has gotten so out of control. Our children deserve love and support from both parents and no parent should be forced to shoulder the burden alone while the other breaks laws with no consequences enforced. Thank you.