If child support collections are at an all time high then why can't more deadbeat dads be arrested.One has not paid a dime & the child is seven years old & he owes thousands. Morgan county also has a valid address for him yet he still gets away without paying. I think that you only catch the deadbeats when you happen upon them for other matters & then it is ignored (I guess the paperwork is too much for them to handle) because this dead beat dad has been in trouble several times in the last 7 years. So don't be bragging about collections when this is 1 example of how many other similar dead beats in Morgan County.

GO girl....................

Gender discretion should be exhibited in future articles. The percentage of "deadbeat moms" is increasing annually. More fathers are gaining custody of their children, while moms are ordered to pay child support. I do not have solid data to prove this, but I believe most fathers obtain custody of their children via a Modification of the divorce decree due to a "Change of Circumstances". If a mom is not capable of gaining custody of her children, imagine the effort she will make at making her child support payments. If you are owed child support, work the system. You should meet with a DHR representative to begin enforcement procedures. Once that begins, be patient.

Years ago an acquaintance who had once been behind on his child support said to me, "You'd be surprised how much money you can raise from a jail cell." Parents who do not have the natural drive to support their children will always need some "encouragement". Providing that encouragement by putting them in a jail cell early on makes believers out of them from the start and inspires them to keep their child support current. Waiting until it's a last resort generally means they wind up with an arrearage so large it's unmanageable.

Early. That's the ticket. In fact, decades ago when I got divorced, my wise father said to me, "If the first time he misses a child support payment you don't have him put in jail you deserve everything you get." Fortunately, my exhusband knew he'd have hell to pay if he ever missed, so he didn't. But judges should say that, from the bench, to every custodial parent every time they grant a divorce.

I agree with Laurie. My ex was arrested for contempt of court once in the 15 years he's owed me child support. He spent about two days in jail. Sherrie Paler released him when he cried in court, on a 'promise' that he would pay. Never happened. Never will. His current child support debt to me is over $50,000. Yeah, I'll believe in DHR when I see some of that collected.

"Fortunately, my ex husband knew he'd have hell to pay if he ever missed, so he didn't" ===== He LOVED his kids.. The threat of jail is not why he paid. He pays his support because he loves his children. Also there are circumstances where maybe someone loses a job or has a really bad accident and gets behind. This is very unfortunate and probably rare but there has to be exceptions to the rules. You cant just say go get his AS- he missed a payment. I mean Really??? So now while I am on my rant I'm sick of the deadbeat DAD comment. There are plenty of Mothers that don't pay support and there are even more that over time believe the money is for them to live it up! Dad pays and children still do without and come to DAD for everything else. I paid my support for many years and never was late one time. I NEVER feared the court or JAIL. I paid my support because I LOVE MY CHILDREN and I always went above and beyond. It always seemed though that I would pay my support and the children didn't benefit. Mom took trips, had nice clothes, took lots of personal time off and the kids always came to dad for everything they needed. EVERY MAN or WOMAN that has a child has an moral obligation to take care of the children to the best of there ability.

Resident From: You have no idea what you're talking about. My ex-husband offered to sign sole custody of the children to me so he wouldn't have to pay ANY child support. Even his attorney looked at him like he was crazy. His mother nearly disowned him over that! The only reason he paid his child support was because he knew from the get-go I wouldn't tolerate him not paying it!

I admire the fact you love your children and pay your child support. I also know non-custodial parents that pay more than they are court order to pay just to help out or to make sure their kids get to participate in all the school and extra curricular activities they can. That's what parents who love their children do, whether they happen to share the same home or not. You are to be commended!

I'm also in complete agreement that there are many moms who aren't worth shooting when it comes to being good parents. The Daily has already been called to task for being sexist with this editorial and singling out dads as the deadbeat parties.

yep, i know a used up, worthless poor excuse for a mother whom kept her 21 month old with her (so she could still get foodstamps, pitty handouts etc instead of getting off her worthless a** & work) let her husband have the other 2 young ones that were in elementary school ( that would require too much responsibility to keep them) with their dad, the dad supported the 2 he had AND took the ' 3 time, 9 month incubator' to the grocery store to get the baby stuff, she never helped with the other 2 BUT somehow could help her deadbeat boyfriend with money ( theft ) for his pills, alcohol, or whatever he needed, & he would return the favor by slapping her around & sharing his disease with her while several occasions the baby unfortunately got caught in the middle. DHR?????? CITY,STATE,GOVT. A FREAKIN JOKE to try & get help for the dad to get custody of the baby. you have to have actual VIDEO of any wrongdoing IF you can figure out where they are staying from day to day. who in their right mind would allow a woman custody of a small child or any child that has no job (fully capable of working, but wont because it gets in the way of d!(k chasing) no means of transportation, no stable place of living????? well i guess (X) judge paler . dhr was called at least 2X a week to check the welfare of this baby when the dad knew where she was staying (and the police) dhr never checked into it...police...yep people live there, not anything else for us to do, thank you bye. LIMESTONE i truly hope things in your town do work out better than here. good luck with that.

Just because the custodial parent doesn't let the non custodial parent have the visitation privalages granted by the courts the non custodial parent doesn't have the right to withhold the support payments. 2 wrongs do not make a right & then both parents are in contempt of court & both sides should be brought to justice. Children should not be put in a tug of war position. That is not fit parenting & those matters must be addressed also. Children do not ask to come into this world & their well being is the only thing that matters.

Maybe you women should have made better life choices and better choices in men. Maybe you are partly to blame.

Sometimes common sense by the parents can go a long way towards providing a better life for the child. A relative of mine has NEVER asked for child support, nor has any been given, not because the other parent does not love the child, but because the other parent cannot afford to pay support and still live decently. The custodial parent chooses to comply with their privately decided custody arrangements because it is best for the child. It is also best for the child that the noncustodial parent can afford a home, electricity, water, and food so the child can visit in a decent environment. The child, now a teen, has two loving parents and money has not been a factor.