©Copyright 2004 The Patriot Ledger - Deadbeat Dads: Who Pays?

Father in series strikes deal with ex-wife, erases debt

Editor's note: The following story updates information about a case we profiled in a deadbeat story published Monday.

Philip Cristoferi, who was arrested in May for owing more than $9,000 in back child support, says he fought to erase his debt. And he succeeded.

The self-employed boat detailer has had custody of his sons since February. He had owed his wife the $9,000 from when she had custody of the children. After his arrest in May for skipping a court date on the child support issue, he requested another court hearing. During that hearing, he and his wife struck a deal.

She agreed to forgive the child support he owes her.

In exchange, Cristoferi's ex-wife will not have to pay child support to Cristoferi until August 2005.

Cristoferi was one of the parents featured in a three-part series of stories about deadbeat parents that began Sept. 18.

At the time of his arrest, Cristoferi, a self-employed boat detailer, argued that he had a bad back and wasn't able to work much, so he earned only $18,000 last year. He said he was struggling to pay his bills and support his children and didn't have money left over to pay back child support.

Cristoferi now says he is pleased that the burden of old debts is off his back.

"You have to fight to get anywhere, and I'm a fighter," said Cristoferi, 48, who lives in Weymouth with his two sons, ages 12 and 14. "In a way, maybe getting locked up was a good thing because it got me what I wanted. Fathers shouldn't give up."

- Dina Gerdeman

Child support program needs major overhaul, lawmakers say

By DINA GERDEMAN
The Patriot Ledger

The state agency in charge of making deadbeat parents pay has until June to fix its problems or lawmakers will step in, the House chairman of the Legislative Children’s Caucus said.

State Rep. Stephen LeDuc says the state Department of Revenue’s child support enforcement program is “grossly mismanaged” and in need of a major overhaul.

LeDuc, D-Marlboro, said he is waiting to see if revenue officials make changes on their own to address the flood of complaints from parents.

A Patriot Ledger series about deadbeat parents that began last weekend detailed problems in a system that allows 47,782 deadbeats to slide without paying. They owe their children $1.3 billion.

Parents say the department is difficult to deal with. They say cases are ignored or mishandled, record-keeping is poor and staff is unresponsive, often leaving callers on hold for an hour, even two.

“When any citizen calls (the state) and has to wait more than an hour on hold during their work day, there is a failure in place,” he said.

LeDuc, who began calling for change after a public hearing on child support enforcement complaints in June, said he will make sure lawmakers step in if the agency doesn’t change.

“I’m all about giving people an opportunity to carry through on a plan, but if it comes to June 2005 and we haven’t seen a noticeable improvement, then we can make a judgment call on the current leaders,” he said. “Maybe we have to dissolve the existing offering and start new with more legislative input and better management principles.”

State lawmakers responded this week to the Ledger’s three-part series, but Gov. Mitt Romney, whose office oversees the Department of Revenue, refused to say anything.

The governor’s office rejected requests for comment, and instead referred questions to the very department that is under fire.

But lawmakers, reacting not only to the Ledger series but to constituents’ complaints, say they will push for change.

“We need to take a very thorough look at the way the department handles these cases, what enforcement tools may need to be strengthened or added and what additional resources they need to enforce child support orders,” said Sen. Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “The inability of the department to properly handle their caseload penalizes the children and the custodial family. That has to stop.”

Ann Defresne, spokeswoman for Senate President Robert Travaglini, found the complaints against the department “disturbing.”

“If it does require a legislative solution, then the Senate is willing and ready to engage in the issue,” she said.

Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, said although the Legislature may need to appropriate more money toward child support enforcement, the governor’s office and Department of Revenue can make many administrative corrections without legislative approval.

“This is one area where the executive branch has extremely wide latitude to institute policies on an administrative level,” he said. “I have confidence that the management team can adapt and react to some of the problems that were pointed out. But if they’re not doing their job, then I believe Gov. Romney will make the appropriate changes over there so they do get their act together.”

Sen. Michael Morrissey, D-Quincy, said he asked Patrick McDermott, register of probate for Norfolk County, to make recommendations about any legislative remedies that might solve some of the problems. McDermott plans to meet with other court officials to discuss potential solutions, he said.

Morrissey, who called for more jail time and tougher financial penalties against deadbeats, said it is in the state’s best interest to improve collection of child support because taxpayers shoulder the burden of paying the welfare benefits of those who can’t collect child support.

“The parents want to see the money,” he said, “and it behooves us to be more efficient about putting the money in their hands because it lessens the burden on us to supplement their income.”

LeDuc held a public hearing about complaints against the Department of Revenue in June and is planning to hold another hearing in late winter or early spring, asking the revenue department to report on its progress and inviting the public to comment.

LeDuc has been hearing a stream of complaints from parents about the department’s handling of child support cases since he took office in 1996. He said state officials have promised to clean up the child support enforcement program, but he has not seen much progress.

“We’ve had (department officials) in my office on many occasions with promises for major improvement,” he said. “We have seen some improvements, but there has been nothing that has made a real difference. At the end of the day, this has a negative effect on the quality of lives of the children who desperately need this money.”

Dina Gerdeman may be reached by clicking here.

Readers respond

Many parents have their own stories of frustration in dealing with state

By DINA GERDEMAN
The Patriot Ledger

The phone calls and E-mails started to arrive even before the first deadbeat dad story was published, prompted merely by an ad promoting the upcoming series.

By the third day of the series, more than 50 letters, E-mails and phone calls had come into The Patriot Ledger newsroom, most from parents who had their own stories of frustration in dealing with a state department seemingly ill-equipped to collect money from deadbeat parents.

The stories were similar to those detailed in the series that ran Sept. 18-21: Mothers desperate for child support complained that an overburdened and understaffed state Department of Revenue doesn't crack down on 47,782 deadbeats. Fathers who do pay child support say the state is unfairly labeling them as delinquent.

Although 95 to 97 percent of deadbeats are dads, we also heard from fathers - and in one case an ex-mother-in-law - who said the state also lets deadbeat moms slip through the cracks.

Here is a sample of responses:

"It's about time someone actually put some energy into this ongoing problem," wrote one mom who said she is owed $180,000. "I bet you would love the letter I received from (the state) basically saying since they can't find him, they will consider my case closed."

"I don't think I will ever see the money, but would just like to see some justice," wrote one mother who is owed more than $70,000 and has been struggling with the Department of Revenue since 1981. "I would keep checking with (the state department) off and on, only to feel the awful frustration of no help and concern."

"My ex has shown me his checks, showing the money being taken out," wrote one woman who said the state has delayed her child support for more than two months. "I called (the state) for three days straight and never got anyone."

"The state was in no hurry to help me collect as I put myself through nursing school and was not on welfare," said one woman whose new husband pays child support. "It would be nice if the system was fair."

"I have seen problems with the system firsthand," wrote one man who fell behind on child support payments. "I don't consider myself a deadbeat, just a guy who ran into some trouble, and I'm now working toward repaying. But the state makes it harder for a guy like me to live by levying my bank account and threatening to take my license and tax refunds."

"This needs to come into the light," wrote one woman. "So please continue with this series. Maybe something will actually get done. Too many families are going without the support they need."

"I have three children, and I have been crying for help but nobody hears me," said one woman whose ex-husband owes about $20,000 over 12 years, and claims she can't get him arrested despite having a warrant.

"Instead of putting posters of deadbeat dads out there, they should post pictures of the children who are being neglected," wrote one mom who is owed about $17,000 in child support.

"My health had deteriorated from the stress of late nights running around trying to find (my ex-husband), not eating properly and trying to work two jobs and take care of two children all at once," wrote one mom. She tracked her ex-husband by going to bars where he hung out and had him arrested.

"Where are all the stories of deadbeat moms? When are they going to take some responsibility for their children?" one father wrote. "Forget about gender. We should all be held accountable for our children."

"We are beaten down. No one will listen, no one cares," wrote the wife of a man who said the state claims he owes much more than he does.

"The system is a horrible mess and it does need fixing," one father said.

"Please tell me how the system can allow deadbeat parents to have the advantage when it is us custodial parents who struggle every day to make ends meet," one mother wrote. "I have given up all faith in the system."

"The most outrageous indignity is the fact that there is absolutely zero accountability on the custodial parent as to how the support funds are used," one father wrote. "My ex-wife shops at Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale's while my new wife and myself make do searching the markdowns at Filene's Basement."

"I am so sick of hearing about a few high-profile cases that the state uses to pat itself on the back while the bulk of these cases go unresolved," one reader wrote.

"The system needs to be overhauled, maybe by making child support be based on after-tax income, not pretax," one father wrote. "I do not mind paying for my child as long as it is fair. When and if that day comes, I guarantee you will find fewer deadbeat parents."

"As a divorced dad of two who hasn't missed a single payment in over five years, I can't understand how fathers can just turn away," one man wrote. "How do they sleep at night, not knowing whether their kids have eaten or are warm and dry? Thank you for your article. I hope it does more than just shed light on this epidemic and results in a vigorous campaign by the state to hunt down deadbeat dads and force them to honor their obligations to their children."

"Every step I take forward, the state comes along and shoves me to the ground," wrote one father who had a bank account raided by the state. "The system is a failed one because it lumps every person who owes money into the deadbeat category. But there are people like me out there, legitimately trying to make good on their past mistakes, but being slapped in the face."

"These deadbeats have to be arrested," one mother wrote, "and their bail should be set for what they owe the mom and child."