Child support program needs major overhaul, lawmakers say

By DINA GERDEMAN
The Patriot Ledger
Published Sept. 25, 2004

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.