ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEMO: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.
VIRGINIA IS SENDING a message to thousands of parents who are behind in their child-support payments: Pay, or lose your driver's license. Many of those notified seem to be paying attention.
The state has begun suspending the driver's licenses of child-support scofflaws, and the tactic must be working. More than 27,000 other parents who received warnings responded by making payments.
``This is just one more in that bag of tools we have,'' said Carol Vanderspiegel, regional administrator for the state Division of Child Support Enforcement.
A law passed last year made Virginia one of 13 states that revoke the driving privileges of parents who fall behind in child-support payments, according to the Association for Children for the Enforcement of Support in Toledo, Ohio.
The new penalty comes at a time of intense national debate over how best to reduce welfare rolls, with unpaid child support blamed for many families' financial problems. Advocates for children have joined parents in calling for tougher enforcement of child-support orders.
In Virginia, the state can suspend or revoke a driver's license if the holder hasn't paid court- or state-ordered child-support payments for 90 days or longer, or owes $5,000 or more.
Since the suspensions began in January, 37 Virginians have lost driving privileges. There are 4.8 million licensed drivers in Virginia.
Delinquent parents are given several warnings before the Department of Motor Vehicles is contacted. The law is for ``the real die-hard who just won't give in,'' said Janet Smoot, assistant administrator in customer-service delivery for the DMV.
Child-support officials in October mailed about 146,000 two-page informational and warning letters to noncustodial parents on their books, not all of whom were delinquent, telling them about the new law, Vanderspiegel said.
After that first notice, about 27,800 parents who owed money started paying, bringing in $12million in new payments through April, she said.
``That's OK,'' she said. ``It's not that we really want to suspend people's driver's licenses, but we want to get people's attention and start the collections. And that part is working really well.''
By the end of November, the first of about 10,000 certified letters labeled ``Notice of Intent to Suspend'' were sent to delinquent parents who didn't respond after the first notice. The first to get the letters were those with the highest amounts owed or longest time with no payments, Vanderspiegel said.
Parents receiving notices could request court hearings to fight the suspensions, or make arrangements with the Division of Child Support Enforcement to start paying. The names of those who didn't respond were sent to the DMV, and their licenses were suspended.
Most did respond. The last letters went out in March and, through April, $700,000 more was collected.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB