Incarceration may not be Child Support Solution

While Butler County has the most parents sent to jail for failing to make child support payments, local officials are not pleased with these statistics. Some say that incarceration only leads to a "vicious cycle" that can make receiving child support payments even harder. The county currently has 37 parents behind bars for failing to make payments. County officials are working on a balance between prosecuting deadbeat parents and obtaining late funds. It is important to punish parents who fail to make payments, county officials say, but it can also make it that much harder to collect payments since these parents will not be able to work for a certain period of time.

In order to get arrested for felony non-payment, an individual must have been late on payments for at least 26 weeks out of a consecutive 104 week period. Several of the parents were reportedly misinformed about the state laws regarding criminal non-payment, thus they found themselves incarcerated. Are you owed past due child support payments? If so, now is the right time to seek help from a family lawyer in your state!