CHILD SUPPORT LACKING; IN CAPE COUNTY, LESS THAN HALF PAY

Parents ordered to pay child support in Cape Girardeau County are making payments in less than half of the county's child support cases.

The figure, at 48.8 percent, is slightly less than the state's overall figure of 49.8 percent.

All this is according to information released this week by the Missouri Division of Child Support Enforcement. The information for the county covers fiscal year 1992, from June 30, 1991, to July 1, division spokespersons reported.

Cape Girardeau County isn't worse than any place else when it comes to child support payments, said Becky Ward, district manager for the Division of Child Support Enforcement office at 130 S. Frederick.

The district covers 17 counties from St. Louis south to the Arkansas line.

"I think it's criminal how poorly our track record is in the United States in making believers of people that they have a responsibility when they have a child," said Ward. "We should have a much higher percentage of our people paying on a regular basis than we do.

"We just want the best for our children, and I think we can do better than we're doing."

The total number of cases in Cape Girardeau County where a court has ordered a parent to pay child support is 2,138, shows division statistics. Of those, a payment was made in 1,044 cases in fiscal year 1992.

Parents were behind an average of $3,193 per case, the figures show, with the average monthly obligation being $181.92.

Statewide in fiscal year 1992, a payment was made in 81,752 of 164,023 cases where parents were ordered to pay child support, Ward said. Parents fell behind an average of $4,386. The average monthly payment came to $187.25.

The counties surrounding Cape Girardeau County showed these figures in fiscal year 1992:

In Bollinger County, a child support payment was made in only 38.7 percent of cases where child support was ordered. Three hundred and twenty-eight cases had orders for payment, while 127 cases had a payment.

On average, parents owed $3,698.21 per case and the monthly obligation was $179.58.

Perry County had 452 cases with an order for payment and 202 with a payment, resulting in a payment percentage of 44.6 percent. Parents were behind $3,994.87 on average. The average monthly obligation was $204.16.

Scott County's number of cases with an order for payment came to 2,441; the total number with a payment was 1,146. That made for a payment percentage of 46.9 percent.

The average amount parents had fallen behind was $3,508.76. Meanwhile, parents had an average monthly obligation of $177.59.

Ward said Missouri is considered to be very efficient in child support in comparison to other states and that the federal government gives it "high marks." Yet, she said, the district office here strives to do better on each case in collecting payments, with the hope that the effort will translate into more payments each year.

Last fiscal year, Ward said, $20 million in child support was collected in the district, the highest ever.

Support payments that go unpaid to children who deserve them are "definitely unfair," she said.

"We want what that child could have reasonably expected had the parents stayed together. Of course, you don't divorce your child; you can divorce your mate, but you can't divorce your child."

The monthly cost to raise a child on average is $474, division information shows.

There are many measures the child support enforcement office can take to obtain payment in a support case, said Ward. Among them are withholding wages, intercepting tax refunds, placing liens on property, and selling a person's property, including their car.

"We've taken liquor licenses before from people who own bars. We've taken the liquor license so they can't operate until they pay."

Depending on the circumstances, a child support case could be referred to the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney's office for non-payment. Ward said a case would be referred to the office if the child support enforcement office had no success in obtaining money.

"That's simply because they have a lot of powers that we do not. This office cannot jail anyone; this office can't go before the judge," she said.

"By the same token, they have a lot of cases they have to pursue besides ours. We do what we can first."

For instance, Ward said, such a case could involve a self-employed person the office is unable to find any assets on or determine who pays the person money.

Kelly Hartmann, the child support investigator for the prosecuting attorney's office, said the office probably receives 12 new child support cases a month.

A person who does not pay child support can be charged with criminal non-child support, a misdemeanor, she said. Punishment for the offense ranges up to one year in the county jail and a fine of $1,000.

In addition, a defendant who leaves the state to avoid an obligation of child support can be charged with a felony, Hartmann said.