PARENTS' FAIR SHARE PROGRAM AIMS AT GETTING CHILDREN OFF WELFARE ROLLS

DEXTER - A program aimed at helping parents secure child support and move off welfare is taking shape in the Bootheel.

Kathy Fodge has set up office here to coordinate the new Parents' Fair Share program through the Missouri Department of Social Services.

The primary purpose of the program is to get parents who are financially responsible for their children in someone else's custody to pay their "fair share."

PFS is a voluntary program that provides education and job training to unemployed or underemployed parents whose children receive Aid To Families with Dependent Children.

The program provides state money to enable participants to receive training or education to improve their opportunities to increase income. Also, a hands-on approach is used with each participant to learn their problems and needs so that they eventually can meet their parental obligations.

The first component of PFS is non-custodial parents meeting together as a support group under the direction of a counselor. The group discusses positive parenting, improving self-esteem and learning that responsibility for one's children continues even if they are living with someone else.

The group meets in four-hour sessions, three days weekly for up to three weeks. After that, participants' attendance in the meetings is voluntary.

Fodge said the discussions in can get heated. Parents who don't have custody of their children often feel anger and animosity toward former family members. Airing those conflicts is an important part of the program.

Fodge said non-custodial parents often have a detached view toward their children since there is no daily contact. Turning around that type of thinking has helped to make PFS successful.

"We get to know them quite well, and they'll probably know more about us than they want to," Fodge said. "The peer group becomes their support network, since they often don't have anyone else."

Non-custodial parents owing child support are eligible for the program. Child support technicians are screening applicants to see if they fit the PFS guidelines. Other eligible parents are referred by child support enforcement personnel from prosecuting attorneys' offices.

Working with Fodge is Don Kapelski of Caruthersville, an investigator with the Division of Child Support Enforcement. As a help to the program, he has the authority to temporarily reduce the amount of child support required while the non-custodial parent receives training.

Rather than the usual adversarial methods he uses to enforce support payments -- garnishing wages, threatening jail time -- the PFS program allows Kapelski to be more like a coach of an eager athlete wanting to excel.

After participants get back on their feet, the original amount of child support, plus any accumulated debt, is reinstated.

Fodge, a former child support technician who has been a futures case manager in Scott County for the past two and a half years, will have to build the new PFS program from scratch when it is introduced in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties.

Fodge's part in the program also includes determining what the participants need to become employed, whether it be a high school degree, college or additional training.

She said one of the first things to do is to let the educational and training providers -- such as the Adult Basic Education Centers, the vo-tech schools and the university -- know that money is available for improving the knowledge and skills of the participants. Some program participants can have their wages paid by the government while they learn their trade.

The program began in Stoddard County Aug. 8. The first orientation for participants is scheduled for Sept. 19.

The program will open in Dunklin and Pemiscot counties Sept. 12. It is expected to expand to expand to Cape Girardeau and Scott counties by next April.

She doesn't think she will have any problem meeting her scheduled caseload of 35 people in the five Southeast Missouri counties. An additional person might be hired to help with PFS if enough interest in generated and if the program is successful.

Fodge said the program is one way to help people move off the welfare rolls. She said when adequate child support payments are made, children often can stop receiving welfare.