Who's the deadbeat?

From time to time there is a flurry of Speak Out comments about parents, mostly fathers, who don't make court-ordered child-support payments on time -- or at all.

For some time now the Family Support Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services has used computerized databases to track down deadbeat dads. On average, the division receives more than $40 million a month in child-support payments that have to be distributed to custodial parents.

It was something of a surprise to learn, based on an audit performed by the state auditor's office, that the Family Support Division, on average, has nearly $9 million a month that cannot be sent to intended recipients because of faulty addresses or other problems in reaching custodial parents.

For all the complaints about deadbeat dads, it would be logical that mothers waiting for a check from former spouses would put the Family Support Division at the top of any change-of-address list.

The auditor's office suggested the division use its access to databases to track down custodial parents, which the division says it will do.

At the same time, custodial parents could exercise a little common sense and notify the division whenever an address or other contact information changes.