Child Support Warnings Herald Welfare Changes Threat Of Losing Driver’s, Business Licenses Aims To Reduce State Money Spent On Children Of Parents Who Don’t Pay
If you’ve fallen too far behind in child-support payments, you soon risk losing your driver’s, business, hunting and fishing licenses.
The state is preparing to send letters to as many as 55,000 parents who have made no child-support payments the past two months. The notices are among the first visible changes to the state’s welfare system; some begin July 27, the rest will be phased in over the rest of the year.
The new law limits benefits to five years in a person’s lifetime and requires most recipients to get a job or go to school. The new program, called WorkFirst, also replaces many benefits lost to legal immigrants when Congress reformed the federal welfare system.
The rationale for encouraging timely child-support payments is to reduce the amount of money the state spends on the children of parents who don’t pay.
Fewer women would sign up for welfare or wouldn’t stay on as long if they were getting the child support that’s owed them, said Meg Sollenberger, director of the state Department of Support Enforcement.
The new license-suspension provisions apply to everyone who falls behind in child support - not just to parents whose children are on welfare.
The first letters are a warning. State officials say they won’t try to take licenses away from late-paying parents until they’re at least six months behind.
And they don’t expect to suspend very many licenses. Other states that already have such programs say the threat alone is enough to make delinquent parents fulfill their financial obligations.
“We would see that as a success,” said Bill Kellington, who helps oversee child-support collections for the state. “We’re hoping they will cooperate. We really want to make contact with these folks.”
The threat of suspending licenses is expected to be most useful in getting the attention of self-employed parents who aren’t paying child support and who are hard to track down, he said.
The warning letters are supposed to go out next month.
Bob Hoyden, director of Washington Families for Non-custodial Rights, said the threat probably will work in the short term, but it won’t be fair.
“What you’ll have is a big influx of cash,” Hoyden said. “In order to preserve their licenses, guys are going to sell a house, sell a small business, tap into retirement or cut back on support to their current kids.” xxxx IMPORTANT DATES Among the important dates and events are: July 27: Welfare recipients who currently are allowed to keep $50 of their child support payments - the rest is turned over to the state when they sign up for welfare - no longer will get to keep that amount. Aug. 1: The clock starts on the five-year lifetime limit for collecting welfare cash benefits. New applicants for welfare must enroll in the WorkFirst program, which requires immediate job searches before going to school or getting job training - unless they have disabled or very young children. Legal immigrants who are getting kicked off the federal Supplemental Security Income program would be enrolled in a state cash assistance program. Sept. 1: Legal immigrants who lose federal food stamps will be shifted to a statefunded food stamp program. Oct. 1: A special program aimed at getting legal immigrants off welfare will begin. It includes one year of language training. Nov. 1: Current welfare recipients will start shifting into the WorkFirst program. Some will be able to finish their schooling; others will be required to seek work right away. Still others must perform community service.