Newsgroups: can.general,bc.general
Subject: Re: Making child suppo work - was: PARENTS REALIZING CHILD SUPPORT
From: kmcvay@oneb.almanac.bc.ca (Ken Mcvay)
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 00:44:14 GMT
Organization: The Old Frog's Almanac

In article <1ej42oINNc4c@skeena.ucs.ubc.ca> buckland@ucs.ubc.ca (Tony Buckland) writes:

> I'd like to see support payments made and collected by the courts.
> That way, the person granted support could rely on actually receiving
> the ordered payments, and the person ordered to pay support would
> find the weight of the law descending rapidly on their head if they
> tried not make a payment.  It's time a support order was realized
> to be an _order_.

I thought I'd augment my earlier response with some observations... I spent
some time with Lisa Graham today (she is my daughter, in case anyone's
curious about my interest in this matter), and had an opportunity to see
what she was up against.

She had gone to Legal Aid for advice, and learned immediately that Legal Aid
will not provide assistance wrt family maintenance collection, although it
appears that they _will_ provide services for spouses trying to avoid
payment - I'd love to clarify this further, and will be contacting the local
legal aid office next week to do just that - the irony hasn't escaped me :-)

Legal Aid was kind enough, through one of its lawyers, to tell Lisa that she
could, without cost, go to Family Court and request a Show Cause hearing in
cases where support orders have been ignored... as hers have been for over
four years.

So I drove her down to the courthouse, where she was told that as long as
she is involved with the Family Maintenance Enforcement program (one of the
surely _great_ oxymorons of our day!) the courts will not accept her request
for a hearing. She can, however, leave the FME program and _then_ get her
hearing. She was told, in my hearing, that all the FME folks had to do was
pick up their phone, call the clerk of the court, and request the show cause
hearing. No cost, no hassle.

Armed with this new knowledge (FME clerks insisted for months that there was
"nothing more" they could do, so Lisa was understandably elated with the new
information), Lisa contacted the FME inquiry clerk. FME doesn't assign 'case
workers', so no bureaucrat can be held responsible for inaction... a great
system if you happen to be at the public trough, since it effectively makes
all of your co-workers, and yourself, unaccountable for anything. The
inquiry clerk told Lisa that they could _not_ request the hearing. Lisa
explained what the court clerk had just told her, and the FME clerk
back-tracked, explaining that "it took MONTHS, and we almost NEVER do it
anyway, so why bother?" Lisa continued to insist. Eventually, she was told
that she would have to write a letter requesting the hearing, but that the
FME folks ONLY requested these hearings on a formula of cryptic origin which
had something to do with 'how long who has owed who what.' The implication
was that a mere ten to twenty grand over 4 years wasn't important enough for
them to bother with... trivial, don't you know?

Lisa then called her MLA, and was asked to send the FME request letter to
the MLA instead of the FME folks, and that's where it stands at the moment.
(I'd let Lisa tell you all of this, but the computer she's using needs some
expert attention, so it may be a day or two before her news system is back
online)

Catch 22 is the bureaucratic order of the day, as is clear from today's
exchange. I think it's time for some media attention, and applaud my
daughter's efforts to create a support group to assist other parents who
find themselves being ground into poverty by bureaucratic red tape and
indifference. I cannot believe that such matters are permitted to drag on
and on without resolution, and now fully understand the parents in the
States who are buying time on local television to run WANTED FOR FAILURE TO
PAY CHILD SUPPORT advertisements in the hope they can embarrass their ex's
into doing what they should be doing.

The ex? Well, he's got his season's pass at Whistler, and is undoubtedly
looking forward to an exciting winter season on the slopes. My grandchildren
are paying for it, in spades.

If you know of any parents with similar horror stories, and would like to
help them out (male or female), I'd appreciate it if you'd let them know
about Lisa's efforts. Support groups will be formed right across the
bountry, along the lines of the MADD effort many are familiar with. Perhaps
publicity will get the bureacrats off their lazy, overpaid asses, and prod
them into actually doing something for their paycheques.


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