All posts in the topic More Child Support Propaganda (Short link)

From: Lee Surma Date: May 04 15:30 UTC Short link

http://www.twincities.com/ci_9141217?nclick_check=1

The article is also below. The writer states that the
Child support agencies are facing funding cuts. What
happened is that the Republicans at the federal level
rightfully cut a portion of child support known as title
4-D funding. The state and counties turned around and
immediately covered the reduction. Pawlenty should have
line item vetoed the state portion which I believe was
around 14 million. Pawlenty's wife is or used to be part
of the divorce industry which includes a sickening array
of opportunists in law and government.

The child support system in this country is flawed and
corrupt. The Feds pay states to remove one parent and
garnish the wages of the removed parent. The system was
initially set up to recover welfare payments. It now takes
in all parents regardless of income. So you have a system
where the county acts as a middle man on people who would
pay anyway. The whole thing should be scrapped and they
should only focus on non-payers. It's classic big
government way out of control.

This line is particularly disturbing. "Child-support work
is known for its frustrating combination of court
judgments and labor- and tax-related wage garnishment, all
in the emotionally charged atmosphere of a child at risk
of falling financial victim to the battles of divorced
parents." Child support has nothing to do with supporting
children. The child never sees a penny. The government has
created a winner take all system. One parent loses their
children and then has to pay the other parent for the
privilege. The system is deeply sadistic on all levels and
the children lose a parent who also becomes financially
marginalized.

The federal government should get out of the family
destruction business and cut off all title 4-d funding to
states immediately. The state should then stop all non
welfare related garnishments and focus on enforcement only
which should be handled in civil not family court.

Lee Surma
Maple Grove


Understaffed government agencies close phone lines to play
catch-up
Cash-strapped agencies institute no-call times
By Dave Orrick
<email obscured>
Article Last Updated: 05/03/2008 09:00:16 PM CDT

It's your government, right?

But just try to get them on the phone.

In Anoka and Ramsey counties, you might get a phone
recording at the child-support divisions saying they no
longer accept calls from 8 to 10 a.m. Or closed doors from
8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fridays at the Rice County District
Court administration offices. Or, as was the case recently
when the Pioneer Press tried calling a Hennepin County
child-support information line, 19 minutes on hold —
accompanied by bad Muzak — before a human picked up.

Faced with funding cuts from various levels of federal,
state and county governments, cash-strapped agencies with
fewer workers and higher caseloads have begun resorting to
cutbacks on customer service to give workers time to work.

The so-called "quiet times" are hardly nap times for
bureaucrats, officials say; they're necessary for case
workers and clerks whose jobs are both heavy on paperwork
and heavy on explaining the paperwork to regular folks
trying to navigate the system.

"We're all looking for a gimmick to give our workers some
relief because we just don't have enough of them," said a
chuckling Mark Thompson, court administrator for Hennepin
County District Court, which in January instituted
"counter close time" from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays.

But he knows it's no joke when someone takes time off work
to, say, look up his or her divorce file at a public
office and is met with a closed door.

"People were angry at first, but
I think they have grown used to it," he said. "We feel bad
for the customer, but there are cutbacks everywhere these
days."

States fund the courts, and a $13 million
less-than-requested allotment in the current budget cycle
has hit court offices across Minnesota. Thompson, for
example said his staff is at 92 percent.

Bob Langer, court administrator for Rice and Steele
counties, said his staff is shrinking, too, while case
filings are not, so he instituted a similar closed-time
program last month.

"It seems to be working because we do get a lot of work
done," he said. "But you do get voice mails and e-mails
coming in and piling up, and we have to start returning
the calls when we get back from lunch."

The situation seems especially tough in the realm of child
support, which is largely administered at the county level
and funded by a combination of federal, state and county
money, all of which is either shrinking or at risk of
shrinking in the coming fiscal cycles, numerous officials
said.

Dakota and Washington counties' child-support divisions
have avoided introducing any sort of "quiet hours," but a
woman who answered the phone at Washington County's
child-support offices warned: "Sometimes the workers just
don't have enough hours in the day to answer all the
calls. They'll get like 10 messages during one call.
They'll try to get back to you in 24 hours."

Child-support work is known for its frustrating
combination of court judgments and labor- and tax-related
wage garnishment, all in the emotionally charged
atmosphere of a child at risk of falling financial victim
to the battles of divorced parents.

Such calls take time, said Edna Hoium, income maintenance
director for Anoka County, a post that oversees child
support. "It's people who have issues with their child
support. It's clarifications, it's concerns, questions.
It's all part of the job," she said.

Anoka County instituted an "uninterrupted work time"
policy at the beginning of the year. Barb Jorgenson, who
heads the program, said a recent survey showed
"overwhelming" support for it among the 55 or so
child-support officers and specialists, each of whom
carries a caseload of 430 to 500 at any one time.

Callers stymied by the 8 to 10 a.m. recorded message can
press zero and reach one "on-duty" caseworker. If someone
walks in without an appointment, the goal is to have a
worker face-to-face with the walk-in within 10 minutes,
she said.

In the lobby of the Ramsey County child-support offices, a
sign warns walk-ins that the wait could be as long as a
half-hour. Such people are handed pagers, like in a busy
family restaurant on a Friday night, and told they'll be
buzzed when someone is available. Better to call ahead,
the sign suggests.

But don't try calling between 8 and 10 a.m.: That's
Ramsey's no-call period as well.

"It has helped," Linda Derks, assistant director of child
support said. "People have been able to feel like they're
getting on top of things. ... We also instituted a rule
that you have to return your calls by the end of the
second business day. We have lots of little rules around
here."

Hennepin County child support has declined to implement
such a system, officially, at least. After a reporter got
through after a 19-minute wait, he asked if such a hold
time was the only option for the public.

"Absolutely," she responded. "Now what did you want?"

CLOSED (TEMPORARILY) TO THE PUBLIC

Tight financial times have forced numerous government
offices to institute so-called "quiet times," when workers
close the doors to the public and route phone calls
directly to voice mail. Here are a few examples:

# Washington County courts: 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays

# Ramsey and Anoka counties child support: 8 to 10 a.m.
Monday through Friday

# Hennepin County courts: noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays

# Rice County courts: 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fridays