Child Support and Lawsuit

NCSEA ACKNOWLEDGES TURNIP CAMPAIGN, CHANGES WEBSITE
LAWSUIT STIRRING COMMENTS, ACTION 

Dear Reader;
Much has transpired since our Tuesday communication.  Below are updates and opportunities.
Save the Turnips 
The Facebook Campaign to confront Child Support Agencies and their inhumane practices toward child support payers is off to a rousing start.  Over 300 people ‘liked’ the page in the first 24 hours.   But there’s more…One basis of this campaign is disgust over how child support officials identify child support payers as ‘turnips.’  We provided a link to a National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA) training program titled:  “Getting Blood from a Turnip: New Farming Techniques for Increasing Your Yield.” 
Apparently folks at NCSEA got the message, sort of.  Within hours of the start of the ‘Save the Turnips’ campaign NCSEA  programmers had changed the website and pulled the reference to obligors as ‘Turnips.’   Of course, we thought you would like to see those ‘before and after’ alterations.  The NCSEA is apparently still farming, just not specifically ‘turnips.’    
Would that undoing the decades of damage these people have done to families through their campaigns to vilify child support obligors was as easy as altering a webpage. 
Please join in and help.  We need to continue to build the group on Facebook.  Thanks to everyone who ‘liked’ the page.   If you haven’t already, please go to www.facebook.com/savetheturnips and ‘like’ the page.  If you have already ‘liked’ the page then use the button on the page and share it with your friends.   Ask them to visit and ‘like’ the page also.
We know there are literally hundreds of thousands of child support horror stories out there.   Tell ‘Save the Turnips’ your story.  Take five minutes, video your story, post it to YouTube and send us the link.  We’ll connect it to the campaign.
The march has begun and will not stop until poor people are no longer being locked away in jails and prisons simply because they do not have enough money to pay.
We are pleased to let you know several states, including Ohio and Pennsylvania are considering legislation to end the barbaric practice of incarcerating poor people for failure to pay support.  Ohio and Pennsylvania are both states that have routinely incarcerated indigent obligors without providing access to legal counsel.  While these are positive developments we call on public officials to avoid replacing jail with alternative, but equally punitive, measures.  Join the effort to end debtor prisons in America.
Ohio Child Support Class Action Lawsuit
We have heard from many people regarding their experiences with Ohio’s child support collection agencies.  For example, a welder residing in Northern Ohio indicated the agency has for years been taking payments for an alleged arrearage and then adding the paid amount to the arrearage (instead of subtracting it), thereby increasing the amount of arrears he allegedly owes.  Instead of the arrears being paid in full, according to the state’s Enron style accounting scheme he now owes more than $10,000 in back support.  Unless of course he is talking to the local support office in which case they say his arrears balance is in excess of $12,000.  D. says three other guys in his shop alone are having similar types of problems.
We’re also hearing similar stories from other states.  One came from a 72 year old vet regarding a $175,000 arrearage.  At this rate he says he expects garnishments from his social security and disability checks to continue past his 87 birthday.  His youngest ‘child’ is over 30. 
Attention to the story is increasing, we’ll keep you updated.
A Couple of Recent Rallies to Report
Kids Need 2 Parents hosted a small rally in the North Carolina capitol of Raleigh last weekend.   There are a number of dedicated people working to improve child custody laws in the state.  Please add your voice and become engaged.  Visit Kids Need 2 parents at www.KN2P.org
Illinois Fathers hosted the 3^rd Annual Fatherless Day Rally at the Capitol in Springfield.  About 100 people attended, including several state legislators who expressed their support for Shared Parenting and particularly encouraged legislators to vote in favor of HB 1604 – The Steve Watkins Bill addressing visitation interference.
At the conclusion of the rally a Senate hearing took place on the bill.  Over 50 people signed up to testify in favor of the legislation.  No vote was taken after the hearing however we are optimistic the bill will come for a vote before the end of the month.  Click here and scroll to the 5:56 minute mark of the video to see news coverage of the event.  Click here to see one Senator’s comments.
Stay tuned.  More is on the way.  Please help by forwarding this message.
ACFC