Posting letter from, American Coalition for Fathers and Children

American Coalition for
 Fathers and Children
Shared Parenting - Children Need Both Parents

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MASSIVE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FILED
SAVE THE TURNIPS 

Dear Reader;
On Friday, May 6, 2011 a massive class action lawsuit was filed in the Ohio Court of Claims charging the state has been over collecting funds from child support obligors.  The suit further claims the state deliberately conceals from payers the amount they are overpaid by showing zero balances to obligors when they actually have credit balances.  Over 114,000 payers have been affected.   The figure represents more than 10% of Ohio’s total child support caseload.
Lead plaintiff, Matt Dunlop, approached ACFC several years ago about this particular problem.  The initial phase of a multi-year collaboration culminated in last Friday’s filing.   This case also involves the receipt of improper amounts of federal incentive and reimbursement dollars by the state.  The US Attorney has been asked to initiate an investigation.
Read the case filing here.
The initial Associated Press report is here.
Read ACFC’s press release.
You can help by googling lawsuit, ohio and child support, then going to the newspaper websites that are carrying the story and leaving your comments.
SAVE THE TURNIPS  
Most people know the term, “you can’t get blood from a turnip.”  For over a decade child support enforcement officials have used the term ‘turnip’ to describe poor people who owe child support.   It’s gotten so out of hand that several weeks ago the National Child Support Enforcement Association sponsored a training session called: “Getting Blood from a Turnip:  New Farming Techniques for Increasing Your Yield.”  Check it out, here’s the link. 
We’ve had enough.  So we are launching the 'Save the Turnips' campaign on Facebook.  There are tens of thousands of people incarcerated nationwide whose only ‘crime’ is that they are too poor to pay court ordered child support.   It’s time these people are released.  It’s time for the ‘deadbeat’ roundups to stop. 
Debtor prisons returned to the United States through the family courts.  Our comment on debtor prisons in this Associated Press article regarding the Turner case pending before the Supreme Court is here.  We are working with several prominent national organizations to raise awareness of this issue and get these people released.  More on those efforts in an upcoming newsletter.
Please go to the campaign at this Facebook link.  You'll recognize the campaign by the turnip behind bars image. Click on ‘like’ and let all your Facebook friends know about the campaign.   Let’s have several thousand people ‘like’ this page over the next week.  Send a message to your Facebook friends and ask them to join the campaign.  Leave your thoughts on the wall. 
We will update on efforts to free indigent child support obligors and the Ohio lawsuit through Facebook regularly. 
We are always interested in people who want to volunteer, fill out this volunteer form and become engaged.  Save the Turnips is the brainchild of Marti Ryan and springs from concern about the treatment her friend is receiving at the hands of the child support system.  We appreciate all our supporters.  If you would like to contribute to these efforts you can make a donation here.  Stay tuned, there is much more on the way.  You can help now by forwarding this message to a friend.
Sincerely,
Mike McCormick
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