Mostly Cloudy / 73° F
Archived Story
Cass County sets record in orders for child support
Published 7:51pm Thursday, March 1, 2012CASSOPOLIS — Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz’s Child Support Division secured a record-breaking 315 support orders for county children in 2011.
Support orders averaged 187 from 1998 through 2010.
In January and February 2012, 55 orders were secured. Similar numbers projected over the balance of this year would result in a total of 330 child support orders.
Each child support order requires the parents — not the state — meet various financial needs for their minor children.
“Bottom line,” Fitz said Thursday, “more parents are involved in the lives of their children.
That’s a good thing.”
As in previous years, Fitz’s office stressed the importance of identifying fathers and getting them involved in their children’s lives.
A positive parent-child relationship, increased stability and improved social and academic well-being are some benefits of a father’s involvement.
Medical needs addressed
Child support orders also include a provision seeking coverage of a child’s medical needs.
“When both the natural mother and the natural father are involved in a child’s life, the emotional and economic future of that child generally becomes much brighter,” Fitz said.
“When parents are invested in children, overall involvement in the criminal justice system is substantially reduced. It’s just common sense supported by concrete data.”
Fitz praised his child support staff and other agencies for their “hard work and perseverance” in 2011 on behalf of Cass County children.
Establishing paternity
The prosecutor’s office routinely seeks to establish the father’s identity when an out-of-wedlock birth occurs.
The office generally establishes paternity in one of two ways: the prospective father submits to DNA testing or signs an acknowledgement of paternity and agrees to court-ordered child support.
“Child support establishment is a multi-agency effort,” Fitz said. “The Department of Human Services refers cases to the prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor’s office establishes paternity and child support and the Friend of the Court, in conjunction with the prosecutors’ office, Family Court and, in some circumstances, Circuit Court, enforces child support orders.”
Child support payments are based on the noncustodial parent’s income level and ability to pay.
A parent ordered to pay child support can request a decrease in payment in the event of a job loss.
Child support orders
2011 — 315
2010 — 294
2009 — 255
2008 — 304
2007 — 171
2006 — 210
2005 — 200
2004 — 160
Source: Cass County Prosecutor’s Office
Congratulations to Cass County on their fine work in establishing child support orders. It would be fine if they also announced that a greater number of parents have obtained court orders giving them regular parenting time with their children, but they don’t get federal incentive dollars for that.
As a prosecutor, Victor Fitz has an obligation to enforce the law, but simultaneously faces an awkard financial conflict of interest. The FOC gives him money, but what if the FOC itself is breaking the law?
Unfortunately, at FOC offices, there is evidence of illicit and potentially criminal activities. This evidence includes evidence of theft of child support, evidence of child custody fraud, evidence of tampering with witnesses, evidence of child support calculation fraud, evidence of obstructing a federal audit, evidence of conspiracy against rights, and evidence of federal felony gender discrimination. See scr dot bi slash kQHvC9 for more information.
Former FOC enforcement specialist Carol Rhodes explained: “I came to the 32nd circuit family court to make a difference, … but early on I realized … it was all about money … My director would say regularly, ‘We aren’t the friend of the family, we’re the Friend of the Court!’ … In the years I worked for the system I witnessed regular deception to clients that was mandated by office policy. I saw gender bias and discrimination. I saw records destroyed. … I saw hundreds of pleas for parenting time or enforcement get buried because there is no money in enforcing custody or visitation issues. … We were rated according to how much money we would bring in” (there is a link to the youtube video at scr dot bi slash kQHvC9 )
The goal of the office of the prosecutor should not be the most federal incentive dollars for their own offices, nor the most money for children (if that were true, the state would simply redistribute children to billionaires), nor enforcing the law in a gender specific manner, but rather prosecuting those who break the law.
If I were a parent who felt the FOC was breaking the law and was harming both my children and myself, and I read an article like this, i would have serious doubts about the commitment of the local prosector’s office to the interests of justice in my case.