Deadbeat Dads
Rio Salado College
CFS205 Early Childhood Education
October 10, 2010

“What is a deadbeat dad?” Deadbeat dads are those who are under a child support obligation who have not made the required payments. The name deadbeat dad is not use just for fathers in the state of Georgia. Deadbeat parent is actually the term that is used for Georgia. A parent with this given title chose not to be financially a supportive parent in their children’s lives. Mostly used in the United States and Canada, the gender-specific deadbeat dad and deadbeat mom are commonly used by the child support agency to refer to men and women who have fathered or mothered a child and willingly fail to pay child support ordered by a family law court or statutory agency like the Child Support Agency. (www.gabar.org, 2008) The parent who fail to receive child support payments from a deadbeat parent can report that parent to the appropriate state agency responsible for ensuring child support collections. (Roger Thorne, 2010) The process for reporting a "deadbeat" parent is the same regardless of sex. In Georgia the policy for deadbeat dads consist of several things. The deadbeat parent is placed on child support. The Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) helps children by enforcing parental responsibility to pay financial support. All Georgia families have access to Division of Child Support Services, which include assistance with locating the non-custodial parent, confirming paternity, establishing and enforcing child support and medical support orders, and collecting and distributing payments. (georgia.gov, 2009) The driver license of the deadbeat parent will get suspended if court order schedule payment is not made in a timely manner, their business license and boat license will be revoked as well. The parent is made to get health insurance on their child or children if appropriate.

Georgia also operates Fatherhood Services Network and the Access Visitation Program, both devoted to increasing non-custodial parent involvement in a child’s life. The Georgia Fatherhood Program provides education, training and job placement for non-custodial parents. (georgia.gov, 2009) If the non-custodial parent on a Child Support case is unemployed, underemployed, interested in training for a better job or seeking a high school diploma or GED they may be eligible to participate in the Fatherhood Program. There are criticisms in the Georgia Law and Policy. For instance when dealing with modification, the law requires that a parent must show a substantial change in circumstances in order to have a modification of a child support order. (Kushkin, 2007) However, the Statute does not define what is to be a considered substantial change. As far as the Fatherhood Services and the Access Visitation Program goes these deadbeat dads and moms are not obligated to these types of programs, in other words it not set in stone.
The effectiveness of these policies in relation to the emotional and social development of the children involved is that child support has a small effect on poverty removing about 1 -20 single-mother families from poverty. (Mayer un-published data). Child support increases the income of some families even if it does not bring them out of poverty. Children depend on adults to look after them and to provide emotional as well as material support when parents separate, their children experience the loss of one parent’s time and attention. Forty percent of non resident fathers either did not see their child or saw the child only once in the preceding year (Seltzer, 1991).

Indirect forms of communication, such as mail and telephone, do not compensate for this level of contact (Seltzer F. A., 1991) some of the policy can be change by making it mandatory for the deadbeat parent to join and complete courses such as Fatherhood and the Access Visitation Program.
I do not agree fully with my state current approach to the deadbeat dad issue. I feel that support should not be made upon the income of both parents. Who some ever the deadbeat parent should be made to take care of the child or children at a set rate of that parent income; if that parent income is at low they should be made to get a second or third job to make a stable life for the child or children. Fortunately, I have not had to experience this battle, but I have family and friends who are fighting with the kid’s deadbeat dad to pay child support on a weekly basis, when they receive it it’s only 15-25 dollars a week because the dad is collecting unemployment or just unemployed. This is “Unjust” there is no justice in this! The mother is hard at work; working two and three jobs to make ends meet and the dad get a slap on the wrist. They don’t care about suspended license. ” Where is the justification in that?”

References georgia.gov. (2009, 11). Retrieved 10 6, 2010, from Georgia Department of Human Resources.
Kushkin, R. M. (2007, 1). www.kssfamilylaw.co. Retrieved 10 5, 2010, from Georgia's Child Support Guidelines.
Roger Thorne, A. C. (2010, 8 19). Live Strong Foundation. Retrieved 10 9, 2010, from www.livestrong.com.
Seltzer. (1991).
Seltzer, F. A. (1991). www.gabar.org. (2008, 7 28). Retrieved from Georgia Laws.