"Mom plans to protest child support run-around"

The Courier (Russellville, Arkansas)
November 18, 2002

DOVER — Daisy Edberg is a disabled mother of two daughters and also takes care of her mentally ill sister's daughter. She does not receive child support from her ex-husband, and Monday she is going to do something about it.

Instead of making phone calls to the local prosecuting attorney's office or the child support office, the governor’s office in Little Rock or even the White House, Edberg plans to hold a demonstration in the parking lot of the Pope County Courthouse in Russellville beginning Monday morning. Her reason is simple, she explained recently. Women and children in Arkansas are owed millions of dollars in back child support, and she believes it’s time for state laws regarding child support to be enforced.

A former child support attorney who recently was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives agrees with the Dover woman and has ideas to combat the problem when he gets inside the state Capitol in January.

Criminals skating by

Edberg stated she realizes murderers and other criminals must be dealt with by law enforcement agents and in our judicial system. However, she said parents who do not pay child support are also criminals who are skating by laws by moving to other states and quitting jobs so their wages cannot be garnished.

"My ex-husband lives in Missouri, and he owes $10,000 in back child support," Edberg explained. "I've talked to David Gibbons [Fifth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney] and told him I need my child support because I am disabled. I'm trying to provide for two daughters and a niece because my sister is mentally disabled. I believe I am doing more than my part.

"When I call a liaison at the governor's office, he tells me to go ahead and apply for welfare or state aid instead of going around and bothering everybody. I believe the prosecuting attorney's office can enforce the laws. I've talked to an attorney from the child support office who stated a state law says a body attachment can be placed on delinquent child support parents and bring them to Arkansas. The parents that are owed back child support should be paid."

Gibbons stated he is currently working on Edberg'’s case with a local child support attorney. Representatives from the state attorney general's office and governor’s office in Little Rock said there are laws to enforce delinquent child support parents, better known as "deadbeat dads." Edberg, meanwhile said she has gotten what she terms the "run-around" feeling from local, state or federal government officials.

"I've supported my daughter since she was two years old. It would be different if I could work," she noted. "My daughter deserves her child support; she deserves her braces. There are so many families doing without. They have to beg for Christmas presents, to pay utilities. A lot of these men or women are on parole, or in other states, do not pay child support. There's no rights out there for us, not at all.

"When I call for assistance, they treat me like a blood-sucking leech. They have never walked in my shoes. I think it’s time they understand. I get treated like white trash, and I have done more than my part. We're nothing to them. We're like a pain in the butt to them. The point is that these people need to be held responsible. The law is on the books, and it needs to be enforced."

Wants to help

Michael Lamoureux — a local attorney recently elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives District 68 position — explained he knows what Edberg and several parents in the River Valley are going through.

"I used to be a child support enforcement attorney," Lamoureux said. "I did that for more than a year. I don't think child support enforcement has enough resources to enforce the existing laws that we do have. The system is so slow, we force the mothers and children to come back through court several times before something is actually done.

"It’s a very frustrating situation. If someone refuses to pay support, our system just doesn't have a lot of the resources. For example, it would be doubling the workload of a prosecuting attorney. They need a lot more resources and a lot more caseworkers, I believe. That way, the caseworkers now don't face such a high volume that they can't concentrate on individual cases."

Lamoureux pointed out cases are also turned over to private attorneys who are trained in child support enforcement. However, that high volume he referred to leads to more high turnover, with attorneys moving out of child support enforcement work after a year or even six months.

"There are three things I plan on trying to do," Lamoureux explained. "One is getting more resources dedicated to enforce the child support laws that we have. Second, try to come up with a creative, more effective punishment for those who do not pay. And third, hold these government bureaucrats more accountable for the inefficient system that we are running.

"When I worked [in child support enforcement], we just lost money. The money goes to a clearinghouse, and I told people it was more like a disappearing house or holding house. I think we need to go back to local control. Currently, the system we have is not the best system."

Edberg added she believes it is time for parents who are forced to provide without assistance from delinquent child support parents to be heard.

"I've also been told to go back to court and get another order. That costs $1,700 for the first one, so what good is it going to do?" Edberg said. "I will have to ask for help again this Christmas, just so the kids will have something under their tree. It sure would be nice to go out and get some gifts, maybe get a haircut, maybe buy some clothes for the first time in four years. If he was paying his part, I may actually have some money to do those things, or maybe put some back for their college, because they have dreams. They make straight A’s in school. I’m disabled; I'm doing the best I can.

"There's a lot of programs out there for parents that owe back child support, but there's no programs out there for parents who suffer and struggle every day when they are not paid child support," Edberg said. "A lot of women are out there today and they are forced to make choices. I go without so my daughter can have clothes. My daughter gets teased at school because she needs braces. My ex-husband makes $800-$900 a week in another state, but he doesn’t have to pay my daughter’s child support. Do you know how that makes me feel?"

Anyone who is owed back child support is welcomed to come to the courthouse Monday and voice their opinion, Edberg added.