Lexington, KY - Deadbeat parents who willfully neglect financial support for their children are becoming an epidemic, especially in this economy. About 90 percent of the offenders are men, although some women are also charged with failure to pay.
The reasons for it are many and include protesting a lack of visitation rights or accountability over the spending of their child -support money. They also may not want their child, deny they are the parent or simply don't have the funds.
That last excuse - not enough cash - is being addressed in an unusual program at the Fayette County Attorney's Office, which handles 17,000 child support cases per year.
Fayette County Attorney Larry Roberts wants to do more than just catch deadbeat dads and jail them. He wants them employed and making sufficient money to pay their fair share in child support.
"We got 100 different businesses to commit to hiring convicted felons, if they have the opening," explained Roberts. "They certainly don't want murderers or rapists, but they'll hire other convicted felons."
Roberts said program participants must attend parenting classes and get decent-paying jobs. His office sends each participant to three job interviews with a letter of introduction from Roberts to the potential employer, who was previously screened. If the offender doesn't land one of those jobs, he or she must return and get three more job leads and letters.
"If they don't take the opportunity," said Roberts, "the judge is more apt to give them jail time because they aren't trying."
There's also a carrot at the end of the stick.
"At the end of this tunnel of court appearances and requirements, we will expunge your record and dismiss the child- support charges," said Roberts. "That's not being done anywhere else."
Fayette County District Court Judge T. Bruce Bell strongly supports the program, and his office helps supervise it.
"If they don't do any of these things, they'll flunk the program and have a felony conviction for non-support," Roberts stated.
Brian Mattone, first assistant county attorney, said the office wants wayward dads and moms back on track but hopes for even more.
"We'd love if they develop a relationship with the child, even if they're not in a custodial capacity. At least there could be visitation," he said.
For some who enter and complete the program, there's a sense of relief. At the end of the process - job training, employment and reconciliation - they will be absolved of criminal liability.
"If you talk to these young men, you see how it's made a tremendous difference," Mattone said. "They're small steps, but in their minds they are significant achievements. It has been gratifying to see the sense of accomplishment."
Mattone said the program has taken off in directions he and the staff had hoped for but weren't sure were possible. Economically speaking, it's good for the community.
"It's makes the connection between an employer who's willing to take a chance on someone and an employee (former deadbeat dad or mom) who's willing to reconnect with their obligations, which means getting training and filling the needs of the employer," said Mattone.
Roberts would love for the program to go statewide.
"Lexington will be a pilot program with the child support division in Frankfort to see if this would work for the entire state. That's a pretty neat thing," Roberts said.
Last June, Roberts started a teen driver education program, something lacking in almost every Kentucky high school.
"We implemented this to teach young drivers about crash avoidance and zone control driving. We don't go out on the highway but do it on a five-and-a-half-acre driving pad," he explained.
"Students get 20 hours of instruction, more than most private student driver companies, and training on auto simulators."
Students learn about braking distances and the significance of speed. They don't have a clue, said Roberts, who asked some teens to answer this question: If they were driving 55 miles an hour and hit their brakes, how long would it take to stop?
"Many said 15 feet, 30 feet," he said. "They had no idea they would travel almost the length of a football field before hitting the fence or the girl on the bicycle."
The teens are also alerted about the dangers of texting while driving.
The county attorney's office also has an inner-city program to help kids avoid gang activity. They work with Fayette County Public Schools and the Lexington Division of Police. They hold a day camp to expose young people to the outdoors and to people different than themselves.
Roberts also instituted a program in which his attorneys try felony cases in federal district court. Roberts met federal judge Amul Thapar, who covers the Eastern District of Kentucky.
"He wanted a task force on Internet predators and asked if I would provide two prosecutors to work on cases, and I said I would," he said. "This is an unbelievable advantage for people at our lower level of prosecution (DUIs, minor assaults etc.). It's a great resume-builder."