State In Search Of Deadbeat Moms
It’s not uncommon for police to arrest fathers who refuse to pay their child support, but what about mothers?
A new trend has the state searching for around 27,000 deadbeat mothers.In the past 10 years, deadbeat mothers have become more common, and judges more often are giving custody to fathers and ordering the mothers to pay child support. But many of the mothers aren’t doing it.
Whether it’s a team sport or just a trip to the playground, most people would expect a mother to be near her children.”The fathers just don’t have those motherly instincts. So, I think the mother needs to be there,” said parent Christa Martin.But in Tennessee, there’s a role reversal taking effect as couples are divorcing and single-father situations are becoming more and more common.For the past 17 years, Richard Bader has been raising his two sons and daughter.He has a picture of the three children at an early age from when their mom left. He said being without their mother has taken an unspeakable toll.”It was tough at first.
There were a lot of nights my kids would be in bed crying for their mother, especially at first when she would pick my oldest son up. She would take him but wouldn’t the other two. They were hurt pretty bad and would sit there and cry a lot,” Bader said.Though the children’s mother has sent cards from time to time and called sporadically, her involvement in their lives has been almost nonexistent.”I think she showed up once last year at my son’s work once or twice,” Bader said. “A couple of times, she drove by and like threw some bags of candy in our yard, and I think that’s about it.”Not only has Bader’s ex-wife been absent physically, she has provided almost no financial support, and Bader’s situation is not singular.Channel 4 has learned that there are tens of thousands of mothers in Tennessee who’ve abandoned their children, and the state is trying to do something about it.”Once the person stops paying, then we would become involved and we would petition; use our enforcement techniques to see that the obligation is complied with,” said Department of Human Services representative Bill Duffey.
According to DHS, the top 400 offenders in middle Tennessee owe about $10.8 million in child support.Topping the list is 39-year-old Lisa Stroud of Dickson, who owes almost $100,000 but used to owe as much as $117,000.Child support officials said there are a number of places from which they can pursue money from those who owe, including IRS returns, payroll checks, personal bank accounts and lottery winnings.”If you work in the real workforce and not under the table or underground or however you want to say it, you will eventually be found. If you pay taxes and things of that nature, you will eventually be found,” saidBut as Bader’s son, Ryan, points out, the issue is about more than money. He said it’s about emotions.”It seemed a little weird because she would always say how much she loved us and everything like that, but she would never really show it,” he said.Whether his mother is paying or not, Ryan said he hopes that one day his mother will return to his life and at least make an attempt to mend fences.”It’s not too late, I don’t think. I mean, she could still try to be a part of our lives and stuff like that,” he said.
On Monday, Channel 4 learned that the state has intercepted 20,000 tax refunds from parents owing money. The state collected a total of $26 million and expects to see that figure double in the coming weeks as more and more parents file their returns.A DHS representative said it has its eye on the federal rebate checks as well. Representatives said they expect to collect another $20 million in unpaid child support in the coming months as those checks make their way to Tennessee.
