Innovation is key in child-support efforts

Throwing deadbeat parents in jail has never made much sense.

More than 250,000 people in Minnesota must make monthly child-support payments, and the ultimate threat is that they'll get locked up if they don't pay up. That possibility is a necessary deterrent for the worst offenders -- those who have the means to fulfill their court-ordered obligations but choose to buck the system and neglect their children.

But there's another category of offenders, who may fall behind or default on their obligations because of lost jobs or other circumstances beyond their control. Many of them need help finding and keeping jobs that will generate enough income to cover their payments.

That's why the successful child-support efforts in Carver County deserve attention. As the Star Tribune recently reported, Carver is a model for county collection efforts in Minnesota, in large part because officials provide services to help those who want to meet their obligations. Examples include career counseling, job skills training and bus passes to help with commuting costs. The county uses existing programs to provide those services, and it's clear that officials throughout the county share the goal of helping parents support children.

The payoff for successful child-support collections is significant. In fiscal 2007, Minnesota collected and disbursed $472 million of the $683 million that was due in monthly child support in the state, or about 69 percent.

State officials credit innovative strategies such as those in Carver and other counties for helping Minnesota rank in the top 10 states in collections. That success doesn't come without a price. There's significant expense involved in monitoring the child-support system and providing the kinds of services that can keep parents out of jail and payments flowing. State and county programs cost a total of $152 million last year, and the Legislature had to plug a federal funding gap that is likely to be a persistent problem.

Carver County is not alone in taking innovative approaches to solving a very old problem. In Hennepin County, the FATHER Project has been credited with helping dads stay involved in their children's lives. And Chisago County has been effective in providing social services to noncustodial parents.

The child-support system continues to grow in Minnesota and across the country. Nationally, more than 17 million children received $24 billion in child support last year, according to government figures.

Programs that keep noncustodial parents in the workforce benefit the state in many ways. Jail and law enforcement costs are reduced, and families are less likely to tap public assistance for basic needs. The greatest impact, though, is that children receive the financial support they need and deserve.