“Best Interest of the Child” – Lost Child Support Costs $1.3 Billion Department of Child Support Services (css) and

The sum of uncollected child support ordered in 2011/12 ($70,360,647) plus the accumulated arrears going back many years total over $1.3 billion. Uncollected dollars of this magnitude scream for attention. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding.

The two most salient statistics that lead to payment of support as ordered are: 1. Orders that demand more than 20% of a father’s income tend not to be paid. 2. Orders that grant fathers significant custody/visitation with their children tend to yield payment as ordered. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding.

California Family Code § 4055 dictates what percent of a father’s income he must pay based primarily on his time share with his child(ren) and the parents’ respective incomes. The time share and the amount of income attributed to each parent is a matter of judicial discretion. California Family Code charges CSS to set and collect child support. There is no provision for advocating for factors which will yield pragmatic orders; that is orders that will maximize income for the mothers and compliance by the fathers. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding.

Fathers routinely accept orders granting them about 20% time share with their children. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding.

Reasons for fathers’ acceptance of minimal time shares with their child(ren) are many and beyond the scope of this study; however, from anecdotal stories from the parenting programs referenced in this study, some reasons are: 1. Lack of appreciation of their own worth as fathers, 2. Perception they have no tome to care for their child in spite of the fact that the mothers miraculously care for their children with utilization of the very same 24 hours per day, 3. Fear of the responsibility and “know how” of parenting, 4. Often parenting is not seen as “macho”, 5. Reluctance and outright refusal by mothers to permit fathers to have contact with “their” children due to: a. Animosity toward the men who got them pregnant, 3 Response to Orange County Grand Jury Report “Best Interest of the Child” – Lost Child Support Costs $1.3 Billion May 2013 b. Animosity toward the men who have ignored their children to date, c. Animosity toward the men who scorned them (“…hell than no fury…”), d. Distrust of a father’s capability to care for the child (they never saw “Three Men and a Baby”) e. Animosity over differing and/or conflicting parenting styles and issues. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding. However, the reasons for intra-family conflict, and solutions for such conflict are many, and there is danger in simplifying or generalizing individual motives based on anecdotes. HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Agrees with the finding. The observations of the Grand Jury based on anecdotal evidence appear reasonable. However, the reasons for intra-family conflict, and solutions for such conflict are many, and there is danger in simplifying or generalizing individual motives based on anecdotes.

Orders for support that are more than 20% of a father’s income will likely result in less actual support paid. An order for $400 for a man earning $2,000 is likely to yield an actual payment of $400. An order for $600 for a man earning $2,000 is likely to yield no payment at all. Even if CSS is able to enforce collection, the cost to collect the extra $200 will likely be equal to or greater than the $200. Fathers tend to take the attitude that if they are to be delinquent for a penny they might as well be delinquent for a dollar. CSS Response: Disagrees partially with the finding. There is a significant shift in likelihood of payment once the ‘tax rate’ of support ordered for one child exceeds 20%. Maximum dollars collected peaks at 18-19%. Tax rates above that amount tend to yield fewer dollars collected. Likelihood of payment for 2 or more children also shifts, but at a higher percentage of income, perhaps signaling recognition of a higher burden for more children. The motives of an obligated parent for partial payment or non-payment have not been studied.

Fathers who significantly participate in parenting their child(ren) pay the most child support. Aside from the actual support order, they can also be counted on to pay for the children’s extracurricular activities and luxury items. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding. National studies as well as Orange County CSS research supports the assertion that obligor parents who are more involved through visitation pay at a higher rate, and vice versa. OC CSS did not study extracurricular or luxury spending. HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Agrees with the finding. Although HCA is not involved in collection of child support payments, National research supports the correlation between parenting and child support collections. However, we do not have any experience with and are unaware of any research regarding parent payments for a child’s extracurricular activities and luxury items. Response to Orange County Grand Jury Report “Best Interest of the Child” – Lost Child Support Costs $1.3 Billion May 2013

Payment or non-payment of child support is only symptomatic of a much greater parenting issue. Children raised without paternal parenting fall prey to a plethora of social ills ranging from dropping out of high school to criminal incarceration. Every child growing up without a father is not doomed; but, statistics show a hugely disproportionate number of children without paternal care suffer very serious human and social ills. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding. HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Agrees with the finding

Counseling men who have ignored their children can, and has, turned them into devoted fathers as evidenced by the success of the now defunct Fatherhood 101 program. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding. In general, counseling does work to help men to be better fathers and become more engaged with their children. However, CSS does not have enough information to comment on Fatherhood 101. HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Agrees with the finding. In general, counseling does work to help men to be better fathers and become more engaged with their children. However, HCA does not have enough information to comment on Fatherhood 101.

Hispanics constitute over one third of the population of Orange County. This increasing demographic deserves sympathetic attention to their unique conditions, including among other things: language, culture, and economic status. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding. CSS strives to provide services in a manner that is sensitive and linguistically appropriate to all of the diverse cultural and ethnic populations of Orange County. HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Agrees with the finding. HCA strives to provide services in a manner that is sensitive and linguistically appropriate to all of the diverse cultural and ethnic populations of Orange County.

Counseling the adult female, the adult male and the children of their union has and can have the following positive effects: 1. The counseling creates understand and empathy between the adults for their respective roles as mothers and fathers. This is not small thing. It decreases the animosity and outright hatred between the adults that so often bleeds onto the children. 2. The understanding and empathy in turn results in: a. better compliance with support orders and b. better compliance with custody/visitation exchanges and happier, less stressed 5 Response to Orange County Grand Jury Report “Best Interest of the Child” – Lost Child Support Costs $1.3 Billion May 2013 children. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding. While the proposed results appear plausible, CSS does not have information that the counseling suggested has the effects proposed. HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Agrees with the finding. However, HCA does not have enough information to comment on #2 in regards to better compliance with support orders and custody/visitation exchanges.

The law, California Family Code §§ 3190 -3191 gives the court the authority to order counseling at its discretion and there exists the means to pay for the counseling for parents and children, specifically: 1. The parents themselves can pay, 2. Lag money can be used to pay, 3. Orange County MHSA (Prop 63) has discretionary money for counseling. CSS Response: Disagrees partially with the finding. Family Code §§ 3190-3191 authorizes the Superior Court to order counseling in appropriate cases. The methods suggested to pay for this counseling are not in the Family Code. Parents may be able to afford counseling in some cases. “Lag money” as described in the Report is the property of the custodial party for the benefit of the child(ren). HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Disagrees partially with the finding HCA does not have the expertise to comment on the court order. MHSA does allocate funding to support counseling. However, the decision to allocate MHSA funding to a particular program is based on an extensive community planning process. Sections of the Welfare and Institutions Code govern many aspects of the planning process. WIC § 5848 states that each Annual Update shall be developed with local stakeholders, including: • Adults and seniors with severe mental illness • Families of children, adults, and seniors with severe mental illness • Providers of services • Law enforcement agencies • Education • Social services agencies • Veterans • Representatives from veterans’ organizations • Providers of alcohol and drug services • Health care organizations • Other important interests. Response to Orange County Grand Jury Report “Best Interest of the Child” – Lost Child Support Costs $1.3 Billion May 2013 CCR Title 9 Section 3300 further includes: Representatives of unserved and/or underserved populations and family members of unserved/underserved populations Stakeholders that represent the diversity of the demographics of the county, including but not limited to, geographic location, age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Clients with serious mental illness and/or serious emotional disturbance, and their family members. WIC § 5848 states that an Annual Update shall be prepared and circulated for review and comment for at least 30 days to representatives of stakeholder interests and any interested party who has requested a copy. Additionally, the Orange County Mental Health Board conducts a public hearing on the draft Annual Update at the close of the 30-day comment period. Each Annual Update shall include any substantive written recommendations for revision. Thus, the concept of “discretionary money” from the MHSA can be misleading. Any decision to allocate funds to a particular project is contingent upon the community planning process resulting in a decision to use MHSA funds for that program. Furthermore, there are guidelines that govern the types of projects for which each MHSA component may be used. There are also guidelines that specify the type of costs that are an allowable use of MHSA funds. For instance, MHSA funding may not be used for court costs. Thus, the current array of services funded by the MHSA was created based on extensive planning processes. These processes included hundreds of focus groups, community planning meetings, approval by the Orange County MHSA Steering Committee and public hearings held by the Orange County Mental Health Board. As required by statute, MHSA planning process included a diverse group of stakeholders including clients, family members and representatives of unserved and underserved populations.

Ignoring paternal parenting is too expensive to allow it to continue. The many hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid child support and the social failings result in both an incalculable loss in human potential and the financial cost of incarcerating society’s failures. CSS Response: Disagrees partially with the finding. CSS believes that there are social costs to split-parenting. Not all social ills are related to split-families, and determining the ‘loss of human potential’ and ‘cost of incarcerating society’s failures’ is beyond the scope of CSS to determine. Determination of the costs and benefits of interventions and the allocation of government resources to those issues is a policy issue better left to elected officials to issue guidance. Response to Orange County Grand Jury Report “Best Interest of the Child” – Lost Child Support Costs $1.3 Billion May 2013 HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Disagrees partially with the finding. HCA does not track unpaid child support as part of its business operation and does not have the expertise to determine the correlation between the amounts of unpaid child support and the loss in human potential as well as the financial cost of incarcerating society’s failures. However, HCA does agree that parenting is important and that the provision of parent education and support can be an effective way to address many family issues such as domestic violence, school failures, arrests and incarcerations, and behavioral health problems.

CSS had a $350,000 net county contribution in 2011/2012. CSS Response: Agrees with the finding. HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Agrees with the finding

Orange County MHSA (Proposition 63) is obligated to use 20% of its budget for programs for prevention and intervention, and of that Orange County has committed that 75% is to be used for the County’s youth. HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Agrees with the finding

Promotion of mental wellness includes, among other things, support of programs that prevent youth suicides, youth runaways, unwanted teenage pregnancy, behavioral disorders, juvenile delinquency and high school drop outs. Children of divorced and separated families are recognized as high risk for such behaviors. HCA/Behavioral Health Services Response: Agrees with the finding. Response to Orange County Grand Jury Report “Best Interest of the Child” – Lost Child Support Costs $1.3 Billion May 2013 Reponses to Recommendations: R1 through R6