Louisiana compiles public database of delinquent parents

Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services rounded up parents who have skirted their financial duties and listed them on a website accompanied by how much money they owe. All parents listed have been ordered by court to make child support payments.

The total is alarming – tipping the scales at $1.2 billion in payments among almost 53,000 parents – with some individuals owing more than a million dollars in child support payments. Failure to pay child support has a direct effect on Louisiana’s taxpayers, leaving them to cover what a parent fails to when individuals look to the state for assistance.

One of the reasons the department compiled the website is to put heat on absent parents and relieve the state’s taxpayers of their financial responsibilities. The parents that made the list haven’t made a payment in the last six months. Above this, DCFS aims to collect child support to ensure the well-being of all children involved.

Names, city of residency and the amount owed are all contained in a searchable database on the Department of Children and Family Services’ website under the “Child Support Delinquent Payors Search.” In August, the department took it a step forward by listing the 18 most wanted delinquent parents on a poster. This collection of parents owes a total of $945,000 – each owes at least $10,000.

The DCFS continues to diligently collect money among absent parents. In the last fiscal year, which ended July 31, 2011, the state collected just under $321 million in child support. But in the end, it is hardly a dent in the large total owed by parents.

Source: The News Star, “Delinquent dads, moms are behind $1.2B in support,” Mike Hasten, Aug. 31, 2011