Established in 2004, the specialized non-support court’s docket targets parents who haven’t made child support payments in 26 weeks or more — meaning they are facing felony charges. By focusing on just these cases, experts learned that many times non-payment is merely a function of unemployment, sometimes due to economic circumstances, other times due to addiction, or being a convicted felon for not paying child support, said Judge Michael Krumholtz, who is assigned to the court.
“The number of cases is large, but you’re in an environment with tough economic circumstances,” he said. “We apply a very concentrated, very focused methodology to those cases with an eye toward getting people in the category for being recommended for removal from the docket.”
That means partnering with Goodwill Easter Seals to find job training and employment, and working within social services to provide programs to kick drug and alcohol addictions. The court works closely with the public defenders office, prosecutors, the probation department and the county Child Support Enforcement Agency to make it happen, Krumholtz said.
“The goal is not to put people in prison. The goal is to get people in a position to get these payments made,” he said.
Still, sometimes prison is the only choice when offenders make no move to pay. The worst cases involve years of non-payment.
Top on the court’s list are:
- Charles Thompson, who owes $82,030.75. His monthly obligation to child support is $403.13.
- Terry Stevenson should be paying $482.44 monthly in child support; he owes $75,467.59 in back payments.
- David Brock is wanted on a felony warrant for owing $64,827.95 in child support, after failing to make his $602.21 monthly payments, according to court records.
Those cases, Krumholtz said, are not the norm. The majority of those who end up on his docket, he said, work with the court to get their child support accounts current. When they do, and if they remain off drugs and maintain steady employment, they are removed from the docket. Last year, the courts collected more than $500,000 in back payments — proof, Krumholtz said, the system is working.
“That’s why I think what the court is trying to do is so important,” he said.
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