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Application now available for father's seeking support |
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Thursday, 10 December 2009 |
By KATIE MARTIRE
Managing Editor
Fifty years ago child support was a facet of finances that was completely unheard of, single parents simply suffered through hard times instead of seeking government assistance in retrieving child support from an absent parent. It also used to be safe to assume that the absent parent was usually the father. This is not the case in today's society. Simply applying one black and white standard in child support cases would not work. With issues such as teenage pregnancy, paternity and multiple children from multiple parents, Child Support Services are actively trying to set a standard that is fair to all.
At the monthly Interagency meeting on Tuesday, guest speaker Guymon's Child Support Enforcement Agent Gwendoline Scales was present to speak a little about a few new aspects of the child support system and also answer any questions people might have on the way it has been ran in the past.
"A brand new application has been incorporated that is for fathers," said Scales. "Our past applications have not been friendly towards the father, they had only been based on the mother's point of view, but now if a father decides he would like to open a case himself, he can now do so."
"I am very proud of the child support services, we have really come a long way, we have a lot of federal guidelines that dictate how we do things. We have policies in place so we are also very accountable in the services that we provide."
"We have a centralized place where all of our applications go," said Scales. "That makes the process much easier, if you go to the local office, information can be lost, so we have a centralized office where the application is processed and we create a family group number, the office looks at the zip code and send the information to the proper district office. Then we have 180 days to process the application, from there we initiate the documents we need to collect data, find out if we need to establish paternity. Genetic testing is conducted in Guymon on the last Tuesday of each month and usually takes three weeks for the results to come back to us. We then forward the information on to the parties, we do not give that information out over the phone, under no circumstances will we release that information over the phone."
Several questions were asked about paternity and child support. The agencies present along with Scales agreed that each case in unique. With grandparents raising their grandchildren, parents having children from multiple fathers/mothers, paternity being a factor and people using children as leverage for not receiving child support, each case is unique. Scales did inform those attending that Oklahoma law states that if a couple is married and the woman were to become pregnant from another man, regardless of establishing paternity or divorce, the husband is liable for the child.
A Department of Human Services (DHS) worker also stated that regardless if a parent is paying child support, Oklahoma law states that the custodial parent cannot keep the child from the absent parent simply due to lack of child support payment.
A new aspect has also been added regarding medical coverage in child support cases. "Our new medical is called Cash Medical," said Scales. "Cash medical is based upon individual cases. What we are trying to do is recover state money." What this means is that if the mother has primary custody and also has affordable insurance, she can go ahead and cover her child through her insurance instead of the father paying child support or vice versa. The father or mother paying child support would still be liable for things but it is all about what is feasibly possible. "We are trying to make it affordable for both parties."
A list of facts and history was provided to all attending the meeting.
If interested in Oklahoma Child Support laws, please call the Care Call Center at 1-800-522-2922.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 14 December 2009 )
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