Child Support is Modern Day Slavery!

1) Child support reform in needed in Ohio. Child Support and Alimony are immoral and are examples of modern day slavery in today's society and violate the 13th amendment of the United States Constitution. No matter how noble the cause, it is wrong to steal money from one individual and give it to another.

2) If a child support system does exist, it should be fair. There are no provisions in Ohio law that take into account how much time the noncustodial parent is spending with their child. For example, if one parent has 50-50 shared parenting there are obviously costs that will be incurred from raising a child (Food, Clothing, School Supplies, Child Care Costs (the cost of staying home to watch your kid), Diapers Etc.) So Shouldn't a noncustodial parent that has shared parenting pay less child support than a noncustodial parent that doesn't invest any time or money into his/her children other than child support? There are numerous states that have provisions that take into account how many overnights per week a child spends at the noncustodial parents residence and adjust the child support accordingly. The current system punishes noncustodial parents for being involved in their kids lives because any money that the noncustodial parents spends on their children is considered "gift money."

3) Child Support should be based on actual costs of raising children not a fabricated percentage based on the noncustodial parent's gross income or potential income (imputed income.) Why are some children entitled to $50/month and other children entitled to $2000/month? With no cap on how much a custodial parent could collect, child support could theoretically be $20,000 a month or more. There should be a legal limit on how much child support a custodial parent can collect. If child support money received by the custodial parent is in excess of the actual costs of raising children then child support is in effect alimony.

4) If child Support is based on income is should be based on net income not gross income. With a progressive income tax combined with a child support schedule based on gross income the noncustodial parent will actually take home less than he would if child support was based on net income. In most states it's based on net income.

5) If a noncustodial parent has a high paying job his child support is immediately increased. But as soon as the noncustodial parent loses his/her job and becomes unemployed he needs to pay money and petition the court to lower the child support. With the limited resources of CSEA and juvenile courts, getting child support lowered can take as long as 6 months or more. During this time, the noncustodial parent has an arreage accruing, is being charged interest and penalties, has driving and professional licenses suspended (making it even more difficult to find a job and pay child support), etc. This makes it difficult for the noncustodial parent to even survive in this bad economy.

6) No one should go to prison for not paying child support. Every parent has a moral duty to take care of their kids, but it is not the responsibility of government to legislate morality.

7) Child Support is another example of the overinvolvement of government in our lives today. Whenever the government get's involved they do more harm than good.
I am encouraging you and other legislators to have the courage to stand up to radical feminists that devised this unfair child support system and introduce a bill that levels out the playing field between the custodial and noncustodial parent