Child
Support Tyranny - $0.60 Left for Father
Form His Weekly Paycheck
‘I
understand his frustration’
By
Todd C. Frankel
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/22/2006
Damion
Hamilton, 28, of St. Louis, says his
last paycheck was 60 cents after his
wages were garnisheed. (Laurie
Skrivan/P-D)
Damion Hamilton sits, waiting and
fuming, in a room at the state Office
of Child Support Enforcement. His legs
bounce in his plastic chair. He's too
upset to read any of the magazines lining
a far wall. He burns with frustration
over paying child support, the same
kind of frustration that helped fuel
a killing spree in St. Louis last week.
In offices like this one, frustration
is not unusual.
Hamilton is distraught over the child
support he's been paying for his only
child, a 4-year-old boy who shares his
name. His wages are being garnisheed
to the tune of $260 a month. That's
a lot of money to a man who makes $6.25
an hour as a short-order cook. He said
his last paycheck, after taking out
child support, was just 60 cents.
Hamilton, who bristles at the term "deadbeat
dad" and insists he is a good father,
said the system is strangling him financially.
He's here to argue that he's paid enough.
So, he said, he feels a little of what
a witness said drove Herbert L. Chalmers,
who was reportedly enraged over having
his wages garnisheed for child support,
to kill four people before turning the
gun on himself.
"I understood
his frustration, but what he did was
wrong," Hamilton, 28, said. "But
just imagine you can't pay your house
note, or your car note. It hurts. Hurts
the heart. They look at you like, 'You're
a man, you can take it.' But it hurts.
I can't go on with my life."
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"When you couple financial frustration
with the emotional baggage, you have
a situation where, unfortunately, it
can turn tragic," Dallas divorce attorney
Jonathan Bates said.
A hot-button issue
Child support is especially fraught
with pain. It hits the noncustodial
parent, often a man, in the heart and
the checkbook. Payments can extend for
up to two decades as the child grows
up. Each paycheck can feel like a reminder
of that failed relationship. Rational
thoughts about the duty to support a
child are not factored in.
"If you talk to these men and ask them,
'Do you want your kids to sleep in the
street?' they say, 'No, not at all.'
But they're not thinking about that,"
Clayton divorce attorney Allan Zerman
said. "It's a hot-button issue for a
lot people."
The cost of child support appears to
be what pushed Chalmers over the edge.
In the months before last Tuesday's
shootings, he learned he'd need to fork
over even more from his paycheck at
Finninger's Catering Service in St.
Louis' West End. He reportedly felt
he could not survive on the $200 he
was taking home every two weeks. He
told Finninger's co-owner Charlie Finninger
that the garnishment was a mistake.
Chalmers fatally shot four people: Sylvia
Haynes, mother of his children; co-workers
Cleo Finninger and Christine Politte;
and Carol D. Moore, whose relationship
with Chalmers is unclear. Another employee,
Patricia Meier, was shot and survived.
Across the country, child support cases
have come to violent ends. In January,
a University City man killed his girlfriend,
their 7-year-old son and himself because
he was worried about going to jail for
failing to pay child support for his
other children. A New York man upset
about paying child support shot two
of his ex-girlfriends before killing
himself in October. Last February, a
Texas man shot his ex-wife and a bystander
in a rampage caused by a child support
dispute.
And in Seattle, a man frustrated by
the child-custody system stormed a federal
courthouse last summer and was killed
by police. Before his death, the man
had staged solo marches and written
e-mails protesting the child support
system in Washington state.
A huge industry
Collecting child support has emerged
as a huge industry. Over the past 30
years, states and the federal government
have stepped up efforts to track down
parents and seek reimbursement for federal
assistance money. As a result, $21.9
billion in child support was taken in
across the nation in 2004. Missouri
collected $527 million in child support
and Illinois pulled in more than $1
billion in fiscal year 2005.
To cut down on people job-hopping to
avoid paying child support, federal
law requires companies to immediately
report all new hires to the state, so
the names can be checked against child-custody
rolls. Most states use a formula for
calculating the amount of child support,
though family-law judges have discretion
to push the amount higher and lower.
The best way to collect child support
is to take it directly from paychecks,
experts say. Wage garnishments account
for two-thirds of all collections in
the United States. In Missouri alone,
135,000 new wage garnishment orders
were signed in 2005.
"Some
people find it a convenience. Some people
find it uncomfortable, too," said Jim
Carney, a Missouri child support field
liaison. Garnisheeing wages sometimes
puts companies in a difficult spot.
"It can feel like an invasion of
privacy, involving an employer in a
personal matter," said Frank Murphy,
a divorce attorney with the St. Louis
firm of Cordell & Cordell.
One payroll company, Midwest Accounting
Service, includes a copy of the court
order with the first paycheck. The line
item on a pay stub reads simply "garnishment."
Still, people call to complain.
"They get upset, and we just tell
them we're following the law," office
manager Julia Beardon said.
"It's not fair"
At the child support office in downtown
St. Louis, Hamilton's wait is over.
A caseworker opens the secured door.
"Are you ready, Mr. Hamilton?" the caseworker
asks. "Can you sign in for me? Can you
step into Room 2?"
Hamilton disappears behind a door. Muffled
voices pour from the room, getting louder
and louder as Hamilton calls his son's
mother on his cell phone and lets her
join the conversation over speakerphone.
After 15 minutes, he comes out, phone
to his ear, continuing to talk with
his former girlfriend.
They are arguing over what happened
to $1,300 he recently paid in child
support.
The phone call ends. But it is not clear
whether anything was resolved.
"This is not fair, not fair," Hamilton
said, standing outside. "I live with
my mom. I sleep on the floor. I don't
have a car. I walked down here. It's
not fair."
He puts the phone in his pocket and
begins the walk home, certain he will
have to return.
tfrankel@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8110
Last week's spasm of violence hints
at the highly charged world of child
support cases, where fights over money
simmer for years and occasionally
explode. Most cases proceed without
notice. But while Chalmers' violent
reaction was unusual, the powerful
emotions behind it - the rage, frustration
and sense of helplessness - are common,
say people who deal daily with family-law
cases.
"When you couple financial frustration
with the emotional baggage, you have
a situation where, unfortunately,
it can turn tragic," Dallas divorce
attorney Jonathan Bates said.
A hot-button issue
Child support is especially fraught
with pain. It hits the noncustodial
parent, often a man, in the heart
and the checkbook. Payments can extend
for up to two decades as the child
grows up. Each paycheck can feel like
a reminder of that failed relationship.
Rational thoughts about the duty to
support a child are not factored in.
"If you talk to these men and
ask them, 'Do you want your kids to
sleep in the street?' they say, 'No,
not at all.' But they're not thinking
about that," Clayton divorce
attorney Allan Zerman said. "It's
a hot-button issue for a lot people."
The cost of child support appears
to be what pushed Chalmers over the
edge. In the months before last Tuesday's
shootings, he learned he'd need to
fork over even more from his paycheck
at Finninger's Catering Service in
St. Louis' West End. He reportedly
felt he could not survive on the $200
he was taking home every two weeks.
He told Finninger's co-owner Charlie
Finninger that the garnishment was
a mistake.
Chalmers fatally shot four people:
Sylvia Haynes, mother of his children;
co-workers Cleo Finninger and Christine
Politte; and Carol D. Moore, whose
relationship with Chalmers is unclear.
Another employee, Patricia Meier,
was shot and survived.
Across the country, child support
cases have come to violent ends. In
January, a University City man killed
his girlfriend, their 7-year-old son
and himself because he was worried
about going to jail for failing to
pay child support for his other children.
A New York man upset about paying
child support shot two of his ex-girlfriends
before killing himself in October.
Last February, a Texas man shot his
ex-wife and a bystander in a rampage
caused by a child support dispute.
And in Seattle, a man frustrated by
the child-custody system stormed a
federal courthouse last summer and
was killed by police. Before his death,
the man had staged solo marches and
written e-mails protesting the child
support system in Washington state.
A huge industry
Collecting child support has emerged
as a huge industry. Over the past
30 years, states and the federal government
have stepped up efforts to track down
parents and seek reimbursement for
federal assistance money. As a result,
$21.9 billion in child support was
taken in across the nation in 2004.
Missouri collected $527 million in
child support and Illinois pulled
in more than $1 billion in fiscal
year 2005.
To cut down on people job-hopping
to avoid paying child support, federal
law requires companies to immediately
report all new hires to the state,
so the names can be checked against
child-custody rolls. Most states use
a formula for calculating the amount
of child support, though family-law
judges have discretion to push the
amount higher and lower.
The best way to collect child support
is to take it directly from paychecks,
experts say. Wage garnishments account
for two-thirds of all collections
in the United States. In Missouri
alone, 135,000 new wage garnishment
orders were signed in 2005.
"Some people find it a convenience.
Some people find it uncomfortable,
too," said Jim Carney, a Missouri
child support field liaison. Garnisheeing
wages sometimes puts companies in
a difficult spot.
"It can feel like an invasion
of privacy, involving an employer
in a personal matter," said Frank
Murphy, a divorce attorney with the
St. Louis firm of Cordell & Cordell.
One payroll company, Midwest Accounting
Service, includes a copy of the court
order with the first paycheck. The
line item on a pay stub reads simply
"garnishment." Still, people
call to complain.
"They get upset, and we just
tell them we're following the law,"
office manager Julia Beardon said.
"It's not fair"
At the child support office in downtown
St. Louis, Hamilton's wait is over.
A caseworker opens the secured door.
"Are you ready, Mr. Hamilton?"
the caseworker asks. "Can you
sign in for me? Can you step into
Room 2?"
Hamilton disappears behind a door.
Muffled voices pour from the room,
getting louder and louder as Hamilton
calls his son's mother on his cell
phone and lets her join the conversation
over speakerphone.
After 15 minutes, he comes out, phone
to his ear, continuing to talk with
his former girlfriend.
They are arguing over what happened
to $1,300 he recently paid in child
support.
The phone call ends. But it is not
clear whether anything was resolved.
"This is not fair, not fair,"
Hamilton said, standing outside. "I
live with my mom. I sleep on the floor.
I don't have a car. I walked down
here. It's not fair."
He puts the phone in his pocket and
begins the walk home, certain he will
have to return.