
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 22, 1994                   TAG: 9412230048
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TARGETING UNWED FATHERS

UNTIL VERY recently, the welfare-reform debate focused almost exclusively, not to mention meanly, on women. It's encouraging that Gov. George Allen, President Clinton and some other VIMs (very important males) are finally bringing a little gender fairness into the discussion.

Unwed fathers are part of the problem. They must be part of the solution. Thus do the welfare-reform proposals of Gov. Allen's Commission on Citizen Empowerment reflect what's obvious but often overlooked: Many women seek government support for their children because the children's fathers refuse to accept any financial responsibility.

To be sure, some men, never married or no longer married to the women they've impregnated, may be stuck in minimum-wage jobs - if they have jobs at all - that barely sustain their own existence, leaving little to contribute to anyone else. Even so, more men need to think about that before they plant seeds of children and taxpayers' liability.

The Allen commission's welfare plan, unveiled last week, would commendably continue Virginia's progress in cracking down on absentee parents who renege on court-ordered child-support payments.

It includes a proposal to give a good, swift kick to deadbeats where it hurts: the driver's seat. Borrowing an idea first tried in Maine, it would restrict the driving licenses of those who evade child-support obligations, allowing delinquents driving privileges only to and from work.

Tough, but effective - if Maine's experience is indicative. Even more effective than taking away professional and occupational licenses of deadbeats, which Virginia began doing this year. Alas, it is sad but true: Some people care more about their wheels than their babies. (According to one study, less than 3 percent of Americans who owe used-car payments default on them, while 49 percent default on their child-support payments. In 1992, these delinquent parents - 97 percent male - owed as much as $34 billion to their 23 million children, many of whom now swell caseloads of Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Medicaid and other taxpayer-supported social services.)

The father focus in Allen's welfare-reform package includes other tough proposals targeting males who believe there are no consequences if they hit and run. If a child born to a minor mother is fathered by a minor male, his parents could be compelled to contribute to the support of their grandchild. Such minor males could be required to stay in school until they graduate; if they drop out, they could be treated like adults and required to provide child support.

The package also toughens paternity-identification rules when women seek welfare assistance to support a child. Children might have a call on a father's future earnings, insurance, etc., even if he cannot immediately contribute to their upbringing.

To promote prevention, the governor's commission recommends a statewide public-relations and education campaign to underscore the benefits and responsibilities of fatherhood, with counseling and mentoring of young men by community organizations.

While no one is suggesting a return to shotgun weddings, it's to Allen's and other politicians' credit that they have begun emphasizing the legal and moral obligations of DNA dads.

by CNB