DATE: Friday, June 20, 1997                 TAG: 9706200720

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   71 lines

CHILD-SUPPORT AMNESTY OFFER FOR DELINQUENT PARENTS ENDS TODAY

Show me the money. Or else. That was the governor's message two weeks ago to parents who owe child support. The grace period runs out today, and some delinquent parents have come forward.

More than 3,400 parents have accepted the state's offer to catch up or make suitable arrangements to do so.

About $93,000 was collected in the first week, the only figures available, according to Martin Brown, a spokesman for the state Department of Social Services.

In Hampton Roads, more than 800 people called the child support office serving the region during the first week of the amnesty program, according to Carol Vanderspiegel, regional administrator for the child support division of the state's Department of Social Services. The second week's worth of inquiries is likely even higher, but she said the calls have not yet been tallied.

``We've heard from parents who we had not heard from in some time,'' Vanderspiegel said. ``Not everyone will follow through, but people are certainly responding to the offer of amnesty.''

About 18,460 letters were mailed from the regional office under the Child Cheaters Initiative to track down delinquent parents who owe support to children throughout Hampton Roads.

Vanderspiegel said anyone who calls and agrees to pay their support and come up with a plan to pay back payments will not be pursued in court if they abide by their agreement.

She said that people have also called to ask about what will happen to them if they don't agree to make the payments. ``What we tell them is we will aggressively pursue them, using all the tools we have available. We want to get their attention and get the support into the home where the child resides.''

Next comes new vigor in pursuing deadbeats, who will be given community service, forced education or jail sentences if they don't pay.

State officials have prepared 450 warrants and 1,200 notices to force people to appear in court to explain why they are behind on their payments, said Nathaniel L. Young Jr., assistant commissioner for child-support enforcement.

Violators could be jailed and their property seized, he said.

While roughly 404,000 parents in Virginia make child support payments, and about are 186,000 are delinquent, this collection crack-down is a component of welfare reform.

Delinquent child support payments could mean millions in income for families headed by single mothers. Many of those mothers will soon face life without welfare payments.

But while those fathers are scattered throughout the state and beyond, state officials say they will first focus tougher enforcement in the Culpeper area. That was the first region in which new welfare reform was applied, and will be the first this July in which welfare recipients' benefits will be denied if they don't work.

As that new welfare policy takes effect in other areas, so will the new child support enforcement.

The amnesty that ends today is part of the Child Cheaters Initiative. The Department of Social Services sent letters to 57,000 parents not making their court-ordered payments.

Those targeted by the Child Cheaters program were the most egregious offenders - those at least $500 or 90 days in arrears.

``There are various reasons why they don't assist their kids,'' Martin Brown, a spokesman for the state Department of Social Services, said. ``Some say they're not obligated because the child is not theirs. Others say they're required to pay too much and don't have enough money.''

``Amnesty protects them from immediate prosecution and allows us to give them a break and help them take care of their kids,'' Brown said.

For cases already in court, the state will try to keep the offenders out of jail if they meet their obligations. MEMO: Staff writer Elizabeth Simpson contributed to this story.

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