F&F: Maryland Reduces Child Support Arrears to 0

Article here. Excerpt:

'In Maryland, the Child Support Payment Incentive Program is taking small steps to chip away at the mountain of bad child support debt. The Office of Child Support Enforcement acknowledges that 63% of fathers in arrears report earnings of $10,000 or less per year.

The Maryland program allows noncustodial parents with incomes below 225 percent of the federal poverty level and who have made 24 months of consecutive child-support payments on their current obligation to have their arrears reduced to zero. Also, as of October 1, the new legislation will automatically suspend child-support orders for anyone sentenced to 18 or more months in jail and lacking the financial means to pay.

While other states continue to strip away licenses to drive and professional and occupational licenses, Maryland is making some small steps to acknowledge that some dads are just “dead-broke” and the state is better off helping them reenter the workforce – and the lives of their children.'