Statement of Susan B. Williams, Cypress Texas
(Child Support Mother)

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources
of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on Fatherhood Legislation

October 5, 1999

Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the Subcommittee: thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the importance of enforcement options for custodial parents who need help in collecting past-due child support. I was, and am, one of those custodial parents. I worked with an attorney, tried to help myself, and pursued my case with my state agency before finally getting help from a private child support enforcement company.

My name is Susan Williams. I am a kindergarten teacher from Cypress, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston. My former husband, who I met in college, and married after we'd both graduated, left when our daughter, Jennifer, was seven. She is now a sophomore in high school.

My former husband's decision to leave the marriage caused me a lot of pain and grief, as you might expect in a situation like that. It never occurred to me that he would also be leaving Jennifer, however. He had always been a good father to her, and while I came to accept that our relationship could end, I never expected him to walk away from her, too.

And yet, a month after we divorced in 1992, he quit his job and left the state of Texas. Although I began teaching in 1980, it was in a private setting, and after my divorce, I made plans to work full-time in the public school system. Switching to the public sector meant that I was essentially starting over in terms of building my seniority. The news of my former husband's disappearance filled me with anxiety and concern.

The terms of my divorce seemed Ok at the time, but as my attorney pointed out, it's one thing to look good on paper, and another to enforce the court order. You've probably heard the stories of other parents whose experiences are similar to mine.

After the divorce, Jennifer's father moved from state to state, and job to job. He's a conservative and professional looking person, a quiet man who sells himself well. He would accept a signing bonus, begin a new job in computer programming and stay until there was pressure put on him, from me or from anyone else. Then he'd quit and move on.

You can hire an attorney, but it's expensive and since they work on retainer, you have to pay them before they will work on your case. So I made an appointment to open a case with my state's child support enforcement office, and arrived that day to take a seat in a very small waiting room. I waited for some time, until I was shepherded into a conference room with several other women for a backgrounding session, and became a number, right before my own eyes. They were very clear that they could make no promises of being able to help. Because my case was an interstate case, with Jennifer and I living in a different state from her father, it would be more difficult to pursue. I was not optimistic that I would get help.

I felt totally alone. I learned then, and it's still true today, that child support is a hard topic to discuss with other people. The state agency was able to help me in a single instance, when they intercepted my former husband's income tax return and turned it over to me. After I got the IRS check I never heard another word from the government. It was as though they had filed away my information forever. I could only keep leaving messages.

During this time, I actually got fairly good at personally delivering the wage withholding information to my former husband's employers. When I knew where he was working, once he'd returned to Texas, I would drive down to the courthouse, and for $15 I would file the paperwork requesting that the new employer set up wage withholding. I did this four or five times. And no employer failed to cooperate. But I could expect an angry phone call from him, and once it came, he would eventually quit the job. There was also a two year period when I had no idea where he was.

I was in constant anxiety mode, working and worrying about money and the effects of all this on my daughter, when I heard about a private child support enforcement company that was based in Texas - Supportkids.com. A friend mentioned the company to me at a baby shower we were both attending.

I contacted Supportkids.com in 1997 and decided to fill out an application and authorize them to pursue my case. It was a hard decision to make, and I really agonized over it. I knew that I met the criteria that Supportkids.com looks for in a new client: I wasn't on welfare, I had a court order for support, and I was owed over $5000. But I still went back and forth over confronting the situation so directly. When I finally decided that one parent shouldn't have to do the work of two, I put the application in the mailbox.

The minute I signed up with Supportkids.com I felt a huge sense of relief. It was almost instantaneous. I felt like I had some control again, after years of feeling alone and like I was only able to react.

And they found my former husband, and got payments started. So even though I was still getting angry phone calls, I knew I could rely on them to keep things on an even keel - that they had the resources to pursue my daughter's child support. Eventually Supportkids.com negotiated a lump sum payment of the past-due amount. My former husband borrowed the money from his parents and paid almost $16,000 to me and my daughter.

This concluded my contract with the company. However, when the payments later stopped coming again, the company reopened my case even before I had accrued $5000, tracked him down, and got the monthly checks coming in again. They had the focus and the tenacity to stay with it.

I can't even describe to you how this felt. I know that at some level, I will never feel totally safe about this. I will always be wondering how far I can trust that these resources will continue coming for my daughter. Will that fear ever go away? Probably not.

But I have regained a certain amount of my self-esteem. I asserted myself and I persevered throughout this roller coaster ride. I couldn't give up, even though there were times before I got to Supportkids where I didn't think I could do it anymore. I've gained a lot of courage, and I've sent a good message to my child.

I am thankful that I have a job. Even though I lost the house as a result of his not paying, I am proud that I have been able to provide stability for Jennifer. We've only moved once in seven years, and she was able to stay in the same schools. As a teacher, I see the impact of uprooting on kids all the time. It affects them long-term. I have tried to help my daughter build relationships where she can talk about her dad, apart from me, and the struggle we've been through. My fear is that she might seek out a father figure in a mate.

I would advise other custodial parents not to hesitate to work with a private company or a private attorney, once they've done their homework and know it's a reputable firm. A good private company like Supportkids.com has the resources and the time to really pursue cases. They do take a percentage of what they collect on your behalf, but they earn it. Parents have always had the choice of working with a private attorney, but we need to be able to choose to work with a private company that uses attorneys if that is a better solution financially for our families. Everyday people just don't have the tools to pursue missing parents on their own.

In closing, I'm also happy to say that several months ago, Jennifer's dad wrote her a letter apologizing for his behavior. The three of us were able to meet for lunch eventually, and my daughter saw her parents getting along.

This wasn't easy for me to do, but it was in my daughter's best interest. It gave her a sense of family again. Her dad now calls her every week, and she is pursuing her own relationship with him.

He continues to pay his child support.