Virginia uses cell phones to nab child support delinquents

Virginia has become the first state to subpoena cell phone records in an attempt to collect back and current child support payments. This is a large step forward, since it proves very difficult to actually enforce payment schedules. By using a delinquent’s cell phone, though, there is little place to hide from the courts. Now, only 52,000 records have been found — but that’s still progress. Unfortunately, many of the 268,000 delinquents don’t have cell phones, so there’s little chance of catching up with a majority of them. However, any way they can be found should be explored. This might just be the beginning of better enforcement practices. This year, the Division of Child Support Enforcement has collected $608 million. That represents a four percent increase over this time last year. There is no real way to tell if this increase is due to this new method of obtaining personal information, but we can reasonably assume it has something to do with it. Virginia has already received an award for these efforts from the Council of State Governments. Hopefully, the idea will spread and expand. We’d love to see kids receive the provisions they deserve. [Daily Press] via [Planet Cell Phone] * We understand there may be extenuating circumstances in certain child support cases. We just get worked up when we see big numbers like this. If you father or mother a child, you have an obligation to raise that child — and raising a child means spending tons of dough. Sorry, it’s just a fact of life.]]>