Dear Next President,

It’s becoming a norm for parents to split up and as sad as that may be, most don’t take into consideration the most important part- their children! For one parent to be able to work and support their family is very difficult and it’s also very stressful having to figure out which parent will be able to see their child on which days- better known as the custody of their child. Many parents wrongfully abuse the right of custody and neglect to pay child support and it’s becoming much easier for parents to abuse these rights because they aren’t being punished until it becomes absolutely necessary due to many not seeing the importance of child support or child custody but, it’s very important and affects million of people everyday, therefore it must be fixed.

Personally, I would like to point out how I can connect to this specific issue. When I was very young, my parents had gotten a divorce and custody wasn’t an issue. However, child support was. My family and I had gone to court and settled how much my father must owe us to help us have the ability to pay for simple things that are necessary to live. In the 15 years of which I’ve been living, my father has for the most part neglected to pay this court ordered amount from month to month and this wasn’t because he didn’t have the money he must have figured he could get away with not having to pay. But, he has gotten away with it, to this day my father owes over $22,000 in child support and the state of Michigan issues a warrant for his arrest when he doesn’t pay but when arrested, when he pays as little as $50, they let him free and yet he still does not pay. This needs to be fixed, the law varies from state to state but where I’m from, the policies and laws are unacceptable. This issue wouldn’t be as important if families weren’t in need of this money but middle class families in America in which have one parent whom are issued to have been paid child support from month to month are struggling and living from paycheck to paycheck and if you think about it, just a few hundred dollars a month owed in child support could majorly help. We need to put policies in place in which will get this money in which is owed in child support issued to the families in some way.

On the other hand, some may disagree with how the money situation is dealt with and how it is determined the initial amount in which the parents may owe because sometimes with finances, they may not be neglecting to pay the child support or with the child custody deal they may just simply be busy working, trying their very hardest to support their families and I agree, those circumstances should indeed be addressed. However, we should also think why would we not want our children to grow up in a household of which is financially stable weather their parents are together or if they are not?

So, Next President, what are you planning on doing to fix the issue between child support and/or child custody varying from state to state? Thank you for allowing me to address this issue, please consider taking action and making a change!

Sincerely,

Anabel R.