Which Way, L.A.?
Child Support and Welfare Reform
California collects child support from a mere one sixth of the parents who owe. And LA County has almost the worst record in the state. Both moms and dads say the system doesn't work right. Will California lose billions of federal dollars if it can't be fixed?
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readMICHAEL KHARFEN: Spokesman for the US Department of Health and Human Services. BRUCE WAGSTAFF: Deputy Director of the Welfare Programs Division in the California Department of Social Services. SUE SPIER: President and Founder of S.P.U.N.K., Single Parents United n' Kids - a 15 year-old child support advocacy group. WAYNE DOSS: Director of Bureau of Family Support Operations with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. BETTY NORDWIND: Executive Director of Harriett Buhi Center for Family Law, a nonprofit legal aid firm that recently published an analysis of Los Angeles County's child support services entitled "Government's Failure to Provide." DEBBIE POWELL: Ex-wife of the #2 'most wanted' deadbeat dad according to the L.A. D.A.'s office, and the first one to be publicized on the internet. She has struggled with L.A. county for 5 years and has yet to be paid. BOB BURTON: Director of United Fathers of America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping fathers. Has five boys of his own and has raised an additional five. ANNELLE GRAJEDA: General Manager of Local 660 of the Service Employees International Union KATHRYN MONTGOMER: President and Co-Founder of Center for Media Education. (In Los Angeles as part of a forum on New Media and the Family)
topic: The Local 660 Strike Threat
