ANCPR News Commentary

ACES Up Their Sleeves?

The Dirty Politics of Child Support

March 10, 1999

Texas legislators have come under heavy lobbying efforts from a Toledo-based group called ACES – Association for Children for Enforcement of Support. In their never-ending quest to collect more and more money for mothers, ACES cheats – but this is nothing new for them.

ACES has successfully kept their founder’s dark past from the public, conning politicians (George and Barbara Bush fell for them), the media (Hollywood fell for them) and the public. Geraldine Jensen, ACES’ founder, violated court order after court order in her own divorce, but now has become the darling of lawmakers throughout America. She moved 1,500 miles away so her ex-husband couldn’t see his kids. When he did make these trips, she conspired with her new husband to change plans at the last minute to prevent him from seeing his children ("Child-support advocate widely assailed for tactics," The Toledo Blade, Oct., 22, 1989). Finally, she put her own children up for adoption (without the father’s knowledge) for the sole purpose of denying the biological father the right to see his children. All against court orders. The Ohio Court of Appeals issued a scathing decision against Ms. Jensen in 1981, overturning the adoption (for the complete legal text, see www.ancpr.org/jensen.htm or 1981 WL 5460 (Ohio App. 6 Dist.)). But it’s been kept quiet.

But that’s "Gerri" – the individual. What about ACES as an organization? Newspaper reports show that they have intentionally inflated membership numbers to qualify for grants and get politicians’ attention. In 1988, the IRS found their claim that they do not lobby to be bogus and their numbers didn’t add up. Employees and volunteers who wouldn’t falsify information were fired. Ms. Jensen never gives comments to the press (and hence, the public) on this.

But that’s the organization – what about ACES’ principles? In a nutshell, ACES believes that money is the answer. Yet research shows just the opposite – kids need both parents, not money. In fact, children raised in intact homes living below the poverty line outperformed children from broken homes living above the poverty line. In welfare cases, child support is used to reimburse the government. If welfare did not lift this child out of poverty, then child support certainly can’t, because the child won’t see a nickel of this money. ACES has been very successful lobbying Congress and state legislators; child support laws are tougher than ever. But what about the children? Are children better off today than they were in 1975? Hardly. By any measure, children are worse off today despite continued record child support collections. Why is this? First, child support forces noncustodial parents into exile. Most people don’t realize child support is not based on actual earnings. If you get laid off, your child support doesn’t change. Attempting to lower child support is costly, time-consuming and unpredictable (it may actually be raised). Combine this with the draconian punishments and you’ve forced parents into exile – causing irreparable harm to the child.

Secondly, if money really is the solution – why won’t ACES endorse proposals requiring custodial parents to keep receipts proving the child support was actually spent on the children? Did you know that custodial parents can spend this tax-free money any way they wish? There are no audits, fines or penalties for embezzling the children’s money.

Finally, why doesn’t ACES endorse equal joint physical and legal custody? Dallas child psychologist Richard Warshak reports single moms experiencing "overload" with having both a full-time job and sole custody. The ill effects of children raised without fathers is well-known. True joint custody solves both of these problems.

"Force the father to take responsibility for his actitons and pay child support" is the standard battle cry. Would we consider the able-bodied person who parks in handicapped spots to be a "responsible person" as long as he pays the fine? Of course not, so why do we consider a parent responsible if they zip a check off once a month?

If you don’t believe that child support awards are excessive, listen to what radical feminist Karen Winner writes in her book, Divorced From Justice; "There is accumulating evidence that men are challenging their wives for custody of the children precisely because it is cheaper to keep them than to pay child support." She sums it up quite nicely.

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