Georgia will suspend driver’s licenses of over 12,000 deadbeat parents who owe child support, on August 20, according to a new mandate. The Georgia Department of Driver Services and Department of Human Services has collaborated to strip parents categorized as deadbeats of their driving privileges.
Director of the Division of Child Support Services Tanguler Johnson said the prospect of losing the driver’s license gets deadbeat parents to pay child support. Thousands of parents have already, reportedly, received a notice warning them of the impending license suspension, if they don’t settle their child support debt.
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Johnson said in 2011 there was no computer link between her office and the Department of Driver Services. That year, the state collected $3 million in delinquent support payments. Since the addition of a link, that has jumped to $9 million a year.
This initiative to get parents to pay their child support could work, considering that it’s very difficult to get around Georgia without access to a vehicle. But others have argued that parents who do not pay child support should face jail time. But if they are incarcerated, how can they possibly pay? Or search for employment? Not to mention the time away from the child emotionally and physically.