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Tracking the deadbeats
The stories, the law, and Jamaica's move to clamp down on delinquents
By PETULIA CLARKE all woman co-ordinator
Monday, August 27, 2007
WHEN Sophia Ffrench's fiancé left Jamaica for Boston six years ago, it was with the promise that when he started working, he would start sending money for the couple's twin daughters.
Six years and an unending court case later, French is still trying to get child support, as her fiancé reneged on his promise and hasn't seen, or maintained his daughters since he left.
Ffrench's problem is compounded because Boston has no reciprocal agreement with the Jamaican courts in matters of child support. A newspaper summons served on her fiancé to attend court here was ignored, and until, and only if he returns to Jamaica, can he be made liable to pay.
Not only are mothers here trying to get maintenance from fathers overseas, but the local courts are chock full of of complaints from mothers seeking support from the fathers here. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)
The Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) Act 1988, was introduced to assist mothers to obtain financial support for children from fathers within and outside of Jamaica. The Act allows for a reciprocal enforcement of maintenance orders, upon arrangements made between Jamaica and reciprocating states.
The problem of this reciprocity - that it now covers only four states in the US, one of the more heavily populated countries by Jamaicans - has been the cause of many a debate, and was most famously taken on as a mandate by former public defender Howard Hamilton.
While in office, Hamilton, as late as 2003, aimed to extend the jurisdiction of the Act to track down fathers in states not covered by the reciprocal agreement.
Jamaica has bilateral agreements for the enforcement of this Act with the United States and countries within the British Commonwealth.
However the government has arrangements with only four US states - California, Maryland, New Jersey and Florida - and five provinces of Canada.
There are no reciprocal arrangements for states like Connecticut and New York, even though these are heavily populated by Jamaicans.
But there may be hope.
In response to a question asked of our legal expert Margarette Macaulay on receiving child support from a parent living in one of the states not under the reciprocal agreement, Kim, a reader shared her experiences with all woman last August.
"I had a similar experience [not being able to get support through the courts here] with my son's father. I got so fed up that once when I visited the US I went to the courts. I found the courts very helpful and was able to file a petition. I gave them both my Jamaican address as well as the address of relatives in the US to ensure that I would not miss the date of the hearing. They sent the petition for support on my behalf and also filed on my behalf for back support.
My son is a Jamaican citizen and I am a Jamaican who holds only a visitor's visa. [You must] file in person at the first instance. Then, you should be able to appoint an agent to act on your behalf if you are not physically able to appear later.
"The father will have to show proof that he has made contributions towards the child's upkeep and the contribution is a percentage of his salary (in New York this is approximately 17 per cent!)"
And legislation, as far back as 2001, began in draft form.
Then, Director of Justice Administration in the Ministry of National Security and Justice, Derrick Taylor, said a draft was done for reciprocal agreements with New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
On Friday, Justice Ministry Public Relations officer Michael Cohen said that government was in the process of finalising a federal agreement with the US, which should see all states complying with child support orders made here, and vice versa.
Meanwhile, not only are mothers here trying to get maintenance from fathers overseas, but the local courts are chock full of of complaints from mothers seeking support from the fathers here.
A report from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica indicates that 1, 221 maintenance cases were heard in the Family Court during October to December, 2006. Five hundred and ninety-seven of these cases were for females and 624 were for males.
They were unable to say how many of these cases were related to child support or how many of them had been cleared up.
Hamilton has called deadbeat fathers "one of the principal causes of the breakdown of family life in the society and the consequent indiscipline of our young people."
The stories, the law, and Jamaica's move to clamp down on delinquents
By PETULIA CLARKE all woman co-ordinator
Monday, August 27, 2007
WHEN Sophia Ffrench's fiancé left Jamaica for Boston six years ago, it was with the promise that when he started working, he would start sending money for the couple's twin daughters.
Six years and an unending court case later, French is still trying to get child support, as her fiancé reneged on his promise and hasn't seen, or maintained his daughters since he left.
Ffrench's problem is compounded because Boston has no reciprocal agreement with the Jamaican courts in matters of child support. A newspaper summons served on her fiancé to attend court here was ignored, and until, and only if he returns to Jamaica, can he be made liable to pay.
Not only are mothers here trying to get maintenance from fathers overseas, but the local courts are chock full of of complaints from mothers seeking support from the fathers here. (Photo: Naphtali Junior) The Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) Act 1988, was introduced to assist mothers to obtain financial support for children from fathers within and outside of Jamaica. The Act allows for a reciprocal enforcement of maintenance orders, upon arrangements made between Jamaica and reciprocating states.
The problem of this reciprocity - that it now covers only four states in the US, one of the more heavily populated countries by Jamaicans - has been the cause of many a debate, and was most famously taken on as a mandate by former public defender Howard Hamilton.
While in office, Hamilton, as late as 2003, aimed to extend the jurisdiction of the Act to track down fathers in states not covered by the reciprocal agreement.
Jamaica has bilateral agreements for the enforcement of this Act with the United States and countries within the British Commonwealth.
However the government has arrangements with only four US states - California, Maryland, New Jersey and Florida - and five provinces of Canada.
There are no reciprocal arrangements for states like Connecticut and New York, even though these are heavily populated by Jamaicans.
But there may be hope.
In response to a question asked of our legal expert Margarette Macaulay on receiving child support from a parent living in one of the states not under the reciprocal agreement, Kim, a reader shared her experiences with all woman last August.
"I had a similar experience [not being able to get support through the courts here] with my son's father. I got so fed up that once when I visited the US I went to the courts. I found the courts very helpful and was able to file a petition. I gave them both my Jamaican address as well as the address of relatives in the US to ensure that I would not miss the date of the hearing. They sent the petition for support on my behalf and also filed on my behalf for back support.
My son is a Jamaican citizen and I am a Jamaican who holds only a visitor's visa. [You must] file in person at the first instance. Then, you should be able to appoint an agent to act on your behalf if you are not physically able to appear later.
"The father will have to show proof that he has made contributions towards the child's upkeep and the contribution is a percentage of his salary (in New York this is approximately 17 per cent!)"
And legislation, as far back as 2001, began in draft form.
Then, Director of Justice Administration in the Ministry of National Security and Justice, Derrick Taylor, said a draft was done for reciprocal agreements with New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
On Friday, Justice Ministry Public Relations officer Michael Cohen said that government was in the process of finalising a federal agreement with the US, which should see all states complying with child support orders made here, and vice versa.
Meanwhile, not only are mothers here trying to get maintenance from fathers overseas, but the local courts are chock full of of complaints from mothers seeking support from the fathers here.
A report from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica indicates that 1, 221 maintenance cases were heard in the Family Court during October to December, 2006. Five hundred and ninety-seven of these cases were for females and 624 were for males.
They were unable to say how many of these cases were related to child support or how many of them had been cleared up.
Hamilton has called deadbeat fathers "one of the principal causes of the breakdown of family life in the society and the consequent indiscipline of our young people."
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