If you are an accountable parent, you probably know children need love, guidance, and stability. The most ideal situation for a child, two loving and supportive parents, is not always the reality. Rightfully so, there are responsible people, who make proper accommodations, even if the best interest of the child is their only motivation. However, maybe your circumstances are similar to mine, where the father has not taken any financial responsibility and continues to father children. Maybe your child's mother is the absentee parent,or you are the grandparents raising grandchildren, while both parents are absentee. Whatever the case may be, then you know how difficult it is to give a child what they need, even under the most adequate conditions. Unfortunately, we cannot force people to be appropriate, but here is an idea that will change how well these people are held accountable: I propose when a warrant is served on an absentee parent, or AP, for nonpayment of support, that the AP be sentenced to work release, with an established amount of support to be worked off. Currently the system takes away driving privileges, sentences the AP to jail time, and eventually hands down prison terms. My approach is one that saves the tax payers money and rehabilitates financial responsibility in an area most needed and well deserved. The objective would be the nonpayment of support, but there would also be a hope to possibly incline the AP to be less irresponsible by putting them to work. The benefits reach far beyond what can be summed up in a petition.

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