For Immediate Release
Jan. 31, 2003

RICHMOND -- Child support evaders who owe a total of $663,000 are listed on the new "10 Most Wanted" poster released today by the Virginia Department of Social Services.

Social Services Commissioner Maurice A. Jones said the poster profiles the most egregious child support evaders who often go to great lengths to avoid their obligations.

Nine men and one woman, all non-custodial parents, are featured on the poster, the 17th issued by Social Services. The woman is only the second female to be featured on the poster since it was first issued in 1989.

The poster is a tool to help find evaders, Jones said, but also makes others aware of the importance of both parents supporting their children financially. "When non-custodial parents support their children financially, they are more likely to spend time with them and provide emotional support," he said.

A roofer profiled owes his three children $111,686, and an accountant owes his three children $280,270.

Jones said Social Services’ Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) processes payments for nearly one-quarter of children in the Commonwealth. "Most of the non-custodial parents involved are to be commended for meeting their obligations to their children in a timely manner," Jones said. "Unfortunately some flee their financial obligations and are completely absent from their children’s lives."

DCSE Director Nick Young added, "Virginia’s child support enforcement workers, with the assistance of the public and law enforcement, have a unified commitment to tracking and apprehending these individuals to ensure they meet their obligations."

The state’s most wanted program is one of several tools used by DCSE. Others include income withholding, freezing assets, suspending driver’s licenses, booting vehicles, placing liens on assets, and intercepting federal and state tax refunds.

Anyone with information regarding the "10 Most Wanted" child support evaders is asked to call (800) 257-9986. For more information on child support enforcement, as well as a list of the "10 Most Wanted" evaders, log on to the DCSE Web site at http://www.dss.virginia.gov/family/dcse.html.

Karen Chatlak Martell
Media Relations
(804) 692-1812
kxc2@email1.dss.state.va.us