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Child Support's Wacky Math |
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Written by Roger F. Gay
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Child Support's Wacky Math
Author: Robert W. Ingalls
Writers Club Press, 2002
Paperback, 112 pages, $10.95 U.S.
ISBN: 0-595-22138-6
An indictment of Virginia's child support parenting adjustment
A Book Review by Roger F. Gay
July 16, 2002
Child Support's Wacky Math
is a book about the way that Virginia and other states modify child
support orders in consideration of visitation and shared parenting. It
promises two things; to prove that the formula is grossly in error, and
to show how reality gets lost and logic muddled in the overly political
process that now dominates the child support system. It delivers on
both promises with room to spare.
The author is a divorced father of "four wonderful children" and a
retired Air Force Lt. Colonel. He is also a child of divorce. Robert W.
Ingalls wrote the book because he feels obligated to his children who
he admits are the joy of his life. He recognizes the pain that divorce
causes children and the pattern of interference that millions of
fathers encounter in their efforts to remain good parents.
In response,
he applied career skills in math and logic to analyze the parenting
adjustment formula. He found influential recommendations from the
Virginia Bar Association to be logically and mathematically flawed and
shows that their errors were intentional. Their recommendations amount
to special interest politics rather than honest analysis.
Virginia, like most states, uses the "Income-Shares formula" for
calculating child support amounts. The Income-Shares model
has an explicit goal of increasing child support orders to two and a
half times what they had been under established child support law. The
name "Income-Shares" suggests redistributing parental income rather
than providing support for children.
The idea of a shared parenting adjustment is to reduce the amount that
paying parents are ordered to pay in recognition of the time they spend
caring (and paying) for their children directly. The Income-Shares
adjustment begins with a calculation that increases a paying parent's
financial obligation to the other parent.
To some, the calculation may seem strange and invalid from the start.
To others, the author points out, it can seem logical on the surface.
If two households are involved doesn't that mean more expenses? But the
underlying logic of this particular formula, he explains, is to get the
result that the designer wants rather than an honest balancing of the
books. It is illogical to reason that a payer's financial obligation to
the other parent increases in recognition of his own expenses. The
result is inadequate adjustment to child support orders. In most cases
there is no reduction at all.
As obvious as the problem may seem to some, the debate has raged for
more than a decade and this logical error and many like it are still
policy. In an effort to reach the broadest possible audience, two
prehistoric gentlemen are called upon early in the book to illustrate a
basic point. Caveman Vinney invented the wheel and manufactures them.
His cousin Grog sells them. Should Grog account honestly for his
inventory or falsify his numbers to create the business picture that he
wants? Lying about the numbers or applying flawed logic leads to
problems. From there the book moves to a steadily paced demonstration
of the wackiness of the Virginia parenting adjustment. If similar
evidence was presented against Grog's wheel business it would
undoubtedly be investigated by the Bedrock Securities and Exchange
Commission, leading to Grog's indictment.
How should the child support problem be addressed? I place particular
importance on an overlying theme of this book. "Mathematics is about
logic and relationships," he writes. "Just because you can 'do the
math' does not necessarily mean that the solution or formula or
algorithm or whatever you call it is correct, even if every time you
work the numbers the value arrives at the same answer. It has to have
meaning."
Virginia statues have previously been criticized
for leaving the term "child support" undefined; the ultimate absence of
meaning. Avoiding meaning; meaningful definition, meaningful logic,
meaningful data, was an essential part of the process of developing the
Income-Shares guideline. Yet, too often I have seen well-intentioned
experts repeat the process as though it will unlock a hidden secret and
lead to improvement. At the end of Child Support's Wacky Math
is a fitting quote from Albert Einstein. "No problem can be solved from
the same consciousness that created it." Good problem solving starts at
the beginning and proceeds logically.
I suspect that Child Support's Wacky Math is the kind of book
that many paying parents would like to write. An average father is no
stranger to bill-paying and might even show stereotypical irritation
when his dilapidated old wallet is beaten too hard. That irritation can
only get stronger when it threatens the precious time divorced parents
share with their children.
Putting together an integrated view of the child support issue that
includes basic wisdom, logic, mathematics, and politics is not an easy
task. Robert Ingalls was motivated to focus on one part of the child
support formula, the shared parenting adjustment, because of the
enormous personal importance of time with his children. That sentiment
is echoed by millions of parents across the country. Narrowing the
focus to one piece of the problem also allows a more complete
presentation of the problems that the author promised to expose. His
criticism of Virginia's wacky adjustment equation is probably the most
extensive in existence.
Given the absence of an independent judiciary (my own observation);
policy oversight must be provided by concerned and responsible
citizens. (An important activity in any case.) The book Robert Ingalls
has written certainly places him solidly in that group. Will it speak
to the masses? The answer may lie in the promotional quotes on the back
cover. After reviewing material that was used in the book, two members
of the Virginia House of Delegates promised support to "address the
error" and "correct the situation." If Robert W. Ingalls' analysis can
induce corrective action, then this book should be in the hands of
every legislator, governor, review panel member, judge, lawyer, reform
advocate, and child support paying parent in the country.
Copyright © 2002 Roger F. Gay
Cited:
1. Development of Guidelines for Child
Support Orders: Advisory Panel Recommendations and Final Report.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of
Child Support Enforcement, Robert Williams, 1987. 2. || Recommendations for Improvement Of Child Support Law In the State of Virginia, Roger F. Gay, Barry Koplen, et al., 1999.
Related articles by this author
Child Support Visitation Credit Gets International Attention
The Alimony Hidden in Child Support
Other articles related to Virginia child support
Appetite for family destruction, Stephen Baskerville, Washington Times, June 17, 2001
Why is Daddy in Jail?, Stephen Baskerville, The Women's Quarterly, Winter 1999
Roger F. Gay is a professional analyst and director of Project for the Improvement of Child Support Litigation Technology.
He has also been an intensive political observer for many years
culminating in a well-developed sense of honest cynicism. Other
articles by Roger F. Gay can be found at Fathering Magazine and Men's News Daily.
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