HOBOKEN, NJ — Editor's Note: The following op-ed comes courtesy of Hoboken resident Deborah Johnson. The views expressed are not necessarily those of Patch.com.

"This country's child support laws are destroying fathers, especially young fathers, who cannot afford to honor their child support orders. These laws are breaking up minority families. These laws are contributing to the ongoing problems of domestic violence among men, women and children. "The court needs to clarify what child support is. Is it only money? Why is being out of work, struggling to find a job, having no money, a crime in this country? A crime that threatens to send a father to jail every month for non-child support? Because the court does not agree with the amount a father pays to his child, his punishment is incarceration. All the reasons above prevent a father from paying a support order that is more money than he has ever made on a job.

"The court needs to take into consideration that when you become unemployed, you may no longer can afford to pay an assigned child support amount. If for whatever reason a father cannot support his own self and needs financial assistance, how is he going to financially support his children? Why should he be incarcerated under these conditions? How is a father ever going to fulfil his obligations if he is incarcerated? It does not constitute a crime when a father cannot buy his child an outfit one week, provide them with food throughout the day or house them in a living condition where they may have to share a bed. I consider jail to be an institute that houses people who commit crimes. The court needs to take this into consideration. "When you take away the freedom of a father for late child support payments for one child, that man is still responsible for other children, to whom he is a father too and supports. How is it that the system can neglect these other children to satisfy the financial need of one child?

"If a father is providing clothing, food and shelter for his child, is it still considered non-child support? In

reality, that is all child support is. There are health insurance programs that assist in covering a child's medical needs. Why is it, [a father] still has to give financially to the mother, or else be arrested for non-child support? State and government programs are provided in this country to assist families in need. But instead, the courts want to overlook these agencies. They want to incarcerate a father for simply not being able to provide enough money for his child. "The system wants to take away a father's right as a citizen to drive, travel internationally or obtain a

passport. The system makes it difficult for these men to stay employed. A employer does not want to alter

their payroll for a garnishment order from the court. They don't want to hear the excuse that you 'missed a day of work because you had to appear in court.' A father's tax refunds are even withheld from him. A

father's life is turned upside down. This is the result of a person going to court and requesting a non-child support order, and the courts agrees to it.

"In this country, a father goes to jail when he is not able to pay a financial support order, even though he can provide the necessities. A father is not given the same opportunity to provide for his child as is given to the mother. Instead, the court would rather the father be locked up and never be able to contribute to the welfare of his child. The system would rather he become a ward of the state. The state now has to support him. The system would rather prevent a father from finding work and eliminating a large payment that continues to increase while he sits in jail. Does the time he serves reduce the amount he owes to child support? During his incarceration, he could have been contributing to his arrears amount.

"The state has set up a system that fails on so many levels. Suspending a father's driving license, when it is needed to make a living makes no sense at all. When a bench warrant is issued, his license is automatically suspended. He now has to pay $100 to restore his license. His license is restored, and a month later he misses another two payments. Another warrant is issued and his license is suspended again. He pays another $100 to restore it. A month later another child's support payment has lapsed in another county. Again, his license is suspended and he has to pay another $100 to restore it. In some cases a ticket is issued because he does not realized that he is driving around with a suspended license. He now has to go to court and convince a judge that he does not have the money to pay the ticket. He has to argue the fact why points should not be taken off his license and a sub-charged applied every month. He has to continue to pay these restoration fees, because he needs his license to work.

"The system thinks it is teaching these fathers a lesson by suspending their driving privileges. All you are doing is creating havoc in these father's lives. This system is taking money out of these children mouths. That $100 restoration fee could have been a payment towards that father's child-support order. That $100 belongs to that child. Why don't the courts start applying the fees to one's child support owed? The whole ordeal sounds like a racket. "The mothers of the children are being used just as much as the fathers by this system. The child-support system does not care if both parents are struggling financially. Their intention is to convince these mothers that the only way this father must contribute to the welfare of his child is to make him pay.

