Joining women across the country, about 40 people met on the steps of the Department of Human Services building for a sunset candlelight vigil to call attention to the young victims of divorce, who often don't receive child support.
The vigil was organized by ACES, the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support, which works to help single, divorced parents to receive child support. According to spokeswoman Heidi Sorenson, the association has roughly 500 members in the state.The vigil was held at the Office of Recovery Services, 120 N. 200 West, helps women in the state collect child support payments.
Candles were lit, brief speeches given by two state representatives, and it was all over in about 30 minutes. But the demonstration didn't come off without a hitch. During the demonstration, a few fathers showed up to voice their frustration over being denied visitation rights and the stigma that fathers are always in the wrong in such situations.
But another father was in the same situation as many women. His ex-wife had been ordered to pay child support for their children but hasn't.
Sorenson has a very personal interest in the organization. She has been divorced about two years and has four children between the ages of 4 and 10. She is receiving Aid for Dependent Children while she attends the University of Utah, where she is majoring in communications and political science. She plans to graduate soon.
Her ex-husband is not paying child support, she said.
According to the association, only 25 percent of U.S. children who are entitled to child support receive it. That's 4 million out of 16 million children who are entitled to such support.
The group cites Wayne Stanton, the director of the Federal Office of Child Support, who said non-support is the leading cause of poverty among children in the United States.
Sorenson said the group plans to lobby for federal legislation that would deduct money from paychecks of people ordered to pay child support.
Such a law was passed by the Utah Legislature this year and will go into effect in October.
The only way out is by mutual agreement between the ex-spouses if there is no history of failing to pay, Sorenson said.
The association sponsors work sessions and lectures for single parents working to collect child support. Together they share information on strategies and successes.
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(Additional information)
A lack of support
According to the Utah Chapter of the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support:
-74,000 Utah children are receiving only partial child support or none at all.
-In 1988, the state Office of Recovery Services handled 51,544 child support cases.
-Each year in Utah, 224,400,000 is owed in child support payments, but only 48,265,000 is paid. That's 21.5 percent.