"A father is a ATM Machine
provided by nature." -- Family Court Proverb
Child Support's Wacky Math
An indictment of Virginia's child support parenting
adjustment
reviewed by Roger F. Gay
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.
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