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| Paternity is put to test for dad, mom, and child | |
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April 5, 1999 By Tahree Lane Keisha Byrd, 7, is among the 7.7 million American children who do not have a legal father. But after getting her mouth swabbed with four lollipoplike sponges, she's on her way toward getting one. It's not that she doesn't know who her father is; she does. But her parents weren't married and paternity was not legally established after she was born. And because her mother, Lashawnda Horton, receives public assistance, mother, daughter, and father were told to go to the Lucas County Child Support Enforcement Agency to establish paternity. One in 10 American children do not have a legal father and do not, therefore, have the rights that come with paternity. They are not likely to receive child support, and don't stand to get Social Security, disability, or veterans benefits that they might otherwise be eligible for, let alone medical insurance or inheritance from their fathers. They may not have medical information about their fathers. Without legal paternity, men might not be able to visit their children. ``Establishing paternity is the key to everything else when there is an out-of-wedlock birth,'' said Frank McLaughlin, director of the Wood County Child Support Enforcement Agency. Finding and naming fathers of children born to unmarried women - 1 in 3 births is out of wedlock locally as well as nationally - has taken on new urgency during the Clinton years as welfare benefits have been reduced and genetic testing has been simplified. It reflects America's evolving attitudes about parental responsibility to children. ``We're making headway,'' said Michael Kharfen, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Identifying the father early in a child's life is important because fathers who acknowledge and spend time with their babies are more likely to support them financially and to maintain a relationship with them, Mr. Kharfen said. In 1997, men acknowledged their fatherhood for 1.3 million children, an all-time high. The number in 1992 was 500,000, and in 1978, just 110,000.
Changes In Ohio and around the country, changes in laws have had encouraging results. Paternity identifications for children born out of wedlock in Ohio leaped 44 per cent in 1998 to 55,253, from 38,325 in 1997. Last year in Lucas County, paternity identifications increased by 60 per cent: 4,270 father-child relationships were legalized in 1998, compared to 2,656 in 1997 and 2,217 in 1996. Wood County had a 22 per cent jump (331 in 1998; 270 in 1997), and Fulton County had a 50 per cent increase (134 in 1998; 89 in 1997). ``This process is happening with younger and younger children,'' said Maricarol Torsok, director of the Lucas County Child Support Enforcement Agency. Why the big increase? The most significant change began in January, 1998, when Ohio hospitals began asking fathers who came to see their newborns to sign an affidavit of paternity. A father's name on a birth certificate is not proof of paternity. In fact, a father's name no longer can appear on a child's birth certificate unless he signs the affidavit in a notary's presence. The form is legal in 60 days. Last year, six Lucas County hospitals got signatures on 2,001 of the simple, brown-bag colored affidavits, for which they are reimbursed $20 each. ``We know most fathers turn up at the birth of their children,'' said Mr. Kharfen. ``It's a welcome, happy time. There's generally a burst of enthusiasm.'' Fathers who do not sign the affidavit in the hospital are ordered to go to the county child support enforcement agency, or CSEA, to sign it or to have a cheek-swab taken. At no charge, a technician will swab his inner cheek, collecting a sample of cells that will be analyzed at a lab and compared with the baby's and mother's. Paternity will be determined or ruled out with 99 per cent certainty. Established in 1988, agency's offices can determine paternity, track down fathers, and set and collect child support. A young man who recently had the swab test advised others to do the same. ``All guys, if you have any doubt, you should have it done. It'll be better in the long run,'' he said, not wanting his name used. He went to the enforcement agency's downtown Toledo office with his friend and her infant daughter. He'll take responsibility for the baby, he said, if he turns out to be the father. He doesn't feel the need to establish paternity for his 5-year-old son, he said, because he is sure he's the father and he sends money to the boy's mother. Of course, some men don't respond to letters. Their names are given to juvenile court and a complaint is filed against them. Court is a tougher arena - proceedings take longer, cost more, and are usually more antagonistic than going through a child support agency office, Judge James Ray of the Lucas County Juvenile Court said. Establishing paternity when a child is older can wreak havoc in the lives of several people. Last year, juvenile court had fewer parentage cases: 1,581 cases were filed in Lucas County compared to 2,060 in 1997.
Factors Other factors have contributed to increased paternity identification, including: Changes in welfare rules that limit support to poor mothers
to two years out of a five-year-period with a lifetime cap of
five years worth of public assistance. Not only is paternity
required, many women have realized that they'll need financial
help from their child's father when their public benefits end.
Education about the responsibilities of fatherhood that has
reached into high schools and community agencies such as the
It Takes Two program for young, unmarried fathers by Lucas County
Family Services. Other efforts have helped: Several states have
asked athletes on National Football League teams, including the
Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals, to speak about fatherhood. Genetic testing that is especially easy for county child support offices to do. Not only are the health regulations simpler because blood is not involved, but clients are not as squeamish as when a needle is used. In addition, the laboratory sends the bills to the state, relieving the county of that chore. As of January, 1998, when fathers don't show up at the hospital, mothers immediately are given a paternity information form asking about the father so the process can get off to a fast start. Sales But there are problems. Perhaps most serious is that any male with the mother can sign a paternity affidavit. ``One of our biggest concerns is that the affidavits could be used as a `convenient adoption' ,'' said Tom Borgia, paternity supervisor at Lucas County Child Support Enforcement Agency. For example, a mother may have a new boyfriend, someone who's not the child's father but who is willing to sign the paternity affidavit. That probably happens rarely, he said, but only time will tell whether it will result in serious problems. Paternity can be challenged and changed later, but after 60 days, it becomes a more complex and costly process. ``We strongly encourage the genetic testing,'' said Mr. Borgia. ``It's no cost to them and we get proof positive.'' The test costs the state about $165 for each trio of dad, mom, and child. Last year, Ohio paid $3.4 million to four laboratories for paternity testing, said Ginny Williams of the Ohio department of human services. Hospital staff need more training. They're supposed to tell a new father that his signature is voluntary and that he can get a free genetic test at the county's child support enforcement agency. That doesn't always happen. Sometimes, the way the hospital staff presents the affidavit can make a difference in whether it gets signed. Ric Turner penned his signature on the brown affidavit after his daughter, Alexis Taylor Turner, was born in January at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center.
Papers He expected to step into the father role, but he can understand why some men might not want to sign the form. It was among a shuffle of papers brought into the room by someone he thought was a nurse. No explanation was given. Mr. Turner, 28, and his girlfriend, Michelle Bohnsack, assumed they were required to sign it. They said they got the feeling the hospital was questioning whether he was the baby's father, he said. ``It almost makes you think it could be someone else's baby,'' said Mr. Turner, an outreach worker at It Takes Two. ``The way it came across was maybe she [Ms. Bohnsack] didn't know who the father was.'' Ohio is playing catch up. In 1997, it ranked 31st, and in 1996 it was 22nd among states for paternity identification, said Mr. Kharfen of the U.S. Health and Human Services. Michigan ranked 15th in 1997; Vermont was tops and Oklahoma and the District of Columbus were last. Child support enforcement, of which paternity identification is a part, long has been a low priority for the Ohio Department of Human Services, said Mark Real, director of the Ohio Children's Defense Fund. By 1995, federal law required states to enlist hospitals in paternity identification. Ohio had started its program in 1992 and spent $250,000 a year paying hospitals to give unwed mothers information packets about paternity. It was a step in the right direction that was pursued aggressively in some counties and very little in others, said Mr. Real, whose agency helped start the program. Ultimately, it became disorganized and didn't succeed. Incentives Last spring it was revamped and reintroduced. The paternity form was rewritten and tied to the birth certificate. Hospitals were offered bigger incentives, receiving almost $600,000 last year to explain the process and collect the signatures. A central office was formed to register all paternities. And reporting procedures and guidelines were standardized. Consequently, Ohio's paternity numbers are likely to stack up more favorably in the future, said Ginny Williams of the state human services department. Mr. Real of the Children's Defense Fund said Ohio needs a report card ranking counties on their paternity and child-support collections. What remains to be seen, he said, is if the vigorous effort to identify fathers will continue. Another unknown, is whether child support agencies will be able to follow through and collect support from the increased volume of newly identified fathers, he said © Copyright 1999 The Blade. All rights reserved. |
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