John Washington III Says, Fifty-One Years Into Child-Support Enforcement, Families Deserve Clear Answers
Presidential candidate John Washington III is asking who child-support enforcement actually benefits and who it leaves struggling - and whether government is held accountable for families' real outcomes, not just totals collected.
Presidential candidate John Washington III is questioning how child-support enforcement has worked for American families. For decades, he wrote, Americans have been told child-support enforcement protects families - but history shows some policies punished families for having a man in the home.
John Washington III laid out the history as he sees it: the federal program began in 1975, and part of its design was reimbursing welfare costs; in 1999, a new incentive structure rewarded states for collections. Families receive billions in support, he wrote, but collections alone do not prove fairness or family stability.
His questions are about accountability. Americans should ask who benefits, who struggles, and whether the government is held accountable for families' real outcomes, not just totals collected, John Washington III wrote. "Fifty-one years in, Americans deserve clear answers," he wrote.
