child support maintenance payments -- now more than $8 million in arrears -- was presented in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Tabled by Minister of Health and Social Services the Hon. Quinton Edness, the paper outlines a number of areas where the current system tion needs improvement.

"We are all aware of the magnitude of child support delinquencies and the burden that has been created for parents, the courts and social programmes,'' said Mr. Edness.

"Government is determined to do all it can to correct the situation, but it cannot correct all the problems caused by those who are not prepared to acknowledge responsibility for their actions, or are prepared to ignore that responsibility without regard to the hardship this imposes upon others.'' He said that in 1991 Government announced a staggering $8 million in arrears in child maintenance payments. A task force was then established to examine existing collection methods.

"The task force determined that child support arrears are continuing to grow beyond the $8 million level at a rate of $2.7 million a year,'' he said.

"...As of June 30, 1991 a total of 1,843 family and child support cases (court orders) were on the books in Magistrates' Court Collecting Office. In over 80 percent of these cases the orders involved children.'' The proposals are: Creation of a Family and Child Support Office incorporating the court-ordered child maintenance administration office and more staff.

Reduce the number of court hearings by adopting policies and procedures which allow more decisions to be taken administratively.

Government given the power by parents to to act on his or her behalf as soon as a payment is missed. The current system puts the onus on the parent to initiate dealing with payment arrears.

Because no system currently exists to ensure the level of payments can automatically adjust to changes in the cost of living, a formula determining how much maintenance should be paid should be introduced to Parliament for approval and should be reviewed regularly.

A written policy should dictate the progressive application of enforcement measures administratively and ensure that imprisonment is a last resort.

Currently, the system does not use all enforcement measures available in law, sometimes resulting in jail sentences for delinquent fathers, cutting off their ability to earn.

Mr. Edness said that Government intends to link the amount of the parents' net income to the amount of maintenance payable to the complainant. A proposed formula would apply an assessment rate of 18 percent in the case of one child; 24 percent in the case of two; 30 percent with three and 34 percent with four or more.