Is sending a deadbeat dad or mom to jail for not paying their child support the best solution? Most states take drastic measures to collect child support from parents who are avoiding paying their child support by suspending their driver's license, garnishing their wages, or even putting them in jail. Putting someone in jail never made sense to me, because how can someone make money to pay their child support from jail?

A program has been started in Iowa that offers help to parents who are not paying their child support by job training or substance abuse rehabilitation. Parents who are delinquent on their child support can avoid jail time by participating in this program.

A program coordinator helps identify the reasons why the parents are unable to pay their child support and attempts to find community resources to help them, such as transportation, employment or substance abuse. They will also be required to attend a parenting class.

Barbara Lacina, a regional director for the state's Child Support Recovery Unit, says that Polk County has already been able to collect over $316,000 in past-due child support from parents involved in this program. The program has also helped these parents avoid over 8,000 days of potential jail time.

Lacina stated that she has also seen an improvement in parental relationships in some of these cases, including one father who was able to regain custody of his children from foster care after completing a substance abuse program.

A lot of parents might not be the stereotypical "deadbeat parent," where they just choose not to pay their child support. Do you think this program would be helpful in other states? Isn't rehabilitation and assistance a much better solution than putting the parents in jail?

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