Mark and Trisha Stansbery sat side by side on a wooden bench inside the Frederick County courtroom of Judge John H. Tisdale, waiting for their case to be heard. When their names were called, the couple took their places at separate tables in front of the judge -- Mark Stansbery joining Assistant State's Attorney Kate Marteny on one side of the courtroom, his ex-wife, Trisha, seated alone on the other. Parents of a 14-year-old girl, the Stansberys were in court last month to resolve the outstanding balance Trisha Stansbery owes in child support. In recent years, Stansbery, 39, had become one of a number of parents the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office child support division had come to know well -- noncustodial parents so derelict in making their support payments that prosecutors took action to jail them for criminal contempt.
Trisha Stansbery, who was first brought to court on a contempt charge in September 2008 for failing to pay the ordered $162 a month, was behind in her child support payments to the tune of $5,668.48, according to testimony at that April hearing. Appearing for the first time since a warrant was issued for her arrest after missing a hearing in October 2009, another one in January, and still another one in April, Stansbery told Tisdale she was looking for work. She was joined by her ex-husband that day to ask that she be granted a temporary reprieve from support payments until November, said Marteny.
"The custodial parent, Mr. Stansbery, wants to give her a chance to get on her feet and pay support," the prosecutor said.
The Stansbery case was one of 14 called that April day as part of the child support enforcement docket. That afternoon, the judge dealt with the cases in about 90 minutes. In an unrelated case heard the same day as the Stansberys', Nicka Dawkins also sought relief from her child support obligation. Dawkins, 24, told Tisdale the $510 she is expected to pay each month is too high, considering the money she makes working part time at McDonald's. She said she lost her job at a telemarketing company. She has five children.
"Are you looking for other employment?" Tisdale asked. "Do you think there's a chance you could get more hours?"
Dawkins answered "yes" to both questions. Based on Dawkins' pay of $7.25 an hour, Tisdale pulled out a pencil and a calculator and got to work on some math. He estimated she makes close to $900 a month when working 30 hours a week.
"I'll set it at $365 a month beginning May 1," Tisdale told her. "That's about $73 a child."
Caseload cascade
Support modification requests by noncustodial parents are becoming less and less unusual. From 2008 to 2009, requests for modifications in child support orders have increased 40 percent -- from 534 cases in fiscal 2008 to 750 cases the next year -- as more people fall victim to joblessness and fading employment prospects, according to State's Attorney Charlie Smith.
"We have been flooded with requests for modifications," Smith said. "We are hearing from moms who need more money to make ends meet. At the same time, many fathers are asking to pay less, citing layoffs and the inability to find work. Some tell us, 'My income is zero.' For others, it may not be zero, but because of the economic crisis it is substantially less than it had been."
In fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 30, Frederick County collected nearly $15 million in previously unpaid child support, authorities said. One casualty of the economic downturn has been a list previously published by the prosecutor's office of those parents who had fallen behind in making their support payments. Ten years ago, when the unemployment rate was 4 percent -- a three-decade low -- prosecutors released these parents' names, their ages and the amount they owed, and sometimes obtained warrants for their arrests. One young father, 17, made the list for owing $204. Three other men topped the chart with each owing more than $40,000. Four women were among 74 people accused of being in criminal arrears, meaning they were deliberately not making payments. The women's debts ranged from $405 to almost $6,300. Frederick News
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