A letter to the New York City Office of Child Support Enforcement
Human Resources Administration
Office of Child Support Enforcement
2 Washington Street
New York, NY 10004
Attn.: Frances Pardus-Abbadessa, Deputy Commissioner
Dear Ms. Pardus-Abbadessa:
This is in response to your condescending form letter to me dated December 24, 2007, in which you thank me for supporting my own child.
It never occurred to me, in my daughter's eleven years, not to support my child. In 2002 I was hauled into family court by a vindictive ex-spouse over a single bounced check and subjected to mistreatment and ridicule at the hands of an unscrupulous family court judge. Since then, my paycheck has been garnished every two weeks. There have been numerous errors, no corrections have been made, and no apologies have ever been offered. Last year, my ex wife helped herself to a "cost of living increase" and they are now taking out even more. Multiple attempts to recover the overpayments through administrative audits have been a complete failure and waste of time.
Your administration has come close to bankrupting me. At various periods of time you have forced me to buy groceries with credit cards, eat rice and beans at home while watching my daughter's mother take trips to Paris -- twice -- and even to become homeless for a brief period.
When I think of all the holidays you've ruined and all the things my child and I have gone without so that my daughter's mother can collect $359 every two weeks, tax-free, it makes my blood boil. Still, I had been reconciled with the idea of some third party playing fast and loose with my hard-earned money. I considered it a difficult lesson in good judgment, and have resolved never to have another child in the State of New York.
But that was before you had the chutzpah to write and thank me for all my hard work, commitment, and dedication. So now you're getting a good solid piece of my mind.
Of the real sacrifices I have made for my little girl and her care, you have no idea. They are off your radar screen and, I suspect, your understanding. They have to do with compassion, nurturing, patience, and giving of myself. You cannot put a price tag on these, Ms. Pardus-Abbadessa, and therefore I'm afraid you would consider them worthless. Yes, there is a relationship, and yes, my daughter loves me even though I cannot buy her much with the money I have left over after you people have taken your blood money. But she loves me all the same. Perhaps one day she will grow up to be a lawyer. If she does, I hope she plays a part in dismantling the OCSE and this whole corrupt, inhumane system.
Child support enforcement as it is currently practiced is illegal under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. Continuing to reach into the pockets of hard-working fathers in order to enrich single mothers, and to bankroll the machinery that makes it work, amounts to treason and a violation of international law. You may say you are only implementing a Federal mandate, and you would be technically right. But Nuremberg has taught us that obeying orders is not an excuse for human rights violations and illegal actions. Your actions, and those of your administration, amount to grave crimes against humanity. I pray every day that God will one day call you to task for the suffering you have created.
You ask if there is anything you can do to assist me. Get out of my family life now, and let me raise my child according to my own means and ability.
In case there's any doubt, I would prefer that you not insult me again by thanking me for doing what any responsible parent would do for their child. If you have any other sort of response, please be advised that it will be posted on my public blog, http://breadandwine.org. I have used this outlet to chronicle child support abuses, both in New York and in other states. You can read this entry on the site and post a comment there also, but either way, your response will be posted. Also note: While I won't mind a response in writing, I will consider any subsequent adverse change in my child support arrangement to be retaliatory in nature, and a further violation of my civil rights, and may take legal action as a result. All correspondence from your office, and all actions taken are, and will continue to be, part of a journalistic chronicle aimed at exposing your injustices and abuses to the clear light of day.
I will not call the customer service representatives, as they have never been very much help. They cannot add or subtract, which makes it difficult for them to assist in solving problems. They seem to serve no function other than to waste busy parents' time.
Yours in the hope of a better future for New York's families,
Jeffrey Zeth
Office of Child Support Enforcement
2 Washington Street
New York, NY 10004
Attn.: Frances Pardus-Abbadessa, Deputy Commissioner
Dear Ms. Pardus-Abbadessa:
This is in response to your condescending form letter to me dated December 24, 2007, in which you thank me for supporting my own child.
It never occurred to me, in my daughter's eleven years, not to support my child. In 2002 I was hauled into family court by a vindictive ex-spouse over a single bounced check and subjected to mistreatment and ridicule at the hands of an unscrupulous family court judge. Since then, my paycheck has been garnished every two weeks. There have been numerous errors, no corrections have been made, and no apologies have ever been offered. Last year, my ex wife helped herself to a "cost of living increase" and they are now taking out even more. Multiple attempts to recover the overpayments through administrative audits have been a complete failure and waste of time.
Your administration has come close to bankrupting me. At various periods of time you have forced me to buy groceries with credit cards, eat rice and beans at home while watching my daughter's mother take trips to Paris -- twice -- and even to become homeless for a brief period.
When I think of all the holidays you've ruined and all the things my child and I have gone without so that my daughter's mother can collect $359 every two weeks, tax-free, it makes my blood boil. Still, I had been reconciled with the idea of some third party playing fast and loose with my hard-earned money. I considered it a difficult lesson in good judgment, and have resolved never to have another child in the State of New York.
But that was before you had the chutzpah to write and thank me for all my hard work, commitment, and dedication. So now you're getting a good solid piece of my mind.
Of the real sacrifices I have made for my little girl and her care, you have no idea. They are off your radar screen and, I suspect, your understanding. They have to do with compassion, nurturing, patience, and giving of myself. You cannot put a price tag on these, Ms. Pardus-Abbadessa, and therefore I'm afraid you would consider them worthless. Yes, there is a relationship, and yes, my daughter loves me even though I cannot buy her much with the money I have left over after you people have taken your blood money. But she loves me all the same. Perhaps one day she will grow up to be a lawyer. If she does, I hope she plays a part in dismantling the OCSE and this whole corrupt, inhumane system.
Child support enforcement as it is currently practiced is illegal under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. Continuing to reach into the pockets of hard-working fathers in order to enrich single mothers, and to bankroll the machinery that makes it work, amounts to treason and a violation of international law. You may say you are only implementing a Federal mandate, and you would be technically right. But Nuremberg has taught us that obeying orders is not an excuse for human rights violations and illegal actions. Your actions, and those of your administration, amount to grave crimes against humanity. I pray every day that God will one day call you to task for the suffering you have created.
You ask if there is anything you can do to assist me. Get out of my family life now, and let me raise my child according to my own means and ability.
In case there's any doubt, I would prefer that you not insult me again by thanking me for doing what any responsible parent would do for their child. If you have any other sort of response, please be advised that it will be posted on my public blog, http://breadandwine.org. I have used this outlet to chronicle child support abuses, both in New York and in other states. You can read this entry on the site and post a comment there also, but either way, your response will be posted. Also note: While I won't mind a response in writing, I will consider any subsequent adverse change in my child support arrangement to be retaliatory in nature, and a further violation of my civil rights, and may take legal action as a result. All correspondence from your office, and all actions taken are, and will continue to be, part of a journalistic chronicle aimed at exposing your injustices and abuses to the clear light of day.
I will not call the customer service representatives, as they have never been very much help. They cannot add or subtract, which makes it difficult for them to assist in solving problems. They seem to serve no function other than to waste busy parents' time.
Yours in the hope of a better future for New York's families,
Jeffrey Zeth
Labels: child support
posted by BreadBreaker at 7:02 AM
3 Comments:
Wow that was really deep and on the money! (pardon the pun) but New York state isn't the only state practicing these kind of evil mistreatment of non-custodial (mainly fathers) parents.
I too am suffering the way you did these past 11 yrs. I can't afford to pay my mortgage, I'm defaulting on my bills all so that my babies mother can can manage the money that goes to our son. And in California they not only garnish you regular pay but also, bonuses, overtime, and anything extra that goes into your check is factored into the "formula". If you work overtime to make up for that they already take, you can go back to court to add that extra income and they take more. And they can do it again and take more and the cycle NEVER ends.
I understand the baby needs financial support but at the cost of the father losing their home? Ruining their credit?
Oh and I'm not only paying child support but in addition which is separate, also half of day care, full medical too. And what does she pay? NOTHING. I guess thats her reward for being the custodial parent.
I am never having any more kids or ever getting married. Just the mere fact that the opportunity is there for the "custodial" parent (mainly mothers) to do this to me, doesn't really give me any incentive to ever start a family.
I feel your pain. I want to take my son on trips, I can't. I want to throw my son a bday party in Sept. I may not be able to afford it. What a sad world we live in.
Thanks for your response, Prelude. California, Texas and Massachussetts are some of the worst places in the U.S. for a noncustodial parent to have a child.
If you haven't already, check out the following:
http://glennsacks.com
http://ancpr.org
Take good care of your son, my friend. He is the most important thing.
I have not checked out ancpr.org but I have seen glennsacks.com.
I have been working on a website inspired by whats happened to me and by what is happening to every single dad in this country. Check it out.
and visit my blog @
I hope that one day we can make a difference for the younger generation of boys (like mine) otherwise I WILL advise my son to NEVER get married and to NEVER have children. He WILL know what I had to go through when he gets old enough to know about this.
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