By KIMBERLY ACEVEDO
The 14 men and one woman arrested on Wednesday, Feb. 5 owe nearly $150,000 combined in unpaid, court-ordered support. One Merrick man, Steven Schechtman, was arrested in the deadbeat sweep. Schechtman allegedly owes just over $17,000 in child-support payments.
Executed by the County Sheriff's Department, "Operation Deadbeat Parents" resulted in the arrest of parents from Manhattan to Suffolk County. With the last such sweep conducted in 1998, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) said it needs to happen regularly.
"We are sending a very clear message -- either pay up or pay the consequences," Suozzi said. "People are not following their obligations, not only morally, but legally. In the future, if they don't follow the law, we are going to go after them."
There are nearly 7,000 warrants for deadbeat parents in Nassau County, Suozzi said. Last year, the county recovered $5 million in back support, he added. Hoping to bring economic benefit to the county, Nassau officials believe families who rely on public assistance will regain their independence after they receive child support payments that are owed to them.
"There are families that go by every day that can't eat," Suozzi said. "Parents have a responsibility to their children."
After spending a night in jail, parents were arraigned in Nassau Family Court, where they either made a partial payment or a schedule for payments, Commissioner of Social Services Robert Sherman said.
A videotape of the sweep was aired during the Wednesday news conference. Suozzi said it was the first of four sweeps expected this year.
While the effort included paying the sheriff's deputies overtime, 83 percent of that cost will be offset by federal and state funds designated for child-support collections, Suozzi said.
It was a "great start," said Mary Ellen Tripp, the New York State project developer of the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support.
For Tripp, the hardships following the lack of child support hit close to home. Following her divorce, Tripp said her husband failed to pay child support. She said her husband believed the court order was "way too much."
Nassau County Legis. Joseph Scannell (D-Baldwin), chairman of the Legislature's Public Safety Committee, supported the sweep, calling it effective.
"I'm excited that we are going to help families and kids, as well as help the county at a time when we need it the most," he said. "It's an effective tool, and people need to know if you break the law there are consequences. These people owe thousands and thousands of dollars, and they flout the law."
In 1999, Scannell headed an unsuccessful attempt to boot the cars of deadbeat parents. Because of the lack of resources then to implement the program, Scannell said, the program never took off.
Last week's sweep was a collaborative effort among the County Executive's Office, Nassau County Sheriff's Department and the Department of Social Services.
