Family Law

Mississippi offering free paternity testing

By Robert M. Kisselburgh, Esq.

Is free paternity testing the answer to the problem in Mississippi?

Mississippi Department of Human Services is offering free paternity testing in hopes of identifying parents who are not paying child support for their children. Federal funding is paying for the program. According to the article, the director of Child Support Enforcement said, "After paternity is established, the next thing we are going to go after is financial support on a monthly basis and medical support." State officials estimate there is "as much as $25 million in uncollected child support because paternity has not been established."

While it sounds like a great effort, the question must be asked: If officials are hoping for individuals to voluntarily participate, how successful will this program be? If a person really believes they are the parent of a child, why haven't they had paternity testing done to determine whether they are the biological parent. Paternity testing is not that expensive. If they can't afford the testing, then what makes government officials think they will be able to collect child support from them. OR, if they can afford to pay child support, why haven't they had the paternity testing done before now and why would they voluntarily participate in the program?

If the program is being used to pay for paternity testing after a court has ordered it, then this will be a temporary relief to Mississippi taxpayers. But hoping individuals will voluntarily participate is probably wishful thinking. While I strongly support identifying biological parents and ensuring they pay for their children, I question whether this was the best use of federal funds. Remember, state or federal funding is still taxpayers' money.

Reported by Robert Kisselburgh of the Kisselburgh Law Firm

Full post as published by Mississippi Family Law Blog on September 12, 2009 (boomark / email).