The Volunteer Group HER Grey Bruce says child support is overdue for 79% of parents receiving payments through the Family Responsibility Office of Ontario.
The local group launched the survey in May to track parent experiences with the agency.
It also found 54% of parents are owed 12 months or more in overdue support, 23% of clients are owed over $20,000.
HER Grey Bruce finds that 371,000 Ontario children are living in poverty, with 38% of them being supported by a single mother.
The total amount of child support owed to Ontario families is estimated at $2.1-billion.
“These statistics are disheartening, although not entirely surprising,” says Ruby Frank, HER Grey Bruce co-founder. “We heard from MPP Bill Walker last autumn that 80% of child support cases in Ontario are delinquent, and our findings certainly confirm that. When families don’t receive the child support to which they are legally entitled, the children involved are the ones who suffer.”
HER Grey Bruce plans to share their survey findings with the Minister and the Family Responsibility Office, as part of that process. The group also offers a 138 page resource book to help parents deal with the Family Responsibility Office.
Ontario recipients of child support registered with the Family Responsibility Office are encouraged to complete the survey at http://hergreybruce.com/fro-survey.
“We had two goals,” says Miranda Miller, FRO project coordinator with HER Grey Bruce. “First, we wanted to help Ontario parents navigate the FRO system and understand their rights, so they can better advocate for their families. Second, we hoped to learn more about the extent to which Ontario families are adversely affected when child support is missing or late, and to identify where improvements could be made in the FRO system.”
