Absent child support

Fewer than eight percent of Los Angeles County's child support payments are collected, which has left about 460,000 cases unresolved, unanswered and unpaid.

It is the children that suffer from such a disorganized, decentralized system, which is regulated by the county's district attorneys.

According to the nonprofit agency Children Now, L.A. County ranks last of 58 counties and is routinely blamed for bringing down the state's national ranking.

The district attorneys have plenty of incentive to want to keep their post. According to a study by the National Center for Youth Law, the amount of federal money the district attorney's office in Los Angeles received rose eight times faster than the amount it had collected between 1995 and 1997. Ironically, the office has failed every performance review - until last year - with no penalties or consequences induced.

The fault lies in the state and federal governments for not heeding and overseeing the system.

Responsibility needs to be transferred to an agency that is more capable of handling the main aspect of the child support program - bill collection. California needs a strong, centralized bureaucracy that oversees independent counties and coordinates efforts to bring financial support to the many unsupported children throughout the state.