Child support agency targeted

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

An attorney for a group of people who have had problems with the state Child Support Enforcement Agency said evidence that surfaced during a two-week trial that ended yesterday shows the agency has $9 million it can't account for.

Francis O'Brien, who joined with other lawyers in filing the class-action lawsuit against the agency, asked Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna to order a "full and complete accounting" of the agency that monitors child support payments and to appoint a special master to oversee the accounting.

In addition, O'Brien said as much as $2.7 million that he believes was paid into the agency but never forwarded to the people for whom it was intended should be placed in a "common fund" for the benefit of the thousands of people in the class- action lawsuit.

But Charles Fell, a deputy attorney general who defended the agency during the trial along with Diane Taira, also a deputy attorney general, said the trial proved the agency is reliable and fulfills its mission 95 percent of the time.

Fell said the agency may not be perfect, but problems that led to the lawsuit are a thing of the past. At trial, the plaintiffs only produced two witnesses who claimed they did not receive child support payments within the time frame established by state and federal law.

"There's been no proof, in case-specific situations, where we have not met the requirement in recent times," Fell said.

McKenna said she wants to study the issues further and will issue a ruling later, but did not say how soon.

The Child Support Enforcement Agency was created in 1986 to ensure that parents ordered by the courts to pay child support did so. In most cases until recently, when a parent was ordered to pay child support, a court order was sent to his or her work place and employers were required to withhold the child support payment from the employee's paycheck and to forward the amount to the state agency.

Under state and federal law, the agency has two working days to log the incoming check and to mail a check to the intended recipient.

O'Brien and other lawyers for plaintiffs in the case said the agency was so awash in bad bookkeeping it could no longer say where at least $7.2 million in agency bank accounts had come from or to whom the money was owed.

During his closing argument yesterday, O'Brien said Steven Sakamaki, an accountant hired by the plaintiffs, believes that based on evidence that surfaced during the trial, the true total the agency can't account for is about $9 million.

But Fell said that Sakamaki consistently failed to understand information provided to him by the agency. "Every time (Sakamaki) makes a judgment call, it's at the Child Support Enforcement Agency's expense," Fell said.

The state's system has built-in checks and balances and its accuracy has been attested to by the federal government, Fell said.

If the problems were as bad as O'Brien alleged, thousands of people would be claiming they paid money into the state system that was never paid out, Fell said. "Month after month, the cries would get louder," Fell said, but they are not, because the agency is doing its job.

But in his rebuttal argument, O'Brien said 12,000 to 18,000 people call the agency every month to register a complaint. He said that because there is no quality control, there is no way to tell how many of the complaints are resolved.

Because the agency has "parceled out information" about complaints and other matters, it is hard to develop a complete picture about its financial management practices, O'Brien said.

The agency's chief financial officer, Sheri Wang, testified during the trial that there have been times when the accounting information has been so inaccurate she would not sign off on financial statements submitted to the federal government, O'Brien said.

"If Mr. Fell doesn't believe us, OK, fine, let the court appoint someone and get them in there. They (Child Support Enforcement Agency) have all the information in their possession, but getting it has been like pulling teeth,' O'Brien said.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.