Phenix City dad struggled with child support system after leaving NFL — and he’s not alone

When Orwin Smith was released from the Green Bay Packers in 2014, he wasn’t sure how he would continue paying the child support required for his then-3-year-old son.

“I was stuck between still chasing my dream or getting a job,” said the former Phenix City running back who played for Central High School and Georgia Institute of Technology before joining the NFL. “... You have a dream you want to chase that could turn out to be very rewarding, but in the midst of that you have something like the child welfare agency breathing down your back.”

So Smith turned to the Division of Child Support Services Fatherhood Program, which helps dads struggling with their child support payments due to unemployment or under-employment in many cases. His situation was not as dire as others in the program, and he was able to make his payments. Still, he found the support he needed to secure a decent job and navigate the legal system.

Now Smith, the general manager at a finance company in Columbus, is an advocate for the Fatherhood Program, as well as other fathers who want to be good parents, but face challenges paying child support.

“Just from my experience, there are a lot of men who actually want to take care of their children,” he said in a recent interview with the Ledger-Enquirer. “Unfortunately, the laws almost prevent them from being able to make their payments.

“ ... Mom loses a job, life goes on. Father loses a job, first thing comes to his mind is, ‘I’m about to go to jail.’ It shouldn’t be like that.”

Smith is not alone in his experience and observations. On Saturday, the Division of Child Support Services Fatherhood Program, in partnership with the Georgia State Organization of the Omega Psi Phi Inc., will hold a Fatherhood Conversation to help dads caught in the system that he describes.

Topics discussed will include driver’s license reinstatement, child support services, GED enrollment, job training, job search/placement, volunteer opportunities, as well as support order modification where applicable.

The event will be held 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Canaan Baptist Church, 2835 Branton Woods Drive. It is open to the public and refreshments will be served.

In addition to Saturday’s activities, the DHS also is planning an event titled “Fatherhood: A Celebration” in Columbus next month. The event will be held April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Salvation Army Worship and Community Center, 5201 Warm Springs Road. It will include a job fair, free food and live entertainment. Everything is free and open to the public.

Marvin Broadwater Sr., state representative for the Georgia State Organization of the Omega Psi Phi, appeared before Columbus Council earlier this week, promoting the event and educating city officials about the issue. He said the fraternity has entered into a partnership with the Fatherhood Program to conduct conversations around the state, and the Columbus event will be the blueprint used for 40 other communities.

“I have observed a vicious cycle for many of our fathers in this great state as it relates to child support,” Broadwater told councilors. “The cycle starts with a late or non-existent child support payment. Driver’s licenses then are revoked. The father or parent is arrested, loses his job, is arrested again for a crime, and the cycle continues. Meanwhile, no father is in the child’s life. This program gives that father a chance to break the cycle.”

He said fatherhood is related to many of the challenging issues faced by local governments and policymakers, such as crime, homelessness, domestic violence, mass incarceration and poverty.

“If we dim the radiance of one issue, we consequently decrease the radiance of another simultaneously,” he said. “Fathers who find themselves in child support arrears will benefit tremendously from this program. The plan is to blanket the city and inform all citizens of this program, the forum and its benefits, with the ultimate goal of ensuring the child has the father in his or her life.”

Aaron Tarver, 39, knows the cycle all to well. He said he went to federal prison in 2002 for trafficking marijuana, and was unable to support his four children. When he got out of prison in 2006, the state hit him with $17,654 bill for child support payments in arrears.

Tarver said he joined the Fatherhood Program and began making payments, but he lost his job, and ended up in trouble again.

“Child support suspended my license for not being able to pay child support,” he said. “And like I try to tell them, ‘How can I pay child support if I do not have a license to get back and forth?’ So I started to catch the bus, doing what I had to do to get back and forth to work for almost a year, catching rides here and there.

“But with the money that I was making as a convicted felon, I wasn’t able to make the money to survive and pay child support,” he said. “So, of course, I started making payments on my child support, and just started getting behind and behind.”

He said his license was been suspended several times because of his circumstances, and each time the Fatherhood Program helped him get it reinstated. The outreach specialist for the program in Columbus is Ed Harbison Jr., who Tarver says helped him get back on track.

“And, thanks to God this time I’ve been able to work it out,” he said. “I work for my brother’s cleaning service and I have a stable job. So I have been able to keep my payments up now.”

In Georgia, a child support order is established taking into account the income of both parents and the number of children. If a parent does not obey a support order, he or she may be found in contempt of court.

“Non-custodial parents found in contempt of court may be fined, sentenced to jail or both,” according to information on the state DHS website. “The judge may order the non-custodial parent who is unable to pay to enroll in the Fatherhood Program.”

The child support order may also be enforced through:

▪ Withholding child support from paychecks or unemployment insurance payments or weekly worker's compensation benefits.

▪ Intercepting federal and/or state income tax refunds.

▪ Reporting delinquent parents to major credit bureaus.

▪ Suspending or revoking driver's, professional or occupational licenses for failure to pay child support.

▪ Reviewing and modifying child support orders periodically.

▪ Intercepting lottery winnings up to amounts allowed by Georgia Law.

▪ Filing liens to seize matched bank accounts, lump sum worker's compensation settlements and real or personal property.

▪ Denying, suspending or revoking passports issued by the State Department.

▪ Requiring the posting of bond to secure payment of overdue support.

Individuals with child support cases may request a review and modification of their child support order every three years, according to DHS. However, a review may be granted sooner if the requesting party has a substantial change in circumstances, such as unemployment or diagnosis of a serious illness

Ravae Graham, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Human Services, said the Georgia Fatherhood Program was started as an alternative to incarceration.

“Parents need help, and sometimes there are barriers to employment, and that can be under-employment or unemployment,” she said. “This is a mechanism to help them in their role so they will be able to be there, not just financially, but emotionally in the lives of their children.

“Anything that can help them to get a leg up with getting employment — whether it’s GED classes, technical college courses, extra job training — we’re willing to help, so that way they will be in a better position to meet their child support obligations.”

Graham said non-custodial parents whose licenses have been revoked due to non-payment can have their licenses reinstated as long as they remain in the program.

Harbison said there are usually anywhere from 30 to 220 local fathers enrolled in the program, and he just got 38 new participants this month.

“We don’t just want them to find employment, we want to make sure they have self-sustaining careers, instead of just a job,” he said. “ ... So finding careers and providing a pathway for those careers is one of the program’s charges.”

Smith has been a strong advocate for the program, he said. Two years ago, he helped organized a mini-camp for children in the area and invited fathers to participate.

“Orwin, once he was exposed, he said, ‘Hey, look we need to get out in the community and get the fathers to participate in the Fatherhood Program,’” Harbison said, “because it helped him so much.”

Through such efforts, Harbison hopes fathers will stop seeing Child Support as an agency that wants to suspend people’s driver’s licenses and make life hard for them.

“I’ve always believed that the government exists to serve the people and not itself,” he said. “I think we’re reaching the community in a way that they can understand that we’re designed to help you not hurt you.”

This story was originally published March 15, 2018 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Phenix City dad struggled with child support system after leaving NFL — and he’s not alone."