N.J. offers one-week amnesty to parents behind on child support

New Jersey is offering parents a weeklong amnesty period beginning Monday to avoid arrest for failing to make child support payments.

About 35 percent of the 400,000 parents in New Jersey required to pay child support are not meeting their obligations.

Amnesty allows those parents to show their kids that they’re responsible, said Alisha Griffin, director of the Office of Child Support Services.

“We’re really trying to get people in to both financially support their children but also to make a commitment to understand that by that financial support, it’s actually an emotional and psychological commitment to those kids as well,” she said.

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Arrests warrants will be dismissed for parents who work out a payment plan. If they stop making payments again, however, a new warrant will be issued.

The last time amnesty was offered was in 2004. It resulted in $1 million in child support payments.

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