Community Service as an Employment Activity Option for Low-income Non-custodial Fathers

Currently in Alabama, thousands of low income non-custodial fathers are unable to pay child support. The 1999 Amendment to the Welfare to Work Act (Department of Labor Policy, 2001, p. 16) stipulates that community service is a valid and viable employment activity. In Ala-bama, however, fathers who are delinquent in their child support payments have not been given the opportunity to engage in community service as a means of fulfilling their obligations. This study focuses on community service as an often-overlooked but practical way to assist non-cus-todial fathers in fulfilling their child support obligation and acquiring skills necessary to obtain and maintain em-ployment. A survey conducted for this study indicates that non-profit organizations in Alabama have need for adult male volunteers. Based on these findings, community ser-vice should be an option in assisting low income, unem-ployed, or underemployed fathers to become employable. Nationally, almost one third of fathers who do not meet their child support obligations are poor themselves, with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty threshold. Many of these fathers do not have a high school diploma, and almost one half have not worked in the past year (Sorenson &amp