NC Child Support Enforcement Committee Announces Findings Regarding Use of Electronic House Arrest

A key committee of child support enforcement officials in North Carolina recently studied the efficacy and effectiveness of using Electronic House Arrest (EHA) in support of child support collections. As you can see from their advisory below, they concluded it can be a very effective tool if used with the correct population within the child support enforcement (CSE) caseload. This research was intensive and involved the reviewing of programs in the field, as well as, meetings with those using the technology in this regard. This advisory represents the first formal recommendation made to CSE agencies that they seriously consider pursuing implementation of an EHA program for the purpose of improving payment behavior among non-payors of child support.

Here is the referenced content below (note: I may have not properly cited this work but am assuming its in the public domain anyway) :

Todd
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NORTH CAROLINA (Electronic) HOUSE ARREST PROGRAM
July 30, 2008

The Collections Committee is recommending (Electronic) House Arrest Programs. The committee has reviewed a number of programs that are operating in North Carolina. The following counties are currently operating House Arrest programs: Wake, New Hanover, Brunswick, Pitt, Lenoir, and Catawba. Each of these programs is administered differently with the use of personnel and how they operate within the county. It is recommended that if you think your county would like to start a House Arrest program that you confer with several of the above counties to explore which would be the best suited for your county.

The House Arrest Program is an alternative option for incarceration. The following is a list of some of the issues that should be considered before establishing a house arrest program in your county:

Reduction of the jail population due to lack of space. Lenoir County’s cost for housing an inmate is approximate $46.00 per day versus house arrest cost of $5.00 per day. (The $5.00 is usually waived so that the money can be applied toward the purge amounts.) Of course the cost is not the most important issue for child support staff, but is a consideration for the sheriff and his increased budget. These costs may vary from county to county.

The use of house arrest allows flexibility for NCPs to work and maintain a curfew at nights and weekends to limit their activity.

Some judges are requiring community service, job searches, registering with Job Link etc. as a part of their house arrest commitment. When on house arrest the individual must have access to a telephone at a designated location.

There are some real advantages to having the Sheriff’s office administer the program. When NCPs do not comply with the rules of house arrest or the court order, the order is generated by the sheriff’s office to bring in the NCP for incarceration. The paperwork and the monitoring are all handled by the sheriff’s department and the child support agent is informed of the revocation of his house arrest privilege.

The individual (NCP) should be a low flight risk.

An NCP should not be mentally or physically impaired to the point that he/she is unable to work.

An individual can be on house arrest from a few days to several months. It just depends on the purge requirements.

At this time there are no matching Federal funds available so the county is totally responsible unless the money is donated by some outside source.

It is noted that the House Arrest program can be very flexible in its use, but often it is not very successful with the more difficult noncustodial parents.