John Washington III Says Families Deserve Clear Answers on Child-Support Enforcement
John Washington III traced child-support enforcement from the federal program's start in 1975 to the state incentive structure of 1999, and argued that collections alone do not prove the system is fair to families.
John Washington III is questioning whether child-support enforcement, as it has been run for five decades, actually serves the families it was created to protect. In a statement on the system's history, the 2028 presidential candidate wrote that Americans have been told for decades that child-support enforcement protects families, but that history shows some policies punished families for having a man in the home.
John Washington III laid out the timeline behind that record: the federal program began in 1975, and part of its design, he wrote, was reimbursing welfare costs; in 1999, a new incentive structure rewarded states for collections. Families receive billions in support, he wrote, but collections alone do not prove fairness or family stability.
"We should ask who benefits, who struggles, and whether the government is held accountable for families' real outcomes, not just totals collected," John Washington III wrote. Fifty-one years into the program, he argued, Americans deserve clear answers.
