SUNBURY– Northumberland County’s recent decision to use both Facebook and billboards to try to catch wanted persons has recived some public pushback. As reported last week by WKOK, the county will use Facebook and, as of June 1st, will two billboards in an effort to identify and locate wanted individuals.
In an open letter entitled “Have you no Shame?”, Dr. Anthony Butto, director of Selingrove’s Courtyard Counseling Center, expressed concern that these practices will lead to shaming of the families of delinquent child-support dads by making their names and photos public. He fears that children will face public humiliation by their peers.
Dr. Butto says that any benefit of catching these individuals is negated by the harmful consequences of public advertisements.
We spoke with Justin Dunkelberger, Northumberland County Prothonotary who was unaware of Butto’s letter. He said 31 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties use Facebook in this capacity and that the collection task force is going after more criminals than just dead-beat parents. (John Brunner)
You can read WKOK’s previous story on this subject here.
Original letter from Anthony Butto:
HAVE YOU NO SHAME?
I am not a resident of Northumberland County so I am often amused and bemused by the antics of the county’s politicians. Until now I have not been moved to comment publically. But the County’s decision to shame delinquent child-support dads by placing their pictures on Facebook and billboards is way over the top. Much to my amazement no one on the so-called shaming “taskforce” has anticipated the unintended consequences.
Whether the delinquent dads will be shamed into paying up is beside the point. The real people who will be shamed are the children and their mothers when their neighbors, friends, and classmates link them to their respective “deadbeat” dads. This is truly an ill-conceived idea by those who appear to be more the Larry, Moe and Curly of politicians than thoughtful community leaders.
While your main goal is to identify the dads, their photos will also identify the children and their mothers. What were you thinking? You should be the ones who are ashamed. Has it not occurred to you that in small communities people know one another on such personal levels that public exposure of this type will be humiliating to the families? This could be especially detrimental to young children who are in the process of formulating their identities in an already a difficult social environment. Imagine the teasing children on the school bus will get passing their dad’s photo everyday on the way to school. Imagine a mother trying to explain all of this to her young children. These are children who are already victims of difficult circumstances; it’s unconscionable that community leaders would burden them further.
It is understandable that you want these dads to pay up to lessen the burden on taxpayers. We get that. But this is not the way to do it. Newsflash: The dads who are working can have their wages garnished in a reasonable way so as not to discourage them from working. The dads who are not working are unable to pay up because they have no money! Yes, they should get jobs. Yes, they should live in their world in a different way and be more responsible. But a public humiliation will not get the results you seek.
I urge you to go back to the drawing board and come up with a more reasonable way to help those families who are struggling.
Your proposed idea is not only misguided and dumb, it’s mean.
Dr. Anthony Butto
Selinsgrove