My DCSE Case in Chesapeake

Ever since the state lost their child-support payments, how well Jeffrey, David and Bobby eat depends on how well they pull crabs and croaker from the Chesapeake Bay.

For a decade, their mother, Kimberly O. Tompulis, figured the father of her two oldest boys was ignoring them. She hardly heard from him and received little or no financial support.

But in late May, Jeffrey and David's grandmother sent a letter. Things must be easier with those support checks coming in from her son, she wrote.

Tompulis started: What support checks?

Eventually she found out that the father has been sending child-support payments for a year. His paychecks were being garnisheed in Illinois, and the money sent to Virginia's Division of Child Support Enforcement. Virginia officials never told Tompulis about the payments - and then sent them back to the father after she didn't claim them.

It wasn't the first time that a state computer or bookkeeping snafu - one of many problems in the overburdened, largely ineffective system - has kept Virginia children from receiving money paid on their behalf. Across the state, only half the estimated 350,000 child-support cases have obtained legal orders for payments by absent parents. Only a fourth receive any payments at all.

Tompulis lived with Jeffrey and David's father for eight years but never married him. She has received little support in the decade since she left him, but she has kept in touch with his parents. She later married and separated from the father of her third son, Bobby.

Tompulis, 37, sometimes worked multiple jobs - waitress, nursing assistant - to help support her family. The last time was in the spring, but she had to quit as a waitress and short-order cook because she couldn't find a suitable sitter for her boys. David, 11, was hospitalized for two years with emotional disorders and still requires special care; Bobby, 8, was born with one arm. They and Jeffrey, 12, are in therapy.

The family made do with Navy support

checks from her estranged husband, disability payments for David's care and food stamps. They've lived since last year in a weatherbeaten house yards from the Bay.

Masking tape covers two long cracks in the front door, and photos of the boys cover the walls.

Their mother sleeps on a living-room couch that has a spring sticking out the bottom. They were getting by.

But things got worse when another bureaucratic foul-up temporarily stopped the Navy checks. The family ran out of money.

While Tompulis fruitlessly sought answers, her boys were waking to breakfasts of one scrambled egg apiece washed down with tap water.

And in the evenings they often fished for their supper. Their landlord's patience was waning; he already had given them a five-day notice, although he held off evicting them.

``It's the 8-year-old's birthday today,'' Tompulis said last month. ``Who's going to tell him there's no birthday cake?

``All I know is, it's desperate now. I'm desperate.''

She called Virginia child-support officials four and five times a day from a neighbor's phone. Usually she couldn't reach anyone, and few of her calls were returned, she said. But slowly she found out things.

Her case had been declared inactive years earlier. The payments from Illinois couldn't be found.

Viola D. Prince, a case manager for the Norfolk Community Services Board's Mental Health Unit who worked with the family, tried to help, but also grew frustrated.

``I have never had a situation so complicated where the money was there and she can't get it,'' Prince said. ``I got information from the state of Illinois in two or three hours, and Virginia said it couldn't get it.''

An Illinois Division of Child Support Enforcement spokesman said Jeffrey and David's father has been sending $130 to Virginia authorities every two weeks since July 1993 - a total of more than $3,000.

By early July, a Virginia DCSE caseworker said they had located some of the money in a holding account in Richmond. ``All I have to do is push a button, and within 48 hours you'll be issued a check,'' Tompulis said the caseworker told her.

The family celebrated. They enjoyed a rare dinner out. They raced through Roses, splurging on long-postponed new clothes, shoes, even Mighty Morphin Power Rangers toys. ``We blew a lot of money,'' Tompulis said.

But no check came. The caseworker was on vacation. When he returned, he said the money wasn't there anymore. Illinois didn't have it, either.

The family missed its July rent payment. The Community Services Board helped them find some money for groceries, but crabbing and fishing took on added urgency.

``We eat a lot of crabs,'' Tompulis said, smiling wanly.

A DCSE official called Tompulis in mid-July, the same day a newspaper reporter called the agency inquiring about Tompulis' case. The official criticized her for taking her case to the news media, Tompulis said, but also sent her a check for $130. The money went for groceries and a few birthday hats for Bobby's postponed party.

Officials promised more, but nothing came for days, until last week. To tide the family over, the state sent a check for $520 via Federal Express from a state emergency fund.

The money will be deducted from the money Tompulis' children are owed.

Elizabeth T. Ray, district manager for the Norfolk DCSE office, said Tompulis apparently didn't return a postcard sent to her when her file was purged in December 1992 for being inactive.

Under the old computer system used before this year, there was no cross-index to let workers know she was also getting support payments from a different father at her current address.

The money from Illinois went into an unclaimed account for almost a year, and in mid-May was returned to the father. Tompulis learned about the payments and began asking for them 11 days later.

``I can't say definitely what happened,'' the DCSE's Ray said last week.

``I guess I would have to say she did not always let us know when she had a new address. Yes, we had pieces of mail come back . . . but it didn't mean all cases were updated.''

Tompulis is still waiting for more checks. Ray promised that the DCSE will go after the money it returned to the father in Illinois, and will seek his bank accounts if he has any.

``I have no doubt she's in desperate need,'' Ray said.

Tompulis said she'll believe everyone when she sees the checks

Warning!! DCSE in Virginia will ruin you through your credit report by falisification. It doesn't matter if you have paid everytime and on time since court ordered to do so. They send it to the credit bureau as an 'arrearage' which is a false statement of fact.

I am the new wife. We've been married only a year. I have been medically retired and am on disability. Our first tax year together and we filed jointly. Virginia DCSE is taking the complete State Tax return. (Federal law allows for 'injured spouse')

They even denied us the right to an appeal hearing, using antiquated codes spouting 'Not a mistake of fact'-'appeal denied as your basis for contesting the state tax intercept does not relate to an error in the amount of delinquent support owed'. Can you Believe! Of course it doesn't you blooming idiots it relates to the fact that you are stealing from me. I'm in the process of finding out if I can file a civil case against them.

What hog wash is this? I've been on the other side of the fence and obviously my ex got it oh soooo easy. They are sticking it to my new husband who is NOT a dead-beat dad. He has paid regularly and on-time every time since the court order came through. The children are 24 and 29.

When I contacted DCSE they told me that basically things had to be this way because of Dead-beat dads, then why is it I'm reading here about all the dad's that are getting away with it and one of the good guys is getting skunked at every turn?

This is pure crap and I'm not going to take it lightly. I've already initiated a few inquiries and when I receive the information about the codes/regulation/rules governing their procedures I will be hounding the Virginia Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General and any and all others concerned, not to mention the civil case.

My husband's ex moved to CA with thier children when the youngest was one and my husband was only just reunited with the youngest a year ago. The courts refused to tell him where his children were or how he could contact them, or even to send his information to the children.

So how is it right that he should get skunked like this? I am not saying it's the ex-wife's fault, she had been told they would give the father information to contact the children and when she didn't get the father's information she assumed he didn't want contact. The court system shouldn't be allowed to do the things they do either.

On top of all of this, I requested a full summary of payments (the report) and they have 'misplaced' some of his payments. At this point it looks as if they have cheated him by nearly $2000.00.

This of course has not effected the interest so they not only have cheated him by $2000 on payments but they didn't miss a chance to add more interest. Once he pays the bulk of his child support it will take nearly 10 more years to pay off the interest. Oh and did I tell you...when the divorce was done the court didn't address child support, so when the children needed services from CA it was then that child support was addressed...hence their terms of 'arrearage'.

I asked where the interest they are charging will go. They said to the custodial parent. I'd like to think they were telling the truth, but I don't.

Diane
Virginia Beach, Virginia
U.S.A.

Gretchen Irene Scalf (nee Rust) is the ex-wife of Daniel Bruce Scalf. In front of witnesses she vowed to destroy him, detailing how she would accomplish this. She would destroy him financially, his career, his relationship with his children and his reputation. She committed perjury when she denied she ever declared this. There were plenty of witnesses to the contrary.

She was caught lying several times and the Commonwealth Attorney (of Virginia) will not prosecute her. She was caught lying about having a venereal disease. She denied it although she had been hospitalized with systemic gonorrhea. She also found out as part of her post-menapausal check-up that she has pre-cancerous squamous cell development. This necessarily means that she has been promiscuous since this syndrome is derived from multiple infestations of different varieties of the human papaloma virus.

She also lied about her relationship with Floyd White, her paramour. There is plenty of documentation of him staying overnight for over 18 months. Mr. Scalf lost his job in February 2000 and filed an abatement of spousal support. Gretchen filed a false affidavit with the Virginia Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE), which was pointed out to them. After it was proven to DCSE that she had lied, they did nothing to her and pursued alimony collection, garnishing half Mr. Scalf's wages starting December 2000. Now they have confiscated his bank account. This has been done despite the fact that he has been waiting and has been stalled for 18 months. He filed an appeal through an attorney, which DCSE has yet to recognize so they can continue their gestapo tactics, headed by caseworker Kimberly L. Siock-Cubbage, (800) 462-0983. This is not about fairness, but about torture and retribution. Why was there no punishment of the plaintiff for lying? It took Mr. Scalf several hours (at least 34 hrs.) on the phone and writing letters and faxes to straighten out her lies.

Additionally, the plaintiff has effectively destroyed Mr. Scalf's relationship with his children. There is no price that one can put on this. Gretchen was found in contempt of court on three specific occasions for interfering with Mr. Scalf's visitation with his children. Furthermore, she was warned several other times. The last time she was fined $500, which she has not yet paid.

To top it off, she has not turned over items from the divorce, not paid for half of the Survivor's Benefit Program, as per the court order (Mr. Scalf is a retired Army officer), and has not returned the overpayment of his pension pursuant to a disability payment. She also stuck Mr. Scalf with her Home Owner's Association payment, for which she was to be liable, according to court documents. This happened because the court had pity on her, gave her the house and made Mr. Scalf keep his name on the mortgage. So, the HOA came after Mr. Scalf. The total owed, plus amortized interest at the judgement rate is $11,759. Her comment to Mr. Scalf was that he will have to take her to court to get it (the money) which means more money for an attorney she knows Mr. Scalf doesn't have.

More to come: Gretchen's Psychological Profile and her conspiracy with John Thornock, General Counsel, DIA to take Mr. Scalf's property and to accuse him of espionage.

Please help him get his money back.

My husband's ex-girlfriend left and moved to Virginia Beach with their daughter. In April '06, shortly after my husband and I started dating, she filed for and recieved TANF payments for 2 kids by DCSE. She recieved those payments for almost a year before filing for current child support, which was also done for 2 kids.

When we recieved this order and saw it had been done for 2 children, we wrote an appeal and hired a lawyer in VA Beach. Because we live in Charleston, SC we had our hearing by phone. Our lawyer was present at the hearing and still failed to mention that the case was filed for 2 children. We didn't relize that untill the Hearing Officer asked for any final questions!

When my husband brought this to her attention, I noticed the ex's case worker seemed rather startled. When the Hearing Officer asked her about it she said she had made a mistake. The Hearing Officer then corrected both the current and past due amounts. Then we were told we had 10 days from reciept of the final judgement to appeal it to the Juvenile Court. When we didn't get anything in the mail, my husband called DCSE and was told that we actually had 10 days from the DATE of the hearing to appeal to Juvenile Court and that we had to request a copy of the final judgement to be mailed to us.

I do not remember exactly what the hearing officer said but I thought theyd send all the corrected documents for us to see and then we'd have 10 days to appeal to Juvenile Court. We requested the documents be sent to us and I wrote the appeal even though we had exceded our 10 day period. I explained that we may have been given false or incomplete information at the appeal and still, 3 months later, have had no reply from the Juvenile Court.

When we got the final decision the amounts were scratched out, re-written, and initialed by the Hearing Officer and the only corrected document we got was the worksheet for the current child support and on that document they simply wrote the corrected past-due amount and the dates. Since 7/07 my husband has had the current support and a portion of the past-due TANF garnished from each pay-check but we recently recieved a statement saying we owe almost $1000 more than the amount that was decided at the appeal, close to the amount of the original TANF that was done for 2 kids. His wages are being garnished for a portion of that TANF AND his current support. Even with interest his TANF would be LESS in his statement of TANF account.

When my husband called DCSE about this recent statement they told him a totally different amount. It was less than the statement but more than the final judgement. The point is that a portion of each payment is supposed to go to the PAST-DUE amount but it just keeps getting higher and soon they will probably intercept it from our taxes this year. We still have not gotten to the bottom of this TANF but the fact still remains that this government agency was able to file past-due and current child support for 2 children when they only had birth certificate and ss card for one child, and that alone is a serious mistake.

Sara
Charleston, South Carolina
U.S.A.

I separated from my husband and subsequently received assistance for 30 days from my local social service department. With that assistance I was required to file a petition for child support through the DCSE. I have had an awful experience with them in the past, but did what was required in order to receive assistance. Four months into my dealings with DCSE, payments that were withheld from my spouses check were either never distributed or they were applied to his other existing child support case. Leading to the frustration I had with this agency to resurface. On many occasions I would call their 1-800# to inquire of my payments, and be told that nothing was received. Even though I had my spouses paycheck stubs in my hand, and could see that money was withheld for both cases and forwarded to the agency.

Finally, I had had enough and worked out an agreement that my spouse would pay me directly. I personally went down to the local office and gave them a letter requesting closure of my case. I was informed at that time that a balance (less than $1000) was still owed to the state. Once that was paid the case would be closed. They would send another change in payee notice to the employer lowering the payments from the regular withholding, but just enough to pay off the balance. I was advised it would take 30-45 days for this transaction to take place. I asked for a copy of my request to close the case, and a print out of what was owed to the state.

I then informed my spouse of what would take place. At that time I told him not to trust the agency to apply the payments correctly, and to just pay it off in one lump sum! Two months later my suspicions came true. My spouse received a letter from DCSE demanding he pay off the balance, now with interest. If he could not then they would withhold support from his wages, issue liens...etc. etc.

Now let's not forget that a support order is already in place! Just as I had predicted all money received to pay off this minimal sum was forwarded to his other case.

Okay, this is where it gets crazy....we both went down to the office with a folder filled with documents. The demand for child support paper sent, the request to close the case, the adjusted wage withholding sent to his employer, his paycheck stubs, copies of the checks from his employer showing payments were sent. We both thought that this would help them see the error they made....we were wrong!

He was informed that the money received for my case would go to the current case that is open, and be applied to any arrears until it is paid off. In the meantime my case (which I requested be closed) would remain as is collecting interest. Then when I questioned the representative about paying it in one lump sum, she informed me that they would still apply the lump sum to the open case! You mean to tell me if I say I want to use MY money to pay off said case you won't do it....you will take MY FUNDS and apply them the way you want to?!

Something is not right, and when I verbally reiterated as such, the representative said it is the new law. Okay, that is when I asked for a copy of that new law/procedure DCSE is following. I was DENIED! She informed me quite matter of fact...'I can't give you that, you have to FIND it on your own or hire an attorney.' At this point there was no other reason for us to remain in the office talking to a brick wall and we left numb, confused and dazed.

Although, I did call back once on the road. You know your brain does not work quickly when it is clogged with frustration. I informed them that if they will not accept a lump sum payment to pay off the debt owed, then why send out a notice stating (this below is word for word):


According to our records, as of the above date, your support is past due (amount). We have not received a payment for child support in more than (days). If you cannot pay the entire past due balance or have information that this balance is not correct, contact the district office listed on this letter immediately.....etc etc

Okay, so we both contacted the office immediately and we tried to explain that they distributed funds incorrectly...we also offered to pay the lump sum in full. Answers to both of those ended up being the money would be put on the other case.

You tell me people...is something not right here?!?! Why are they continuing to try and collect on something that is being paid weekly by their standards? Both support orders are paid every week to the amount specified by them. At this point we are both at a loss as to what to do, besides hire an attorney.

Nojustice
Bealeton, Virginia
U.S.A.