Oregon Public Broadcasting

Six months ago, the Oregon Department of Justice announced the arrest of dozens of parents with outstanding warrants for unpaid child support.

As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, of the half a million dollars those parents owed, only about $40,000 has been recovered so far.

The sweep focused on parents who hold jobs that don't come with regular monthly paychecks.

It's much harder for the state to garnish wages from, say, a contractor or a freelancer, who gets paid irregularly from several different sources.

Justice Department spokesman, Tony Green, concedes the agency hasn't received a great deal of money so far. But he says, the effort was still worthwhile.

Tony Green: "I hope that we will have sent a message to others who may think that they can avoid meeting their obligations to their children."

Most child support payments are made voluntarily by parents.

Oregon's Child Support Program collected $340 million in payments in 2008. That was handed out to about a quarter of a million children.