(this is gonna be a bit off-topic)
I'm a non-custodial parent of a 13 year old girl. I'm not a deadbeat or a bum. I pay child support monthly, without complaining. I also buy clothes, gifts, cover the medical/dental & vision, help with money for school trips and more. I see her every chance I get and I call & email her regularly.
In return, I am treated like shit by Family & Children Services. Why? Because I am a man. Never mind the fact that my ex-wife (her mother) had an affair for over 3 years and conceived a second child by this affair (who she later married and then divorced.) Every time my ex-wife gets low on funds, she comes after me. I didn't abandon her, she destroyed our marriage and his marriage and then left with him. (Naturally, he did the same thing to her 10 years later.)
I'm in their system, therefore I must be a bad person, right? If I am guilty of anything, it's choosing poorly 15 years ago.
I called them (Family & Children Services) today because I sincerely feel that the money I send is not being used appropriately. She does not buy my daughter new clothes (I do), she barely keeps food in the house (my daughter is always starving when she visits), she does not buy my daughter new shoes (I do) and her number one excuse for all of this is that she doesn't have the money for it. However, she does have the money for a brand new car. Brand new clothes for herself (a new outfit every time I see her.) Brand new shoes for herself (4 pair in the last month, according to my daughter.) Road trips across state to see her internet boyfriend every couple weeks. She's not even spending the money on the house note. Her ex-husband pays that.
Also, my daughter's grades are horrible. Really really bad. My ex-wife refuses to help her with her homework or even make sure it gets done and turned in. My daughter says it's because she is too busy sitting at the computer playing video games and talking to her internet boyfriend for 5 hours every night. (This is also why I can never get through lately, since they're on dialup. So now I'm buying my daughter a limited use cellphone.)
Their response? Sorry... not our problem. You can't do anything about it. They told me I'm not allowed to file a complaint. I'm not allowed to even talk to a case worker about it. My only course of action is to get a lawyer and try to get custody. They don't care. If I don't pay... I'm a deadbeat bastard, but if she blows it all on herself... it's tough shit for me (and my daughter.)
This is what's wrong with their system. Indifferent government workers coupled with a bias against fathers. This sucks.