Sedgwick County will hold its annual Child Support Bench Warrant Amnesty Day on Friday, offered by the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
The event is targeted at non-custodial parents who have fallen behind on child support payments and are facing arrest. Parents can pay $500 or two months' worth of child support -- whichever is less -- to have their bench warrants lifted.
Speaking at the Wichita mayor's weekly briefing on Thursday, local organizer Kelly O’Malia said people might be afraid to step forward and start making payments.
“It’s very hard because people think it’s a trap, and it’s not," she said. "We just want to help them get back on track, so the moneys can get into the homes of the people who really need it.”
All funds raised through the event will be donated back to the children to whom it's owed.
DCF offered the amnesty day in Wichita for several years before expanding the offer to the entire state in 2015. The agency reports that more than 200 bench warrants were cleared in Kansas last year.
Sedgwick County’s Child Support Bench Warrant Amnesty Day will be held Friday from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Atwater Neighborhood Resource Center, 2755 E. 19th Street N.
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