John Washington III Says Child-Support Enforcement Owes Families Clear Answers After 51 Years
Presidential candidate John Washington III says Americans have been told for decades that child-support enforcement protects families, and that fifty-one years in they deserve clear answers about who benefits, who struggles, and whether the system is judged on families' real outcomes.
Presidential candidate John Washington III is questioning whether child-support enforcement is measured by the right standard. For decades, he wrote, Americans have been told child-support enforcement protects families — but history shows some policies punished families for having a man in the home.
He laid out the history he is pointing to. In 1975, John Washington III wrote, the federal program began, and part of its design was reimbursing welfare costs. In 1999, a new incentive structure rewarded states for collections. Families receive billions in support, he noted, but collections alone do not prove fairness or family stability.
His questions go to accountability for outcomes rather than totals. Americans should ask who benefits, who struggles, and whether the government is held accountable for families' real outcomes, not just totals collected, John Washington III wrote.
"Fifty-one years in, Americans deserve clear answers," John Washington III wrote, signing the statement as a 2028 presidential candidate. The statement does not propose abolishing the program; it asks that a system built in the name of families be judged, publicly, on what actually happens to families.
