Organizers of a job fair this week in Chattanooga say the event is not just about finding jobs for the unemployed but removing some of the barriers that lead to chronic unemployment.
Chief among those concerns is reinstating driver's licenses for parents with child-support issues. In Tennessee, noncustodial parents may have their license suspended or revoked for failure to pay child support.
Child Support Services in Hamilton and Bradley counties and the Families First workforce are sponsoring the Community Job and Resource Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday in the Kingdom Center at Olivet Baptist Church.
More than 30 employers will be accepting applications and scheduling interviews, parents with a child-support case may find out how to get their driver's license reinstated and attorneys will provide information on getting criminal records expunged.
"It gives people a chance," said Billy Yuriya, whose niece pays $60 a week in child support. "Getting the license back helps pay child support because you can get back and forth to work."
If you go
› What: Community Job and Resource Fair hosted by Child Support Services of Hamilton and Bradley counties and Families First.› When: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday.› Where: Kingdom Center at Olivet Baptist Church, 730 E. M.L. King Blvd.
More than 1,200 outstanding warrants for child support exist in Hamilton County as of November 2016. Some of them are years old, Child Support Magistrate Kathy Clark said earlier this year.
"The courts support efforts to improve and increase the collection of child support," she said.
The agencies also will provide life-skills workshops, co-parenting strategies and financial planning at the job fair.
State Rep. JoAnne Favors, who hosted previous workshops to assist people with child-support concerns, said she supports the event and still gets calls weekly from noncustodial parents seeking help.
"So many noncustodial parents don't know that when they are unemployed they need to go to the court and ask for modification," said Favors. "When they don't do that, the payments continue, and if they are unemployed for any length of time, once you fall behind, you're just not ever able to catch up."
Just eight months ago, the Hamilton County Juvenile Court's Child Support Division hosted an amnesty week to dismiss arrest warrants for parents delinquent in child-support payments when they came to the office and established a payment plan.
"They can't pay child support if they're locked up," said Yuriya.
Contact Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.