Originally Posted by
Spawn 
How old is this guy?
He will be 49 soon.
Originally Posted by
gowest
Sorry if I've offended you but really that is what he is - a dead beat dad
You didn't offend me. We all realize that that's exactly the way he's behaving, like a deadbeat dad. We hate it. Countless times he's been talked to about it by someone in the family, or by our parents, but nothing ever gets through to him.
Originally Posted by
gerryP "He got behind on his child support and got sent to jail for it THIS TIME."
So this isn't the first time he has not provided for his children.
"I don't know how throwing a guy in jail is supposed to enable him to pay his child support faster."
Was he on the brink of paying his child support the day he was 'caught' for non payment?
Does your brother have a job?
I dunno, maybe it would be more worthwhile to ask your brother 'while in jail' to start making a list of what he needs to do in order to bring about change in his life, so he can begin living as a responsible human being. With that list, examples of what he needs to do to make that happen. If he has trouble executing the exercise, are there not some resources in the jail, ie. a mental health counsellor to help him with that. I say 'more worthwhile' then just getting him out of jail to continue his life as he has always lived it.
Maybe it would be a show of respect to the family member who ultimately makes the decision to leave him there or get him out, to not to question her decision, if she decides to not do anything.
This isn't the first time he's been late, but usually he shows up at court with some money, and they accept it and he skates along. This time the judge saw through him, and wasn't going to put up with it. He sent my brother directly to jail.
Yes, he has a job--but if he spends much time in jail, he might not have it for long.
My brother has a caseworker in jail, so maybe the thing about writing out plans so this doesn't happen again will be brought up.