36 - Sunday, July 29, 1990 - North Shore News Help’s at hand HELP’S AT Hand, a weekly feature by the North Shore In- formation and Volunteer Cen- tre, answers questions about and discusses such topics as government policies and pro- grams, benefits, consumer and legal rights, taxation and public services. Answers published in this column are intended only as a general guide and should not be applied to specific individual cases without further consulta- tion. ket Question: My husband and I are divorced, and I have our two young daughters living with me. As part of the divorce, my busband agreed to pay child support for the children. He has been paying me this money regularly, but recently we have started argu- ing over some things to do with the children and, the other day, he threatened to stop paying the child support. This really alarmed me, as I cannot possibly afford to support myself and the children on my own. A friend of mine has told me that the government can help me if my husbsnd does stop his payments. Is this true? Answer: The provincial gov- ernment now has a program called the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program. It is this program that would be able to help you if your hus- band did stop making child support payments. If you have a court order for maintenance (another word for support) from any court in Canada, and you are living in B.C., you are cligible to enrol in the program. The maintenance order may be part of a divorce or other Supreme Court order, or it may have been made in Pro- vincial (Family) Court. Agree- ments filed in the Provincial Court are also considered to be orders for the purposes of this program. The maintenance order can be for a child or children, or for a spouse. If you are the one who is owed money you are called the creditor; the per- son who owes money is called the debtor. You can actually enrol in the Patios and. "Pool T Decks program at any time; the deb- tor does not have to have missed any payments for you to enrol. in your case, with your hus- band threatening to stop child support payments, it might be advisable for you to take steps right away. There have been delays associated with the Fam- ily Maintenance Program, and the sooner you apply to enrol in it, the better off you will be. To enrol in the program you must complete a filing kit, which can be sent to you by the program or you can pick it up at any courthouse or gov- ernment agent’s office. Once you enrol in the pro- gram, the debtor will be notified and, in your case, your husband would be advised to make ail further payments to the program. The program then records all the payments it receives on your file, and, if a payment is not received, it will take action on your behalf. There are a range of methods used to collect pay- ments from debtors. Obviously the program tries to get the debtor to pay voluntarily. However, the court system is used when necessary. If you did not know where your husband lived, and he missed a maintenance payment, the program has several op- tions which it would use to locate him. Hf your husband lived outside B.C. (as long as he iived in Canada), or in a foreign jurisdiction which has an agreement with B.C., the court, or another Maintenance Enforcement Program in the other province or country would use its normal methods to enforce the order. There are no fees of any kind for the program’s monitoring and enforcement services. You can contact the program by calling 660-3281. nant The North Shore Informa- tion and Volunteer Centre, a United Way agency, is located at 1060 Roosevelt Cres., North Vancouver, B.C. V7P 1M3, telephone 985-7138. This cal- umn is prepared with financial assistance from the Notary Foundation. “The Installation Specialists” Highland Pavestone Products Ltd. 984-3237 LIFESTYLES Options for volunteers PARTICIPATE IN your com- munity. The following is a sample of the many volunteer oppor- tunities available through the North Shore Information and Volunteer Centre. HEALTH care instructors are wanted to teach a nursing home care course to people who care for the elderly and frail. Specific skills, techniques and attitudes for the caregiver will be taught. A 15-20 hour training course will be given and volunteer will receive a certificate. An instructor is also needed for a healthy aging seniors program. There are eight modules Fraser Trucking and Tractor a division of | EVERALL SERVICES LTD. BIG OR SMALL, WE DO IT ALL! § Excavation, demolition, clearing. Residential and commercial. Excellent rates. 253-0871 576-1299 250-6935 to teach to adults. Hours are flex- ible. This is a great work experi- ence opportunity for anyone in- terested in the health field. North Shore location. ENJOY children? A_ patient, loving child care aide is wanted to read, play, sing, help with housekeeping and have fun with HN tere ALCOHOL « DRUG » CO-DEPENDENCY PROBLEM? INTENSIVE ENSIVE OUTPATIENT PROGE PROGRAM * Professional Substance Abuse Counsellors and Therapists * Strictly confidential Phone N. Shore 980-8499 Vancouver 731-7737 Surrey children aged three to five years, at a North Shore daycare centre. Hours are flexible, a.m. or p.m., weekdays. RECEPTIONIST. Person with a good telephone manner and plenty of initiative is wanted as a More Options Page 37 EXPERIENCE. 589-7080 CALL TICKETMASTER: (604) 280-2200 DONT MIZ OUT! NOW PLAYING! ~ SOME SEATS STILL BUNTLABiE FOR MOST PERFORMANCES Especially Wednesday and Saturday Matinces at 2 pm. CALL TICKETMASTER: (604) 280-2200 Tickets also available at all Ticketmaster locations. Groups of 20 or more call: (604) 734-7687 Limited number of Student Tickets available at $15 with valid ID at any Ticketmaster location.