Dwynell Golightly faced a $34,000 child support arrearage and a return trip to prison when he walked into the REAL Dads program at Lighthouse Youth Services last fall. With a criminal record and no driver’s license, the prospects of Golightly ever getting back on his feet seemed bleak. 

But REAL (Responsible, Effective, Accountable, Loving) DADS life coach Ronda Bell, Hamilton County Child Support enforcement technician Allen Clay and others helped Golightly, 30, turn things around.  

“I met with him and listened to him to find what out his needs were,” Bell said. “He needed help with his arrears, getting his license reinstated, and finding work.” 

Clay, who coordinates Child Support’s Seek Work program at the Super Jobs Center on Central Parkway, discussed several options, including an arrears forgiveness procedure. Ultimately, the mother of Golightly’s 13-year-old daughter agreed to drop the past-due support.

“If she had not opted to waive the arrearage, Mr. Golighthly would have been incarcerated based on a high arrearage and a prior warrant for failure to appear for child support court,” Clay said. “As a result, the arrears on his child support case have been waived and forgiven. Mr. Golightly has committed to be proactive, find employment, and to remain active in his daughter’s life.” 

Bell described the mother as “a wonderful professional woman with one child that she has the means to support.” 

“She saw this as an opportunity to help the father, who has a great relationship with his only daughter,” Bell said. 

Golightly feels extremely fortunate for REAL Dads and Seek Work.  

REAL Dads is a six-month parenting program that assists non-custodial fathers who have a current case in the Hamilton County Child Support System.  It provides one-on-one services and supports from trained Life Coaches in the areas of parenting, child support, employment and life skills; and offers fatherhood groups and classes to strengthen parenting knowledge and skills, while offering support and strength from fellowship with other fathers.  The program fosters a positive relationship with Hamilton County Child Support.  

In Seek Work, unemployed or “under-employed” people with child support obligations are ordered to participate in job training and placement services. Those who don’t appear and/or participate face administrative actions, such as license suspension and maybe even contempt of court. 

As the agency's Seek Work coordinator, Clay helped Golightly get his license reinstated and sign up for services at the Super Jobs Center, 1916 Central Parkway. The center offers job leads and referrals, access to computers, fax machines and copiers, one-on-one career counseling, workshops and financial assistance for training. 

He also accompanied Golightly to a court hearing where a warrant for failure to appear at prior hearings for non-payment of support was dropped.  

“Basically, it’s a new start for me,” Golightly said. “I’ll do anything so I don’t get back in that situation again – manufacturing, kitchen work, cook. I’m working to get back in school. I’m taking the first steps to make life a lot better for me and my daughter.”