TROUTDALE, Ore. - Donald Reed Powers runs the Barbership Barbershop in Troutdale, but he's not supposed to be cutting hair. 

The Oregon Department of Justice revoked Powers' cosmetology license, his facilities license and even his drivers license in an attempt to pressure him to pay the more than $65,000 in child support he owes.

KATU News confronted Powers in his barbershop with a picture of his daughter that he hasn't seen in 17 years.

"We're doing a story on this girl right here, this teenager", we told him.  "We're wondering if you recognize her?"

Powers said he did not, but then we showed him an old family photo of him, his ex-wife and their girl when she was a toddler.

"I haven't seen my daughter since she was a year old," he said, at which point we told him "right, and you owe her $65,000." 

Amanda will turn 18 on Friday, August 31. Since her mom and dad split up, court documents going back to 1990 show Donald Reed Powers has "failed to provide adequate financial support," forcing his ex-wife, Connie Sardelis, and daughter to "solicit public assistance" at times.

"I'm extremely frustrated with the system, " said Sardelis (pictured below), who has a restraining order against Powers in her home state of Massachusetts.  Sardelis has tried to get the courts to force Powers to pay as he has moved around the country.

"Please, enough is enough. I've been waiting long enough," complained Sardelis.  "They would say 'you have to pay,' and he'd say 'OK - sign this agreement stating you'll make a payment every month, then we'll reinstate your license whatever it is, we'll leave you alone'. So he'd sign the agreement, and then he wouldn't make another payment."

"I got nothing to hide, look at my hands, I'm the hardest worker," Powers told us. 

When we confronted Powers, asking him why he paid only two months of child support and then did not pay again, he said it was simple.

"That means, what does it tell you? I don't have the money." he said.

"Do you have five dollars? Do you have 10 dollars? Is it all or nothing?" we then asked.

"Man, I'll get your money. My daughter will get her money," Powers promised.

Powers said he racked up the bulk of the $65,000 bill in a three-year period in the mid-1990s when, according to court documents, he agreed to "expressly relinquish forever all natural and legal rights" over his daughter, to allow her new stepfather to adopt her. 

"This is a contract, I went on with my life," he said. However, that adoption never went through, and authorities in two states said his obligation to his daughter never ended.

Enforcing child support court orders is up to county prosecutors, but when a case involves a child that is on welfare, like Powers' daughter, the Oregon Attorney General's Office takes over the case.  

"When there's someone who is self employed like in this instance, we can't garnish a wage, we can't work with the employer like we can in so many other cases, and take the money out before, if the person is unwilling to pay," said spokesperson Stephanie Soden.

The Attorney General's Office is responsible for taking away Powers' license to cut hair and to drive.  The agency uses that technique to try to force difficult parents to pay, when nothing else is working. 

In Oregon there are 250,000 to 300,000 active child support cases at any given time. Right now $399 million in child support is due and $158 million of that is uncollected.  When past due amounts are included, the number soars to $958 million in Oregon alone.

In Washington state the total is double - nearly $2 billion, at $1,997,298,000 according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"You can see why a lot of these cases take a lot of work, a lot of staff time, and a lot of resources", Soden said. "There are ways around it, and we can only do so much, so we feel frustrated on behalf of the families, and the children especially who the money is to support."

"Donald, I've forgiven him, he is who is, he's in the state he's in, I understand that," said Sardelis.  "The fact that the system has let me down is unforgivable. It was unreasonable and unnecessary for my daughter and I to have to suffer."

Powers' legal troubles are not over. While KATU News was asking him questions, a Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Deputy served him with another court order telling him to go before a judge on September 18 to explain why he has not been paying as the court commanded.

Powers reacted, "What do you guys want? You're all gonna get your money. Daddy gonna keep hustling, you're gonna get your money." 

Powers now faces the possibility of going to jail. He was already held in contempt of court last year, then he made two payments to his daughter, but stopped paying again in December.  After KATU's visit to his shop where he is working illegally, he made a payment of $100. 

"How long are you going to continue to work without a license?" we asked.

"Donations baby. Donation. They ain't gonna stop me. These hands is God's gift. This is God's gift, I cut hair beautifully."

Powers said he will sell a sculpture that he has on consignment at his barbershop. He says it is worth $26,000. Powers also said he will sell his truck so he can pay the daughter he has not seen in 17 years.

"Dude, if i got it, I'll give it. I ain't got it. I'm gonna get it, I'm gonna get it man, " he promised.