Is the court system in the US sensitive to people's financial problems?

If a non-custodian father, who has been religiously paying his child support all these years, suddenly has found himself in a HUGE financial problem due to the bad economy and CANNOT AFFORD the college tuition expenses for his child from the previous marriage, what kind of CONSEQUENCES can he potentially have if he does not pay the amount predetermined in the divorce decree??? He plainly does not have the money!!! The court system is booked up, is ss-ll-oo-ww as a snail.... has not been helpful at all so far. Any ideas what to do? Thanks!