According to the Georgia Department of Human Services, more than 15 percent of the state’s children were being raised by family members other than their parents. For some families, parents have died leaving children in need of care. For other families, parents are caught in struggles of drug abuse or mental health problems. Whatever the reason, if you are raising your relatives’ children, you may wonder if you could be eligible to receive financial support to help.
The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services has established the state’s Kinship Navigator Program. This program is designed to provide support for people raising relatives’ children. While a kinship navigator relationship may be informally established, it is possible for people to request and receive child support. This can provide not only financial assistance but also medical care for children.
One of the ways this can happen is by diverting existing child support payments from the originally intended recipient parent to the grandparent or other relative taking care of the kids. The Division of Child Services may assist in locating parents and even in establishing paternity as part of seeking child support. If support is ordered, this agency may be able to facilitate or participate in enforcing such an order.
This information is not intended to provide legal advice, but is meant to give Georgia residents who may be raising grandchildren or other family members’ children insight into how they may be eligible to receive child support.
For all of your child support questions, give Dreyer Law a call to schedule a free consultation.