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3218

MISSISSIPPI [ NON - FINANCIAL CRITERIA: DEPRIVATION]

Revised 08-01-06 1. The circumstances under which the desertion or absence took place. 2. What steps the parent or other relative has taken to locate the absent parent, and whether or not the absent parent's current address, employer, etc., is known. 3. What other sources of information are available from which to obtain additional facts when the account given by the other parent or relative is inadequate to establish the fact of absence. 4. What contributions the absent parent has sent since the desertion. When additional evidence of absence and lack of support is needed, any or a combination of the following sources of information is acceptable: former employers, parents or other relatives of the absent parent, friends who have knowledge of his whereabouts, business associates, labor unions, lodges, or organizations to which the parent belonged. Never Married (Illegitimacy) Children of unmarried parents will be considered as deprived of a father due to lack of marriage unless paternity has been established for the child. In cases of out-of-wedlock births when paternity has not been established, the mother is the only legal parent of the child. If the mother is still legally married to someone other than the biological father of the child, the mother’s legal husband is the legal father of the child until excluded from paternity, and it is the legal husband who must be referred to the Division of Child Support Enforcement. A child born out of wedlock for whom paternity has not been established is considered deprived of a father, even when the putative (alleged) father lives in the home, when it has not been established that this man is actually the child's father and therefore legally responsible for his care and support. Refer to Chapter 3, Explanation of Terms, for the definition of a legal parent and acceptable methods for establishing paternity in the TANF case. To establish deprivation due to lack of marriage of the child’s parents, the worker will ask the mother or other grantee relative: 1. The name of the putative father, his whereabouts, and what arrangements he has made to support his children. 2. What steps, if any, the applicant has taken to have paternity established for the child. 3. Whether the putative father has signed a voluntary admission of paternity, or would be willing to do so.