129.2 Continued Absence

The County Assistance Office ( CAO ) must consider a child deprived if a parent is continually absent from the home and the continued absence interrupts or deprives the child of support, care, or parental guidance.

Continued absence interrupts or deprives the child of support, care, or parental guidance when one of the following circumstances exists:

55 Pa. Code § 153.43(a)

Death

NOTE: A child is considered deprived when an adoptive parent has died, even if both biological parents are living.

55 Pa. Code § 153.43(a)

Divorce, pending divorce, desertion, or marital separation

NOTE: If the separated parents continue living in the same residence, the child is not considered deprived for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ( TANF ) eligibility. Verification of marital separation must prove that the spouses live at different addresses because of marital conflict.

Paternity is not established

Hospitalization (not temporary) in a medical hospital or nursing care facility

Institutionalization

Imprisonment (This includes a convicted offender who lives at home and performs unpaid public or community work during the day. This person is excluded from the budget group and is ineligible for benefits.)

NOTE: A parent is not considered absent if they are incarcerated but live at home on work-release.

55 Pa. Code § 153.44(a)(5)

Single parent adoption or artificial insemination of an unmarried woman

A child whose paternity has not been established is considered deprived even when living with the putative father. The specified relative must take action to establish paternity and support. The putative father of a child born out-of-wedlock is not considered a parent until paternity has been established. See Chapter 131, Support .

55 Pa. Code § 153.43(b)

Paternity is established when one of the following occurs:

55 Pa. Code § 187.22

The biological parents marry after the child is born

A court order legally establishes paternity

23 Pa.C.S.A. § 5102

The putative father and mother sign an Acknowledgement of Paternity Form ( PA/CS 611 ) which is submitted to Bureau of Child Support Enforcement ( BCSE ) See CAH 131.222 Acknowledgement of Paternity.

The father’s name is recorded on the birth certificate of a child born on or after January 1, 1998

23 Pa. C.S. A.§ 5103(c)

23 Pa. C.S. A.§ 5103(i)

NOTE: A birth certificate provided by a state’s vital records department is an official birth certificate.

NOTE: A verbal admission of paternity does not establish paternity.

The CAO must not consider a child deprived if the only reason for the parent's absence is due to:

1. Employment away from home; or

2. Active duty in a uniformed service including:

Army

Air Force

Navy

Marines

Coast Guard

U.S. Public Health Service

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (National Weather Service)

NOTE: There must be evidence that the parent is absent due to desertion, marital separation, divorce, hospitalization, or institutionalization. The absence must be unrelated to employment away from home or active duty in a uniformed service. It must interrupt the parent's ability to provide physical care, maintenance, or guidance.

55 Pa. Code § 153.44(a)(7)