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24 Section 5 - PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
The state strongly believes that both parents have a responsibility to support their children. All parents who are included in the FEP assistance filing family unit must participate in agreed-upon activities leading to increasing their family's income through employment, child support, and in some situations, pursuit of disability payments. The age of a parent does not affect the requirement to participate. The state also offers employment related services to unemployed parents not residing in the home so they can meet their ongoing child support obligations.
Except where good cause exists, all parents are required to provide the most complete and accurate information on every absent parent, and to fully cooperate with the Office of Recovery Services (Utah's IV-D agency) so that the family can obtain child support.
Parents have the responsibility to support their minor teen children who are parents as well. Teen parents who have a dependent child in their care must reside with their parent(s), stepparent(s), or legal guardian(s) to be eligible for FEP assistance, and the parent's income counted in the eligibility process. In cases where good cause is approved to live separately from the parents, the teen parent must still reside in a suitable adult- supervised living arrangement to be eligible for Family Employment Program assistance. Teen births affect newborn infants, their young mothers, their fathers, their families, and society. Pregnant teens have higher risks for inadequate prenatal care, incomplete education, single parenthood, and increased poverty for mother and child. In order to address the health, social, economic and educational issues that teenage pregnancy involves, the state has developed collaborative, community based prevention programs which focus on high risk teens, both male and female. Through the formation of these programs, the state will continue to work towards the goal to decrease the teen out of wedlock birth rate.
As part of the initial and ongoing assessment process of determining appropriate participation levels for parents, the state will continue to consider domestic violence as one of the possible obstacles that the family needs to resolve in order to become self-reliant. Participation for families who have been affected by domestic violence issues that impede their ability to gain or maintain employment will be tailored to include additional services and treatments so that the domestic violence barrier may be overcome.