New Jersey Statutes 30:4C-90. Findings, declarations relative to kinship legal guardianship
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 30:4C-90
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Department: means the Department of Human Services. See New Jersey Statutes 30:1-1
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
a. An increasing number of relatives in the State, including grandparents, find themselves providing care on a long-term basis to children who cannot reside with their parents due to the parent’s incapacity or inability to perform the regular and expected functions of care and support of the child;
b. The State law allows for the appointment of an individual as a kinship legal guardian; a kinship legal guardian has the same rights, responsibilities, and authority relating to a child as a birth parent, with the exception of consenting to the adoption of the child or a name change for the child, while the birth parent retains the obligation to pay child support and the right to court-approved visitation or parenting time with the child;
c. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2012, c.16);
d. The Department of Children and Families has established the Kinship Navigator program, which is a referral service designed to help kinship caregivers coordinate the various government and community resources that may be available to them; and
e. It is appropriate for the State to ensure that individuals who may be eligible to become kinship legal guardians are aware of the eligibility requirements for, and the responsibilities of, kinship legal guardianship, and that both individuals who may be eligible to become kinship legal guardians and current kinship legal guardians are aware of the services available to kinship legal guardians in the State.
L.2005, c.95, s.2; amended 2012, c.16, s.111.