36-5-112 - Responsible teen parent pilot project.
36-5-112. Responsible teen parent pilot project.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of title 71, chapter 3, part 1, or any other law to the contrary, the department shall establish and implement the responsible teen parent pilot project. The pilot project shall be established in at least one (1) county within each of the three (3) grand divisions. Acting in consultation with the department of education and department of labor and workforce development, the council of juvenile and family court judges, the district attorneys general conference, the department of human services shall develop policies and procedures whereby child support obligations of project participants may be adjusted or deferred; provided, that the participants engage in one (1) or more of the following activities:
(1) Attending school and making satisfactory progress toward high school graduation;
(2) Attending preparatory classes and making satisfactory progress toward receipt of a general equivalency diploma;
(3) Participating in approved job training programs and making satisfactory progress toward job placement; or
(4) Participating in approved parenting skills training courses and making satisfactory progress toward mastery of the subject matter of such courses.
(b) Participation in the responsible teen parent pilot program shall be restricted to persons who:
(1) Are under twenty-one (21) years of age;
(2) Are non-custodial parents of children who are receiving, or who have recently received, aid to families with dependent children benefits;
(3) Are unable to provide adequate support for such children due to unemployment or underemployment;
(4) Pay a minimum, specified amount of child support; and
(5) Visit their children at least once each week unless such visitation is restricted by court order.
(c) In accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, the department of human services, acting in consultation with the department of education, department of labor and workforce development, the council of juvenile and family court judges, and the district attorneys general conference, shall promulgate such rules as may be necessary to implement the responsible teen parent pilot project in an efficient and effective manner. Such rules shall include, but shall not be limited to, policies and procedures for:
(1) Identifying teen parents who would be eligible to participate in these programs in the pilot counties;
(2) Pursuing the establishment of paternity in all cases involving teen parenthood within the pilot counties;
(3) Pursuing the establishment and enforcement of support orders in such cases;
(4) Selecting project participants;
(5) Monitoring project participants;
(6) Determining adjustments or deferral of child support obligations for project participants;
(7) Selecting approved job training programs; and
(8) Determining the minimum amount of child support that must be paid by project participants throughout their enrollment in the pilot project.
(d) The department of human services shall gather and compile data to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the pilot project in promoting responsible parenting and in encouraging near- and long-term fulfillment of child support obligations. On or before December 31 each year, the department of human services, acting in consultation with the department of education, department of labor and workforce development, the council of juvenile and family court judges, and the district attorneys general conference, shall report to the select joint committee on children and youth concerning implementation of the pilot project and shall include any recommendations pertaining thereto.
(e) Within each of the pilot counties, the department of human services and the juvenile court or the district attorney general shall jointly undertake a public awareness campaign to periodically inform and remind teens that:
(1) Teen parents have a legal obligation to financially support their children, and that such obligation continues for eighteen (18) years following the birth of a child;
(2) The legal obligation of support exists regardless of a teen parent's gender or marital status; and
(3) The legal obligation of support will be enforced.
(f) The provisions of this section shall not be construed or applied in any manner that jeopardizes or reduces the availability of federal funding resources for state administered public assistance programs.
[Acts 1989, ch. 568, §§ 1, 2; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 71-3-128; Acts 1996, ch. 950, § 20; 1999, ch. 520, § 36.]