§ 352 — Deserted or abandoned children; special provisions

§ 352. Deserted or abandoned children; special provisions. 1. A\nsocial services official who makes a family assistance allowance for the\nbenefit of a child who has been abandoned or deserted by a parent shall\npromptly give notice thereof to the appropriate district attorney where\nthere is reason to believe such parent may have violated the provisions\nof section 260.00 of the penal law.\n 2. The social services official providing family assistance allowances\npursuant to the provisions of this title, for the benefit of a child who\nhas an absent parent, shall have and shall perform the following duties\nand powers in addition to others imposed or conferred upon him or her by\nor pursuant to other provisions of this chapter or other law:\n (a) to take such steps and make such efforts to locate any parent of\nsuch child whose whereabouts are unknown to such official as all\navailable means will allow; such means shall include, and there shall be\nutilization of, appropriate services offered by the department, by\nagencies of other states and by the federal government;\n (b) to determine the ability and potential ability of the parents of\neach such child to support or to contribute to the support of such\nchild;\n (c) to establish cooperative arrangements with the family court,\ncounty attorneys, corporation counsels and other law enforcement\nofficials, for the location of missing parents of such children and for\nthe enforcement of their obligations to support or contribute to support\nof such children to the extent of their ability;\n (d) to provide pertinent information to such court and law\nenforcement officials to enable them to assist in locating absent\nparents of such children and in securing support payments therefrom,\nprovided that there is an agreement between such social services\nofficial and such court and such law enforcement officials insuring that\nsuch information will be used only for the purpose intended;\n (e) to reimburse, to the extent that state and federal requirements\nauthorize or require, appropriate courts and law enforcement officials\nfor activities related to the requirements of this chapter and the\nfamily court act with respect to enforcement of support obligations and\nfor services they have undertaken on behalf of such official.\n 3. For purposes of this section, "absent parent" shall mean any\nperson who is legally responsible for a spouse or child, who is absent\nfrom the household, whether such person's location is known or unknown,\nand fails to provide for the support of such spouse or child.\n