Our children are our greatest asset and they must be taken care of and supported properly. Here are answers to some questions we’ve found ourselves answering recently.

Foster Care or Resource Parent Law in Tennessee

Tennessee's Foster Care Review Law was enacted to protect children from unnecessary separation from parents and from needless prolonged placement in foster care. It was also enacted to provide a mechanism to monitor the care of children in foster care to insure that a permanent plan for the child will be achieved if possible. T.C.A. § 37-2-401 et seq.

Foster care is defined in T.C.A. § 37-2-402(5) as:

The temporary placement of a child in the custody of the Department of Human Services or any agency, institution, or home whether public or private for care outside the home of a parent or relative (by blood or marriage) of the child whether such placement is by court order, voluntary placement agreement, surrender of parental rights, or otherwise.

An agency is required, within thirty (30) days of foster care placement, to prepare a plan for each child in its foster care. T.C.A. § 37-2-403. This plan must include a goal for the child and a statement of responsibilities between the parents, the agency and the case worker of the agency.

In addition to the plan for each child, the agency must submit a report for each child in its foster care to the appropriate court or advisory review board on its progress in achieving the goals in the plan. T.C.A. § 37-2-404. Such reports are to be made within six (6) months of foster care placement and every six (6) months thereafter for as long as the child remains in foster care.

"Court" is defined by the statute as "the juvenile court having jurisdiction over the person of the child, or if no juvenile court has jurisdiction over the child then the juvenile court in the county in which the child resides." T.C.A. § 37-2-402(3). "Board" is defined as "an adversary review board appointed by a juvenile court judge, juvenile court judges or the department of human services." T.C.A. § 37-2-402(2).

Child Support Guidelines

We receive a fair amount of questions regarding child support. Frequently, the question has to do with a proposed modification based upon the non-custodial parents losing a job or have a financial setback. Generally speaking, a significant change in income is required to revisit a prior child support order and modify and more often than not, a non-custodial parent losing a job would meet this standard.

Tennessee law authorizes the Department of Human Services to create and issue the "Child Support Guidelines." The parent who pays child support is usually called the "Alternative Residential Parent," and the parent who receives child support is usually called the "Primary Residential Parent." When the "Guidelines" are discussed, this usually refers to the Rules as issued by the DHS. These Rules have the authority of law and most, if not all, states have similar provisions in their law. "The Charts" refers to the charts published with the Guidelines which cross reference both parent's gross income with both parent's actual support obligation. The “Income Shares Model” is a phrase describing that under our new child support law (effective January 2005), both parents’ income are considered in determining child support.

Tennessee visitation rights of grandparents
As with any discussion of children's custody and visitation, the key consideration for the court is the best interests of the child. The Tennessee statute that deals specifically with visitation is 36-6-306 and states in pertinent part that:

(a) Any of the following circumstances, when presented in a petition for grandparent visitation to the circuit, chancery, general sessions courts with domestic relations jurisdiction or juvenile court in matters involving children born out of wedlock of the county in which the petitioned child currently resides, necessitates a hearing if such grandparent visitation is opposed by the custodial parent or parents:

(1) The father or mother of an unmarried minor child is deceased;

(2) The child's father or mother are divorced, legally separated, or were never married to each other;

(3) The child's father or mother has been missing for not less than six (6) months;

(4) The court of another state has ordered grandparent visitation;

(5) The child resided in the home of the grandparent for a period of twelve (12) months or more and was subsequently removed from the home by the parent or parents (this grandparent-grandchild relationship establishes a rebuttable presumption that denial of visitation may result in irreparable harm to the child); or

(6) The child and the grandparent maintained a significant existing relationship for a period of twelve (12) months or more immediately preceding severance of the relationship, this relationship was severed by the parent or parents for reasons other than abuse or presence of a danger of substantial harm to the child, and severance of this relationship is likely to occasion substantial emotional harm to the child.

The circumstance that has most frequently come into play in our practice has been the scenario outlined in clauses (5) and (6) where the child resided with the grandparent for a significant period of time. DCS has as a priority the goal of re-uniting the children with the parents, but the grandparent does have rights that are protected by the state.

Price and Tidwell Attorneys at Law have represented many grandparents in cases where the rights of the children and their own rights need to be defended. If you find yourself in such a situation then call our Murfreesboro, TN Law Office at 615-893-1239 to schedule a Free Consultation. We’ve helped many people with both custody and child support situations and we can help you.