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1994.12.21 :  Parental Responsibility

Contact:  Michael Kharfen   (202) 401-9215
December 21, 1994  
        
         FINAL RULES ENCOURAGE PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

     HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala issued regulations today that
will require states to establish paternity establishment programs
to enable unmarried fathers to legally acknowledge the paternity
of their children.

     Currently, paternity is not established for about two-thirds
of the more than one million children born each year to unwed
mothers.   The new regulations are intended to promote parental
responsibility and ensure that both parents contribute to their
children's financial and emotional well-being.     

     "Far too many children are unable to receive child support
and other benefits because legal paternity has not been
established," Secretary Shalala said.  "These rules are a
critical step in the Clinton administration's continuing efforts
to increase child support collections, reform the welfare system
and promote parental responsibility." 

     The President's Work and Responsibility Act of 1994
contained several features to increase paternity establishment
for all children born out-of-wedlock.  Performance incentives
would encourage states to establish paternity for all births,
hospitals would be required to expand existing paternity
programs, and welfare applicants would have stricter requirements
to name and help find the fathers of their children in order to
receive benefits.   Approximately three million children now
receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) have not
had their paternity established.

     The rules implement provisions of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993.  They require states to provide
parents the opportunity to voluntarily acknowledge paternity in
hospitals at the time of birth.  States must also provide due
process safeguards and an explanation of the rights and
responsibilities of acknowledging paternity.  States must ensure
that this voluntary acknowledgement is a sufficient basis for
seeking a child support obligation.

     "While we all are saddened when a parent abandons a child,
the child suffers long-term wounds that last far into the
future," said Mary Jo Bane, assistant secretary for children and
families.  "Establishing paternity is critical to ensuring that
children get the emotional and financial support they need and
deserve."

     The new requirements build upon effective state paternity
acknowledgement programs already in place and expand them across
the country.  The rules also streamline procedures in cases where
paternity is contested.

     When paternity is established, the child gains the right of
inheritance as well as other potential benefits such as Social
Security, medical and life insurance.  Establishing paternity can
also help provide information regarding inherited medical
conditions and other hereditary factors. 

     The regulations also change the way HHS audits child support
enforcement programs to ensure they place emphasis on results.
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