209.05 Continued Absence of a Parent (FAM)

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A child is deprived of parental support or care due to continued absence, when one or both parents are physically absent from the child for at least 30 continuous days beginning with and including the day of separation. One of the following must also apply:

• the parents are not married to each other;

• the parents are divorced or legally separated;

• a parent has filed for a divorce, legal separation, or annulment, and such application has been pending in the court for at least 30 days;

• the parents have informally separated;

• a parent has deserted or abandoned the child;

• a court has forbidden a parent to return to the home for a period of time that is reasonably expected to continue for at least 30 days;

• a parent is in a correctional institution or mental hospital for a period of time that is reasonably expected to continue for at least 30 days; or

• a parent is involuntarily deported and the absence is reasonably expected to continue for at least 30 days.

In order for deprivation to exist, the child must be deprived of the care or support of at least one parent for a period of at least 30 continuous days, or the separation must be involuntary due to reasons such as deportation, commitment to a mental institution or imprisonment. Absence due to employment or military service is not in itself a basis for deprivation as parental care and support may still be evident. Evaluate these cases individually to determine if there is deprivation using any of the criteria above.