DNA testing available at DSS

BY Karen McConkey

Armed with DNA testing kits, Lenoir County Department of Social Services child support staff now have a new tool that caseworkers can use to ensure children in Lenoir County receive every benefit they deserve from their biological fathers.

"We're very excited about this," Susan Moore, Child Assistance supervisor said about the department's capability to not only issue and enforce child support orders, but also conduct testing to establish paternity.

Just last month, DSS child support staff were trained by LabCorp to administer DNA testing to establish paternity in child support cases.

"Paternity is assumed when a child is born in a marriage," Moore explained. "That's not the case in children born to a couple who are unmarried or to a mother who is unsure of the child's paternity."

In North Carolina, nearly 50 percent of children are born to unmarried parents. With those high numbers and the increasing number of fathers who don't claim paternity or responsibility for their children, state human services laws are cracking down on establishing paternity.

When the mother gives birth at the hospital, a video is shown that explains the rights of paternity and what avenues are available to a mother to get help. If the father doesn't claim paternity, the mother can go to DSS and case workers file a complaint against the alleged father and serve it on him.

The alleged father has about six weeks to show up in court and either establish paternity or deny it and undergo DNA testing. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen, Moore said.

"We have cases where the man seems to think that if he doesn't show up for the case, it will all go away," Moore said. The bad news is that the court will establish paternity of that man by default, "Even if he's not the father," Moore said.

DSS doesn't want wrongfully alleged men taking responsibility of fatherhood which is another reason to get tested, Liz Loftin, a child enforcement supervisor said. That's why it's so important to show up in court if a paternity suit or allegation is filed. "A judge will rarely ever reverse paternity once it's been declared," she said. "We want the fathers to support their children, but not if they aren't their real fathers. All they have to do is ask to be tested."

The DNA testing available through DSS is hundreds of dollars less than going through a private laboratory, Moore said. "There's a $39 charge to have it done. Many times, the mother and child are covered by Medicaid," Moore said.

The in-house testing is substantially quicker, easier, and generates lab test results in weeks less than the standard DNA test where blood is drawn.

Swabs are used in the four quadrants of the mouth, sealed, labeled and then follow a very strict chain of custody. Results come back as early as two weeks, Moore said.

That helps all parties involved meet the 90-day guidelines set down by the judicial system to establish paternity. Once a paternity claim is filed, all parties have 90 days to prove or disprove the claim.

Establishing paternity gives a child the right of entitlement to benefits from the father, Moore said.

"Every child deserves some connection with the father. Paternity allows them social security or veteran's benefits if the father should die. It also allows the child the right to inherit and to have access to vital health and family medical history information."

Lenoir County residents don't have to be DSS clients to receive help in getting child support. A one-time application fee of less than $50 provides help with filing a child support claim, using the enforcement arm of DSS, and having caseworkers tracking fathers who are on the run. "They are entitled to every child support service we have," Moore said. Child support services are free to anyone on Medicaid or WorkFirst,

Loftin, a 19-year veteran in the child support division said committed staff keep the department's enforcement rates high. The department has 80 percent of child support cases under a court order.

"We want children to have the benefit of establishing some sense of family," Moore said. "That's why we want to do all we can to help that happen."