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2 N.J.A.R. 393
- Warren County Welfare Board; H., J. v
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- Citation: 2 N.J.A.R. 393
- Decision Date: 1980
- Agency: DIVISION OF PUBLIC WELFARE
- Synopsis: Petitioner, an unmarried parent of two children, had her Aid to Families with Dependent Children grant reduced by a local welfare agency based on respondent's alleged failure to cooperate in establishing paternity. Petitioner did not deny her failure to cooperate, but asserted that she had good cause to refuse to do so. The administrative law judge found that petitioner's failure to cooperate in establishing paternity resulted from the abusive treatment which petitioner and her children had received from the father of the children. The judge pointed out that N.J.A.C. 10:81-App. D-233.2 establishes standards for determining whether there is good cause for such failure to cooperate. Among those standards which establish good cause for failure to cooperate is a reasonable anticipation of physical or emotional harm to a child or parent. The judge found that petitioner had reasonable anticipation of physical or emotional harm to her and her children and concluded that good cause existed for her failure to cooperate in establishing paternity. Accordingly, the reduction in assistance was reversed.
- Rule(s) Cited: 10:81-7.1
- Synopsis: Petitioner, an unmarried parent of two children, had her Aid to Families with Dependent Children grant reduced by a local welfare agency based on respondent's alleged failure to cooperate in establishing paternity. Petitioner did not deny her failure to cooperate, but asserted that she had good cause to refuse to do so. The administrative law judge found that petitioner's failure to cooperate in establishing paternity resulted from the abusive treatment which petitioner and her children had received from the father of the children. The judge pointed out that N.J.A.C. 10:81-App. D-233.2 establishes standards for determining whether there is good cause for such failure to cooperate. Among those standards which establish good cause for failure to cooperate is a reasonable anticipation of physical or emotional harm to a child or parent. The judge found that petitioner had reasonable anticipation of physical or emotional harm to her and her children and concluded that good cause existed for her failure to cooperate in establishing paternity. Accordingly, the reduction in assistance was reversed.