Parents and Children Responsibilities Between Parents and Children There are many jobs, duties, and responsibilities parents must fulfill when they have children. For the most part, state laws regulate these important responsibilities.

For example, state laws require parents to care for and support their children to the best of their ability, regardless of whether the parents are married. Parents also have the duty to ensure that their children receive an education and proper medical and dental care. Parents who neglect their parental rights can be punished according to state laws. However, once a child reaches a certain age – usually 18 – parents are usually no longer bound to provide financial support to that child.

Parents and children also have a responsibility to each other. Some states have laws requiring the adult children in a family to support their elderly or disabled parents. In addition, children have a legal duty to follow their parents’ rules as long as those rules are not harmful or illegal.

Child Abuse and Neglect Child abuse and neglect seriously affect the lives of many children in the United States. For this reason, there are increased security measures taken when people are applying for a job to work with children. Employers typically send the fingerprints of these individuals to the FBI to make sure that the person does not have a history of child abuse.

Anyone who suspects that a child is being abused or neglected should always report these concerns to the police. Certain occupations require this information to be reported under the law – medical and educational personnel included. Children are usually removed from the care of a parent or guardian who is convicted of child abuse.

Foster Care and Adoption Foster Care For many reasons, children are sometimes unable to live with their biological parents. As a result, each state has licensed families that provide temporary homes and care for a child until he or she can find a permanent home.

Foster children might even live together in a group home or with their relatives. Ultimately, judges would like to see foster children reunited with their original families. However, if changes cannot be made to provide a safe living environment, the child in foster care can be adopted.

Adoption Adults can become legal parents of a child, or even another adult, through the adoption process. Almost anyone can adopt a child or adult with the help of a public or private adoption agency.

Adoption agencies’ selection processes sometimes make it more difficult for someone of a different race or religion than the adoptee, single parents, or gay or lesbian individuals to adopt. Before an adoption can take place, legal consent from the child’s biological parents is required. Some couples who find it hard to conceive a child turn to a surrogate mother. A surrogate mother is someone who is artificially impregnated with the sperm of the spouse who is having difficulty conceiving with his partner.

After birth, the child is released to the couple through adoption. Laws and regulations on adoption and surrogacy vary from state to state.