| (1) |
If it appears to a designated social worker that a child has been abandoned or orphaned, whether for purposes of determining if such child is in need of care and protection or if such child can be made available for adoption, such social worker must cause an advertisement to be published in at least one local newspaper circulating in the area where the child has been found calling upon any person to claim responsibility for the child. |
| (2) |
In determining whether a child has been abandoned or orphaned for purposes of section 150(1)(a) of the Act, a presiding officer must— |
| (a) |
be satisfied that the child has been abandoned or orphaned; |
| (b) |
be furnished with a copy of the advertisement contemplated in subregulation (1) and be satisfied that, for the purposes of— |
| (i) |
section 150(1)(a) of the Act, a period of at least one month has lapsed since the publication of the advertisement; or |
| (ii) |
section 157(3) of the Act, a period of at least three months has lapsed since the publication of the advertisement, |
and that no person has claimed responsibility for the child;
| (c) |
have regard, in the case of an orphaned child, to the death certificate or certificates of the child's parent or parents, guardian or care-giver, obtained by the social worker concerned, or, if such certificate cannot be obtained, to an affidavit by a person or persons who can testify to the death of the child's parent, guardian or care-giver; and |
| (d) |
have regard, in the case of an abandoned child, to an affidavit, setting out the steps taken to trace the child's parent, guardian or care-giver, by the social worker concerned to the effect that the child's parent, guardian or care-giver cannot be traced and an affidavit by any other person, if any, who can testify to the fact that the child has had no contact with his or her parent, guardian or care-giver for a period of at least three months. |
Maintenance Act, 1998
