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Child Disability Allowance : Contents

Change of caregiver

Where a child (that Child Disability Allowance is paid for) has a change in their principal caregiver or principal temporary caregiver Child Disability Allowance must stop from the beginning of the pay period following the date the event took place.

MSD should invite the new caregiver to apply for Child Disability Allowance.

Where the child has left the previous caregiver suddenly and Child Disability Allowance is continued for 28 days, the new caregiver can get Child Disability Allowance for the same child at the same time from the date the event happened.

Note Child Disability Allowance is paid 2 weeks in arrears and is paid fortnightly on a Tuesday. The first day of the pay period would be the Wednesday after the Child Disability Allowance payday.

Care and protection concerns

When a child has come into a client’s care, MSD should consider if there are any care and protection concerns.

If MSD believes any child has been, or is likely to be harmed (physically, emotionally or sexually), ill-treated, abused, neglected, deprived or MSD has concerns about the wellbeing of the child, the case must be referred to Oranga Tamariki.

MSD staff must notify Oranga Tamariki if they are aware that the child’s sole caregiver has been remanded in custody and/or sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

For more information see:

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The principal caregiver is the person who has the permanent primary responsibility for the day-to-day care of the child, other than on a temporary basis. It does not include proprietors or employees of any childcare home or institution.

Oranga Tamariki-Ministry for Children is known as "Oranga Tamariki". It came into existence on 1 April 2017, and replaced what was known as "Child, Youth and Family" or CYF.

Its original name, from 1 April 2017 until 18 January 2018, was the "Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki".

For Orphans Benefit or Unsupported Childs Benefit, the principal temporary caregiver is the person who has the primary responsibility for the day-to-day care of the child for a short-term, unknown, or uncertain period, and is not the natural or adoptive parent of the child.