Child leaves care

When a dependent child leaves the client's care, the child should be excluded from the start of the pay period following the date the child leaves care and any extra help the client gets should be reassessed at the appropriate rate where applicable.

If the child is the client's last dependent child aged under 14 years, Sole Parent Support must be cancelled. MSD will need to determine if the client qualifies for another benefit.

Note different rules apply when a child stops being a dependent child of a sole parent client because of a sudden change of circumstances beyond the control of the client.

A client getting Sole Parent Support has two dependent children included in their benefit, one aged 11 years and the other aged 13 years.

The younger child leaves care to start living with another caregiver as planned and is excluded from the start of the pay period following the date the child left care so the client does not incur a debt.

Six months later the remaining child turns 14.

The client no longer meets the qualification for Sole Parent Support and MSD must determine if the client qualifies for another benefit.