Definitions

As used in this article, the term: (1) “Child” means any individual under 18 years of age. (2) “Fictive kin” means an individual who is known to a child as a relative but is not in fact related by blood or marriage to such child and with whom such child has resided or had significant contact. (3) “Kinship caregiver” means a grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt, uncle, great aunt, great uncle, cousin, sibling, or fictive kin who has assumed responsibility for raising a child in an informal, noncustodial, or guardianship capacity upon the parents or legal custodians of such child: (A) Losing or abdicating the ability to care for such child; or (B) Being unable to ensure that the child will attend school for reasons, including, but not limited to: (i) A parent or legal custodian being unable to provide care due to the death of a parent or legal custodian; (ii) A serious illness or terminal illness of a parent or legal custodian; (iii) The physical or mental condition of the parents or legal custodians such that proper care and supervision of the child cannot be provided; (iv) The incarceration of a parent or legal custodian; (v) The inability to locate the parents or legal custodians; (vi) The loss or uninhabitability of the child’s home as the result of a natural disaster; or (vii) A period of active military duty of the parents or legal custodians exceeding 24 months. 15 20-1-16 (4) “Legal custodian” means a person who has been awarded permanent custody of a child by court order. (5) “Parent” means the legal father or the legal mother of a child. (6) “Reasonable efforts” means actions that a reasonable individual would find sufficient to determine whether one conclusion is more likely than the other. History. Code 1981, § 20-1-15, enacted by Ga. L. 2017, p. 113, § 2/SB 186; Ga. L. 2019, p. 1056, § 20/SB 52. 20-1-16. Kinship caregiver authorized to provide legal consent.