The judge uses a table known as the Child Support guidelines to determine the amount of the support. Juvenile who repeatedly run away from home or skip school may also be brought to court. The court may send the children to live in a foster home or with a relative. The court may permanently remove children from their parents' custody if the judge decides that they will be in danger if they return home. FIA must then plan for the children or place them for adoption.
Adoption forms a legal parent-child relationship.
Adoptions can be accomplished through an agency, or by a private agreement between the child's parents and adoptive parents. A person may also adopt because he or she has married a child's parent. The guardian then has most of the legal rights and duties of a parent. Every year the guardian must report to the court and state how the child is doing. A guardian can only end the relationship with the child by getting an order from the court.