DNA testing available at DSS

Karen McConkey
The Kinston Free Press

Armed with DNA testing kits, Lenoir County Department of Social Services child support staff now have a new tool that caseworkers can use to ensure children in Lenoir County receive every benefit they deserve from their biological fathers. "We're very excited about this," Susan Moore, Child Assistance supervisor said about the department's capability to not only issue and enforce child support orders, but also conduct testing to establish paternity.

Just last month, DSS child support staff were trained by LabCorp to administer DNA testing to establish paternity in child support cases. "Paternity is assumed when a child is born in a marriage," Moore explained. "That's not the case in children born to a couple who are unmarried or to a mother who is unsure of the child's paternity."

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