June 13, 2008 — Non-custodial dads — and moms, too — can get free phone cards from the Attorney General's office through its Dial-A-Dad program to help them stay in touch with their children who live outside the territory.
"We encourage them to have contact with their children," said Sara Lezama, spokesperson at the Attorney General's office.
In honor of Father's Day, coming up Sunday, the Attorney General's office sent out a news release Friday to let non-custodial parents know about the program.
To be eligible for the cards, non-custodial parents must have access to a phone and submit to a background check to make sure no restraining orders are in place.
The phone cards are worth $10, Lezama said. They are renewable if the non-custodial parents turn in a phone log to prove they only used the card to call their children.
The phone-card program is funded by the federal Office of Child Support, Lezama said. Because people are still applying she didn't know its cost. The federal program sends $100,000 to the territory for access and visitation programs, including the phone-card program.
To be eligible for the program, the non-custodial father or mother must be 18, reside in the territory and have a valid V.I. identification card or other identifying document. He or she must provide proof that his or her child and/or children reside on the U.S. mainland or any other part of the Caribbean outside of the Virgin Islands. He or she must provide the telephone number to the household where the child or children reside.
Participants can pick up an application at the Attorney General's Paternity and Child Support Offices from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. It's located at Nisky Center, 2nd Floor, Suite 500, St. Thomas, or at 249 Estate Glynn, Christiansted, St. Croix.
Additionally, applications may be picked up from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the V.I. Resource Center for the Disabled at 74B and 75 Kronprindsens Gade, Charlotte Amalie.
The Dial-A-Dad program is sponsored by the Attorney General's Paternity and Child Support Division Access and Visitation Program and the Resource Center for the Disabled.
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