We accepted guardianship of our niece when her mom passed away 2 years ago. We had been estranged from them for years, and didn't even know this child before being called upon to accept the responsibility of raising her.
The biological father does not pay the court-ordered child support, but he does call periodically and claims to want custody of his daughter. We're now facing the need to relinquish guardianship, but the Father claims that he's in no position to accept responsibility. What are our options?

Find another family member to take over

Why are you needing to relinquish guardianship, you say you "have" to, but give no reason, is it more you want to

Have you followed up with child suppot enforcement on father to force him to pay ?

Thanks for the suggestion, although we're not aware of any other family members that can take over.

It's not about money, it's about responsibility. We don't want his money, and resent the fact that we've been forced into this situation because he's unwilling to accept responsibility.

Okay first you weren't forced into the situation. You agreed to it when her mother died. Now, if the child is being absolutely disruptive and such then there are things you might be able to do but it is also about your responsibility to the papers that you signed. You can go through child support enforcement to get some of the money or at least make him be held responsible for that.

We agreed given the circumstances at the time, and to save the child from specialized foster care (years of neglect have left her with some developmental challenges). The father claims to care for this child, and we remain hopeful that she would be able to transition to live with her only remaining parent.

The question is, do we have any legal standing to file a child abandonment claim or similar against the irresponsible parent?

No, Child Abandonment is a criminal charge when a child is left without any supervision. In a VERY few states, failure to support a child may be called abandonment, but the bottom line there is that he needs to pay the court ordered support. Since there is a court order, you pursue it! As the guardians you have the legal right to try to enforce the court order.

Second, why were you asked to take on guardianship? Who asked? What were the circumstances? Why wasn't the father asked to take her?

If you relinquish guardianship won't she go back to foster care? I'm not even sure you can relinquish depending on the conditions and terms you originally agreed to.

I work for CPS in Texas. If you decide that you can longer care for the child and there are no available and appropriate family members then the child will come back into the system. If she qualified for specialized foster care then she must be struggling with multiple challenges. In TX it is very hard for us to get a child to reach the level of specialized care. I know you stated that there are no available family members at this time. I hope you can hold on for a least a bit longer. You did an amazing thing by agreeing to take this child into your home even though you feel resentment right now.

Are you receiving SSi for the child?