Alaska 2025-2026 Regular Session

Alaska House Bill HB36 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	HB0036a -1- HB 36
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5	5	34-LS0358\N
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11	11	HOUSE BILL NO. 36
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13	13	IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
14	14
15	15	THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
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17	17	BY REPRESENTATIVE GRAY
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19	19	Introduced: 1/10/25
20	20	Referred: Prefiled
21	21
22	22
23	23	A BILL
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25	25	FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
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27	27	"An Act relating to the placement of foster children in psychiatric hospitals; relating to 1
28	28	the care of children in state custody placed in residential facilities outside the state; and 2
29	29	amending Rule 12.1(b), Alaska Child in Need of Aid Rules of Procedure." 3
30	30	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 4
31	31	* Section 1. AS 47.10.087(b) is amended to read: 5
32	32	(b) A court shall review a placement made under (a) of this section at least
33	33	6
34	34	once every 90 days. The court may authorize the department to continue the placement 7
35	35	of the child in a secure residential psychiatric treatment center if the court finds, based 8
36	36	on the testimony of a mental health professional, that the conditions or symptoms that 9
37	37	resulted in the initial order have not ameliorated to such an extent that the child's 10
38	38	needs can be met in a less restrictive setting and that the child's mental condition could 11
39	39	be improved by the course of treatment or would deteriorate if untreated. 12
40	40	* Sec. 2. AS 47.10.087(d) is amended to read: 13
41	41	(d) In this section, 14 34-LS0358\N
42	42	HB 36 -2- HB0036a
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45	45	(1) "acute psychiatric hospital" means a hospital or part of a 1
46	46	hospital that primarily provides diagnosis and short-term treatment of mental, 2
47	47	emotional, and behavioral disorders; 3
48	48	(2) "contemporaneous two-way video conference" means a 4
49	49	conference among people at different places by means of transmitted audio and 5
50	50	visual signals, using any communication technology that allows people at two or 6
51	51	more places to interact simultaneously by way of two-way video and audio 7
52	52	transmission; 8
53	53	(3) "likely to cause serious harm" has the meaning given in 9
54	54	AS 47.30.915. 10
55	55	* Sec. 3. AS 47.10.087 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 11
56	56	(e) The department may place a child who is in the custody of the department 12
57	57	under AS 47.10.080(c)(1) or (3) or 47.10.142 in an acute psychiatric hospital if the 13
58	58	hospital is the least restrictive placement available and the person in charge of 14
59	59	admittance to the hospital finds that 15
60	60	(1) the child is gravely disabled or suffering from a mental illness and, 16
61	61	as a result, is likely to cause serious harm to the child or another person; and 17
62	62	(2) there is reason to believe that the child's mental condition could be 18
63	63	improved by the course of treatment or would deteriorate further if left untreated. 19
64	64	(f) Within 24 hours after placing a child in an acute psychiatric hospital under 20
65	65	(e) of this section, the department shall notify the court, the child's parents, and any 21
66	66	other parties to an ongoing child-in-need-of-aid case involving the child of the 22
67	67	placement. Upon making the placement, the department shall immediately begin to 23
68	68	search for a less restrictive placement for the child. 24
69	69	(g) A court shall review a placement made under (e) of this section within 25
70	70	seven calendar days after receiving notification of the child's placement in an acute 26
71	71	psychiatric hospital. Once a hearing is scheduled, the court shall notify the child, the 27
72	72	child's attorney, the child's parents, the department, and any parties to an ongoing 28
73	73	child-in-need-of-aid case involving the child of the time and place of the hearing. The 29
74	74	court may grant one request to continue the hearing for up to seven calendar days if 30
75	75	necessary to secure the attendance of the child, a party, or a material witness. The 31 34-LS0358\N
76	76	HB0036a -3- HB 36
77	77	New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
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79	79	hearing shall be held at the acute psychiatric hospital in person, by contemporaneous 1
80	80	two-way video conference, or by teleconference, absent extraordinary circumstances. 2
81	81	If a hearing is held by contemporaneous two-way video conference, only the court 3
82	82	may record the hearing. The court may authorize the department to continue the 4
83	83	placement of the child in an acute psychiatric hospital if the court finds by clear and 5
84	84	convincing evidence, based on the testimony of a mental health professional, that the 6
85	85	conditions or symptoms that resulted in the initial placement under (e) of this section 7
86	86	have not ameliorated to such an extent that the child's needs can be met in a less 8
87	87	restrictive setting and that the child's mental condition could be improved by the 9
88	88	course of treatment or would deteriorate if untreated. 10
89	89	(h) The court shall review a placement approved under (g) of this section 11
90	90	(1) at least once every 30 days; and 12
91	91	(2) when requested by the child or another party, upon a showing of 13
92	92	good cause. 14
93	93	* Sec. 4. AS 47.14.112(d) is amended to read: 15
94	94	(d) The division of the department with responsibility over the custody of 16
95	95	children shall prepare and make available to the legislature an annual report on 17
96	96	employee recruitment and retention, including a five-year plan, for the division. Not 18
97	97	later than November 15 of each year, the department shall deliver the report to the 19
98	98	senate secretary and the chief clerk of the house of representatives and notify the 20
99	99	legislature that the report is available. The report prepared under this subsection is 21
100	100	separate from the annual report to the legislature required under AS 18.05.020 and 22
101	101	must include, for the previous 12 months, 23
102	102	(1) the number of frontline social workers employed by the division, 24
103	103	the annual average turnover rate of the workers, and the average caseload of the 25
104	104	workers on January 1 and July 1 of that year; 26
105	105	(2) the number of children removed from their homes; 27
106	106	(3) the achievement of success measured by the following: 28
107	107	(A) rate of family reunification; 29
108	108	(B) average length of time children spent in custody of the 30
109	109	department; 31 34-LS0358\N
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113	113	(C) rate of placement with an adult family member or family 1
114	114	friend; 2
115	115	(D) number of children placed in a permanent living 3
116	116	arrangement with a guardian or biological or adoptive parent; 4
117	117	(E) number of children released from the custody of the 5
118	118	department; 6
119	119	(4) if the department has met or exceeded the caseload standards under 7
120	120	this chapter and, if the standards were exceeded, the number of caseworker positions 8
121	121	in the division that could be eliminated and the amount of funding that could be 9
122	122	reduced while continuing to meet but not routinely exceed the caseload standards; 10
123	123	(5) the performance of the department on federal benchmarks focused 11
124	124	on the safety, well-being, and permanent placements of foster children compared with 12
125	125	the previous five years; 13
126	126	(6) the number of children placed in residential facilities providing 14
127	127	care for children outside the state. 15
128	128	* Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 16
129	129	read: 17
130	130	DIRECT COURT RULE AMENDMENT. Rule 12.1(b), Alaska Child in Need 18
131	131	of Aid Rules of Procedure, is amended to read: 19
132	132	(b) Appointment Types. 20
133	133	(1) Mandatory Appointments. 21
134	134	(A) The court shall appoint an attorney for a child who is 10 22
135	135	years of age or older in any of the following circumstances: 23
136	136	(i) [(A)] The child does not consent to placement in a 24
137	137	[PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL OR] residential treatment center; 25
138	138	(ii) [(B)] The child does not consent to administration 26
139	139	of psychotropic medication; 27
140	140	(iii) [(C)] The child objects to disclosure of 28
141	141	psychotherapy information or records under CINA Rule 9(b); 29
142	142	(iv) [(D)] A request for a court order authorizing 30
143	143	emergency protective custody has been made under AS 47.10.141(c); 31 34-LS0358\N
144	144	HB0036a -5- HB 36
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147	147	or 1
148	148	(v) [(E)] The child is pregnant or has custody of a minor 2
149	149	child; and 3
150	150	(B) The court shall appoint an attorney for a child who has 4
151	151	been placed in an acute psychiatric hospital as defined in AS 47.10.087. 5
152	152	(2) Discretionary Appointments. The court may appoint an attorney 6
153	153	in other circumstances including, but not limited to: 7
154	154	(A) The child's and guardian ad litem's positions are not 8
155	155	aligned on placement, family or sibling contact, permanency goal, case plan, or 9
156	156	another important issue in the case; 10
157	157	(B) The child would benefit from a confidential relationship 11
158	158	with an attorney; or 12
159	159	(C) The child is not residing in the designated placement. 13