AS Title 47, Chapter 6: Child Welfare, Social Services, and Institutions

Chapter 06. Child Welfare, Social Services, and Institutions. Sec. 47.06.010. Duties of Department of Family and Community Services. The Department of Family and Community Services shall (1) administer applicable public assistance programs and receive and spend money made available to it; (2) adopt regulations necessary for the conduct of its business and for carrying out federal and state laws; (3) establish minimum standards for personnel employed by the department and adopt necessary regulations to maintain those standards; (4) require those bonds and undertakings from persons employed by it that, in its judgment, are necessary, and pay the premiums on them; (5) make the reports, in the form and containing the information, that the federal government from time to time requires; (6) cooperate with the federal government, its agencies, or instrumentalities in establishing, extending, and strengthening services for the protection and care of homeless, dependent, and neglected children in danger of becoming delinquent, and receive and expend funds available to the department by the federal government, the state, or its political subdivisions for that purpose; (7) cooperate with the federal government in adopting state plans to make the state eligible for federal matching in appropriate categories of assistance, and in all matters of mutual concern, including adoption of the methods of administration that are found by the federal government to be necessary for the efficient operation of welfare programs; (8) adopt regulations, not inconsistent with law, defining need, prescribing the conditions of eligibility for assistance, and establishing standards for determining the amount of assistance that an eligible person is entitled to receive; the amount of the assistance is sufficient when, added to all other income and resources available to an individual, it provides the individual with a reasonable subsistence compatible with health and well-being; an individual who meets the requirements for eligibility for assistance shall be granted the assistance promptly upon application for it; (9) grant to a person claiming or receiving assistance and who is aggrieved because of the department's action or failure to act, reasonable notice and an opportunity for a fair hearing by the office of administrative hearings ( AS 44.64.010 ), and the department shall adopt regulations relative to this; (10) enter into reciprocal agreements with other states relative to applicable public assistance, welfare services, and institutional care that are considered advisable; (11) establish the requirements of residence for applicable public assistance, welfare services, and institutional care that are considered advisable, subject to the limitations of other laws of the state, or law or regulation imposed as conditions for federal financial participation; (12) establish the divisions and local offices that are considered necessary or expedient to carry out a duty or authority assigned to it and appoint and employ the assistants and personnel that are necessary to carry on the work of the divisions and offices, and fix the compensation of the assistants or employees, except that a person engaged in business as a retail vendor of general merchandise, or a member of the immediate family of a person who is so engaged, may not serve as an acting, temporary, or permanent local agent of the department, unless the commissioner of family and community services certifies in writing to the governor, with relation to a particular community, that no other qualified person is available in the community to serve as local welfare agent; for the purposes of this paragraph, a “member of the immediate family” includes a spouse, child, parent, brother, sister, parent-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; (13) actively seek to recruit quality foster parents and adoptive parents when a shortage of quality foster parents or adoptive parents exists. Sec. 47.06.020. Purpose and policy related to children. The purpose of this title as it relates to children is to secure for each child the care and guidance, preferably in the child's own home, that will serve the moral, emotional, mental, and physical welfare of the child and the best interests of the community; to preserve and strengthen the child's family ties unless efforts to preserve and strengthen the ties are likely to result in physical or emotional damage to the child, removing the child from the custody of the parents only as a last resort when the child's welfare or safety or the protection of the public cannot be adequately safeguarded without removal; and, when the child is removed from the family, to secure for the child adequate custody and care and adequate planning for permanent placement of the child. It is the policy of the state to acknowledge and take into account the principles of early childhood and youth brain development and, whenever possible, consider the concepts of early adversity, toxic stress, childhood trauma, and the promotion of resilience through protective relationships, supports, self-regulation, and services. Sec. 47.06.030. Legislative findings related to children. The legislature finds that (1) parents have the following rights and responsibilities relating to the care and control of their child while the child is a minor: (A) the responsibility to provide the child with food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical care; (B) the right and responsibility to protect, nurture, train, and discipline the child, including the right to direct the child's medical care and the right to exercise reasonable corporal discipline; (C) the right to determine where and with whom the child shall live; (D) the right and responsibility to make decisions of legal or financial significance concerning the child; (E) the right to obtain representation for the child in legal actions; and (F) the responsibility to provide special safeguards and care, including appropriate prenatal and postnatal protection for the child; (2) it is the policy of the state to strengthen families and to protect children from child abuse and neglect; the state recognizes that, in some cases, protection of a child may require removal of the child from the child's home; however, (A) except in those cases involving serious risk to a child's health or safety, the Department of Family and Community Services and the Department of Health should provide time-limited family support services to the child and the child's family in order to offer parents the opportunity to remedy parental conduct or conditions in the home that placed the child at risk of harm so that a child may return home safely and permanently; and (B) the state also recognizes that when a child is removed from the home, visitation between the child and the child's parents or guardian and family members reduces the trauma for the child and enhances the likelihood that the child will be able to return home; therefore, whenever a child is removed from the parental home, the Department of Family and Community Services should encourage frequent, regular, and reasonable visitation of the child with the child's parent or guardian and family members; (3) it is the policy of the state to recognize that, when a child is a ward of the state, the child is entitled to reasonable safety, adequate care, and adequate treatment and that the Department of Family and Community Services as legal custodian and the child's guardian ad litem as guardian of the child's best interests and their agents and assignees, each should make reasonable efforts to ensure that the child is provided with reasonable safety, adequate care, and adequate treatment for the duration of time that the child is a ward of the state; (4) it is in the best interests of a child who has been removed from the child's own home for the state to apply the following principles in resolving the situation: (A) the child should be placed in a safe, secure, and stable environment; (B) the child should not be moved unnecessarily; (C) a planning process should be followed to lead to permanent placement of the child; (D) every effort should be made to encourage psychological attachment between the adult caregiver and the child; (E) frequent, regular, and reasonable visitation with the parent or guardian and family members should be encouraged; (F) parents and guardians must actively participate in family support services so as to facilitate the child's being able to remain in the home; when children are removed from the home, the parents and guardians must actively participate in family support services to make return of their children to the home possible; and (G) to the extent practicable, the Department of Family and Community Services should enable a child's contact with previous out-of-home caregivers when appropriate and in the best interests of the child; (5) numerous studies establish that (A) children undergo a critical attachment process before the time they reach six years of age; (B) a child who has not attached with an adult caregiver during this critical stage will suffer significant emotional damage that frequently leads to chronic psychological problems and antisocial behavior when the child reaches adolescence and adulthood; and (C) it is important to provide for an expedited placement procedure to ensure that all children, especially those under the age of six years, who have been removed from their homes are placed in permanent homes expeditiously. Sec. 47.06.040. Material incorporated by reference. Under AS 44.62.245 (a)(2), in adopting or amending a regulation that incorporates a document or other material by reference, the department may incorporate future amended versions of the document or other material if the document or other material is (1) the federal poverty guidelines for the state prepared by the United States Department of Health and Human Services; or (2) the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. Sec. 47.06.050. Consent to conditions of federal programs. In order to take advantage of the training grants provisions of 42 U.S.C. 301 — 1397f (Social Security Act), as amended, the state, through the department, consents and agrees to all conditions required by federal statute and regulation necessary for the state to participate fully in the training grants or other programs. Sec. 47.06.060. Authorization of the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance. (a) The Department of Family and Community Services and the Department of Health, in cooperation, may, on behalf of the state, enter into the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance and supplementary agreements with agencies of other states for the provision of adoption and medical assistance under AS 47.07 and other provisions of this title for eligible children with special needs. (b) In this section, “state” includes a state, territory, possession, or commonwealth of the United States. Sec. 47.06.070. Monthly reports concerning children. By the 15th day of each month, the Department of Family and Community Services shall provide a report summarizing child protection activities carried out during the previous calendar month and the status of children committed to the department's custody, including information on the number and type of reports of child abuse and neglect received, the outcome of investigations completed, the number of placements of children committed to the department's custody, and the number of foster homes licensed. The report shall be made accessible to the public through the Internet. Sec. 47.06.080. Contracts. (a) The department may contract with a person or local government for the delivery of services to be provided by the department under AS 47.06.010 if the commissioner of family and community services determines the service will be provided at less cost to the state or will be provided in a more effective manner. (b) Services that may be provided by contract under this section include accepting applications for assistance, conducting interviews, making eligibility determinations, and issuing benefits, but do not include adoption of program standards or other matters involving the exercise of agency discretion. (c) A contract authorized under this section is exempt from the competitive bid requirements of AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code). In awarding a contract under this section the department shall request proposals in accordance with regulations of the Department of Administration under AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code). (d) This section does not limit the authority provided by law for the department to contract for the delivery of services other than those provided under AS 47.06.010 . Sec. 47.06.090. Cooperation with federal government. It is the public policy of the state to cooperate and coordinate with the United States government and its agencies in providing for and administering federal and state laws for adult public assistance and the other assistance that is provided for or extended to the people of the state. Sec. 47.06.100. Definition. In AS 47.06.010 — 47.06.100, unless the context otherwise requires, “department” means Department of Family and Community Services.