2.6.1 Placements

AS 47.10.142 Emergency Custody and Temporary Placement Hearing

AS 47.14.100 Powers and Duties of Department over Care of Child

25 U.S.C 1901–1923 Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) (P. L. 95-608)

42 U.S.C. 670- 675Title IV Part E – Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance

 

To establish procedures for placing children in out-of-home care.

 

Federal Law:

1. Within thirty days of removing a child from the parent(s), the State must exercise due diligence to identify and provide notice to all adult grandparents and to other adult relatives of the child subject to exceptions due to family or domestic violence. The notice must specify that the child has been or is being removed from the home and explain the options the relative has under federal and state law to participate in the care and placement of the child.

2. States are required to consider giving preference to an Adult Relative over a non-related caregiver when determining a placement for a child, provided that the relative meets all relevant State child protection standards.

3. For Native children, the placement preferences in the Indian Child Welfare Act must be followed absent good cause to the contrary.

4. The Multi-Ethnic Placement Act (MEPA) provides guidelines for foster care and adoptive placements. ICWA placement preferences are an exception to this Act and ICWA will be followed. MEPA outlines that States may not:

   1. deny to any person the opportunity to become an adoptive or a foster parent, on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the person, or of the child, involved; or

   2. delay or deny the placement of a child for adoption or into foster care, on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the adoptive or foster parent, or the child, involved.

5. States are required to make reasonable efforts to place siblings removed from their home in the same foster care, guardianship, or adoptive placement unless the State documents that such a joint placement would be contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings.

6. Before a child under the responsibility of the State is placed with prospective out-of-home caregivers, the prospective caregivers will be prepared adequately with the appropriate knowledge and skills to provide for the needs of the child.

7. At the time of a child’s placement in out-of-home care, a copy of the child’s most recent health and education records available must be provided to the caregivers with whom the child is placed.

State Law:

1. When a child is removed from the home, the department shall search for an appropriate placement with an Adult Family Member or family friend. A supervisor at the department shall certify in writing in the case file whether the department has searched for an appropriate placement with an adult family member or family friend. If the department has not complied with the search requirements under the subsection, the supervisor shall work to ensure that the department completes the search in the shortest time feasible. OCS is required to place the child, in the absence of Clear and Convincing Evidence of good cause to the contrary:

   1. in the least restrictive setting which meets the child’s special needs, if any;

   2. within reasonable proximity to the child’s home, taking into account any special needs of the child and the preferences of the child or parent;

   3. in the following order of preference:

      1. an adult family member;

      2. a family friend who meets the foster care licensing requirements established by the department;

      3. a licensed foster home that is not an adult family member or a family friend; or

      4. an institution for children that has a program suitable to meet the child’s needs.

   4. For the purpose of determining whether the home of a relative meets the requirements for placement of a child, the department shall conduct a criminal background check from state and national criminal justice information available under AS 12.62. The department shall conduct a fingerprint background check on any member of the relative’s household who is 16 years of age or older when the relative requests placement of the child.

2. Emergency placement of a child not already in custody shall occur only after a worker has assumed emergency custody.

3. Non-custodial supervision does not constitute legal custody, and therefore emergency placement of a child under non-custodial supervision requires filing an emergency petition as outlined in sections 4.2 Emergency Custody and 2.3.3 Emergency Custody/Probable Cause Hearing and Court Orders.

4. When a child is placed in foster care, the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) is required to provide the foster parents with information regarding the education, medical, and mental health needs of the child in order to provide adequate care.

5. Foster parents are responsible for the following:

   1. maintaining and updating records regarding medical, mental, educational, and behavioral services provided to children in their care;

   2. returning all records described above to the department when the child leaves the foster home placement; and

   3. maintaining the confidentiality of records regarding a child placed in the foster home except when disclosure of the records is allowed under regulations of the department or when disclosure is reasonably necessary to ensure the continuation of care for the child through appropriate medical, mental, educational, and behavioral services.