4.5.6 Annual Review of Supervision
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4.5.6 Annual Review of Supervision

(Revision. 10/1/15)

Authority:Authority:

AS 47.10.080(f) Judgments and Orders

AS 47.10.083 Review of Orders, Requests for Extensions

Alaska Child in Need of Aid Rule 19

Background, Policy, and Procedure:

  1. Purpose of Annual Review: The purpose of an annual review of supervision is to determine whether continued supervision, as it is being provided, is in the best interests of the child. The annual review is conducted by the court based upon written reports and other documentation without a hearing, unless an evidentiary hearing is requested by a party or ordered by the court.

  2. Time Limit: An annual review must be held one year after the date of the disposition order placing the child in the supervision of the department.

  3. Information Relied Upon: In conducting the annual review of supervision, the court relies upon the report submitted by the department, as well as any evidence or other relevant information submitted by the parties.

  4. Report for Annual Review: At least 20 days before the anniversary of the disposition order placing the child in the supervision of the department, the department must submit to the court and parties a report that includes:

    1. a copy of the current case plan; and

    2. a description of the services offered by the department and the services utilized by the parent(s), guardian, or Indian Custodian to make it possible for the child to remain in the home.

      The report must be accompanied by a notice of right to counsel; a notice of the right to submit statements, affidavits, or other evidence to the court; and a notice of the right to request an evidentiary hearing.

  5. Notice to Tribe: The party requesting an evidentiary hearing must provide notice of the hearing to the Indian child’s Tribe, even if the Tribe has not previously intervened or participated in the proceedings.

  6. Presentation of Evidence: If an evidentiary hearing is requested or ordered, the PSS and/or other witnesses may be required to testify in support of continued supervision. Because hearsay is generally admissible at an evidentiary hearing on annual review, the child will not usually have to testify at this stage of the proceedings.

  7. Findings on Annual Review: If the court finds that the child is no longer a child in need of aid, or that it is not in the best interests of the child to continue supervision, the court will release the department from supervision of the family. If the court finds that the child continues to be a child in need of aid and that continued supervision is in the child’s best interests, the court will continue supervision.