00                            HOUSE BILL NO. 252                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to the construction of certain statutes relating to children; relating to                              
02 the scope of duty and standard of care for persons who provide services to certain                                      
03 children and families; and providing for an effective date."                                                            
04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
05    * Section 1.  AS 47.10.005 is amended to read:                                                                     
06            Sec. 47.10.005.  Construction.  The provisions of this chapter shall be                                    
07       liberally construed to                                                                                            
08                 (1)  recognize that parents possess inherent, individual rights to                                  
09       direct and control the education and upbringing of their children; and                                        
10                 (2)  achieve the end that a child coming within the jurisdiction of the                             
11       court under this chapter may receive the care, guidance, treatment, and control that                              
12       will promote the child's welfare and the parents' participation in the child's                                
13       upbringing.                                                                                                   
14    * Sec. 2.  AS 47.10 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                    

01            Sec. 47.10.961.  Duty and standard of care; regulations.  The department                                   
02       shall adopt regulations that establish the scope of the duty owed and the standard of                             
03       care that must be met by the department's employees with regard to the children and                               
04       families being served under this chapter.  The regulations must be consistent in all                              
05       relevant respects with the code of professional ethics and the standards of practice for                          
06       social work adopted by the Board of Social Work Examiners under AS 08.95.                                         
07    * Sec. 3.  AS 47.10.960 is repealed.                                                                               
08    * Sec. 4.  Sections 1 and 2 of this Act take effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).                             
09    * Sec. 5.  Section 3 of this Act takes effect 180 days after the effective date of sec. 2 of this                  
10 Act.