CSHB 354(HES): "An Act relating to adoptions, to subsidies for a hard-to-place child, to criminal sanctions for unlawful disclosure of confidential information pertaining to a child, to child support orders in child-in-need-of-aid and delinquency proceedings, and to civil actions on behalf of children in need of aid who are injured or die while in state custody; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 354(HES) 01 "An Act relating to adoptions, to subsidies for a hard-to-place child, to criminal 02 sanctions for unlawful disclosure of confidential information pertaining to a child, to 03 child support orders in child-in-need-of-aid and delinquency proceedings, and to civil 04 actions on behalf of children in need of aid who are injured or die while in state custody; 05 and providing for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 25.23.050 is amended to read: 08 Sec. 25.23.050. Persons as to whom consent and notice not required. (a) 09 Consent to adoption is not required of 10 (1) for purposes of this section, a parent who has abandoned a child for 11 a period of at least six months; 12 (2) a parent of a child in the custody of another, if the parent for a 13 period of at least one year has failed significantly without justifiable cause, including
01 but not limited to indigency, 02 (A) to communicate meaningfully with the child, or 03 (B) to provide for the care and support of the child as required 04 by law or judicial decree; 05 (3) the father of a minor if the father's consent is not required by 06 AS 25.23.040(a)(2); 07 (4) a parent who has relinquished the right to consent under 08 AS 25.23.180; 09 (5) a parent whose parental rights have been terminated by order of the 10 court under AS 25.23.180(c)(3) or AS 47.10.080(c)(3); 11 (6) a parent judicially declared incompetent or mentally defective if the 12 court dispenses with the parent's consent; 13 (7) a parent of the person to be adopted, if the person is 18 [19] or 14 more years of age [, AND THE COURT DISPENSES WITH THE CONSENT OF 15 THE PARENT]; 16 (8) a guardian or custodian specified in AS 25.23.040(a)(3) or (4) who 17 has failed to respond in writing to a request for consent for a period of 60 days or who, 18 after examination of the guardian's or custodian's written reasons for withholding 19 consent, is found by the court to be withholding consent unreasonably; or 20 (9) the spouse of the person to be adopted, if the requirement of 21 consent to the adoption is waived by the court by reason of prolonged unexplained 22 absence, unavailability, incapacity, or circumstances constituting an unreasonable 23 withholding of consent. 24 (b) Except as provided in AS 25.23.100, notice of a hearing on a petition for 25 adoption need not be given to a person whose consent is not required or to a person 26 whose consent or relinquishment has been filed with the petition. 27 * Sec. 2. AS 25.23.100(a) is amended to read: 28 (a) After the filing of a petition to adopt a minor, the court shall fix a time and 29 place for hearing the petition. Except as provided in (k) of this section, at [AT] least 30 20 days before the date of hearing, the petitioner shall give notice of the filing of the 31 petition and of the time and place of hearing to (1) the department, unless the adoption
01 is by a stepparent of the child; (2) any agency or person whose consent to the adoption 02 is required by this chapter, but who has not consented; and (3) a person whose consent 03 is dispensed with upon any ground mentioned in AS 25.23.050(a)(1), (2), (3), (6), (7), 04 (8) and (9), but who has not consented. The notice to the department shall be 05 accompanied by a copy of the petition. 06 * Sec. 3. AS 25.23.100 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 07 (k) A petitioner is not required to provide notice under (a) of this section to a 08 parent whose consent is dispensed with under AS 25.23.050(a)(1) or (a)(2) if the 09 parent has had no contact with the child and has not supported the child 10 (1) during the year preceding the filing of the petition for adoption; and 11 (2) after the filing of the petition. 12 * Sec. 4. AS 25.23.210 is repealed and reenacted to read: 13 Sec. 25.23.210. Amount and duration of subsidy payments. (a) The 14 department may adopt regulations to set the amount and length of time that a subsidy 15 for a hard-to-place child may be granted. 16 (b) A subsidy granted by the department under this section may be 17 (1) paid for a specified length of time not to extend after the child's 18 18th birthday; and 19 (2) a deferred subsidy; in this paragraph, "deferred subsidy" means that 20 no monetary reimbursement is paid to a family but other benefits are paid for the 21 child. 22 (c) A subsidy granted under this section may not 23 (1) exceed the existing rate for foster care; or 24 (2) be changed without the written request or consent of the person 25 caring for the child. 26 (d) The department shall review whether the amount of a subsidy granted for a 27 child is appropriate on request of the person caring for the child. 28 (e) Subsidies shall be paid from the same public funds and in the same manner 29 as foster care payments. 30 * Sec. 5. AS 47.10.092(f) is amended to read: 31 (f) A person who discloses confidential or privileged information in
01 violation of (a) [VIOLATES A PROVISION] of this section is guilty of a 02 misdemeanor, and upon conviction is punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or by 03 imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both. 04 * Sec. 6. AS 47.10.120(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) When a child in need of aid is committed under this chapter, the court or 06 the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010 shall, after giving the 07 parent a reasonable opportunity to be heard, require [ADJUDGE] that the parent pay 08 to the department in a manner that the court or the child support services agency 09 directs a sum to cover in full or in part the maintenance and care of the child. The 10 support obligation shall be calculated under Rule 90.3(i) of the Alaska Rules of Civil 11 Procedure. 12 * Sec. 7. AS 47.10.960 is amended to read: 13 Sec. 47.10.960. Civil liability. Except as provided in (b) of this section, 14 failure [FAILURE] to comply with a provision of this title does not constitute a basis 15 for civil liability for damages. 16 * Sec. 8. AS 47.10.960 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 17 (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a civil action for 18 common law negligence or an action under AS 09.55.580 on behalf of a child who is 19 injured or dies while in the custody of the state. 20 * Sec. 9. AS 47.12.230(a) is amended to read: 21 (a) When a delinquent minor is committed under this chapter, the court or the 22 child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010 shall, after giving the parent 23 a reasonable opportunity to be heard, require [ADJUDGE] that the parent pay to the 24 department in a manner that the court or the child support services agency directs a 25 sum to cover in full or in part the maintenance and care of the minor. The support 26 obligation shall be calculated under Rule 90.3(i) of the Alaska Rules of Civil 27 Procedure. 28 * Sec. 10. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).