CSHB 363(HSS): "An Act relating to the placement of foster children in psychiatric hospitals; relating to the care of children in state custody placed in residential facilities outside the state; and amending Rule 12.1(b), Alaska Child in Need of Aid Rules of Procedure."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 363(HSS) 01 "An Act relating to the placement of foster children in psychiatric hospitals; relating to 02 the care of children in state custody placed in residential facilities outside the state; and 03 amending Rule 12.1(b), Alaska Child in Need of Aid Rules of Procedure." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 47.10.087(b) is amended to read: 06 (b) A court shall review a placement made under (a) of this section at least 07 once every 90 days. The court may authorize the department to continue the placement 08 of the child in a secure residential psychiatric treatment center if the court finds, based 09 on the testimony of a mental health professional, that the conditions or symptoms that 10 resulted in the initial order have not ameliorated to such an extent that the child's 11 needs can be met in a less restrictive setting and that the child's mental condition could 12 be improved by the course of treatment or would deteriorate if untreated. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 47.10.087(d) is amended to read: 14 (d) In this section,
01 (1) "acute psychiatric hospital" means a hospital or part of a 02 hospital that primarily provides diagnosis and short-term treatment of mental, 03 emotional, and behavioral disorders; 04 (2) "contemporaneous two-way video conference" means a 05 conference among people at different places by means of transmitted audio and 06 visual signals, using any communication technology that allows people at two or 07 more places to interact simultaneously by way of two-way video and audio 08 transmission; 09 (3) "likely to cause serious harm" has the meaning given in 10 AS 47.30.915. 11 * Sec. 3. AS 47.10.087 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 12 (e) The department may place a child who is in the custody of the department 13 under AS 47.10.080(c)(1) or (3) or 47.10.142 in an acute psychiatric hospital if it is 14 the least restrictive placement available and the person in charge of admittance to the 15 facility finds that 16 (1) the child is gravely disabled or suffering from a mental illness and, 17 as a result, is likely to cause serious harm to the child or another person; and 18 (2) there is reason to believe that the child's mental condition could be 19 improved by the course of treatment or would deteriorate further if left untreated. 20 (f) Within 24 hours after placing a child in an acute psychiatric hospital under 21 (e) of this section, the department shall notify the court, the child's parents, and any 22 other parties to an ongoing child-in-need-of-aid case involving the child of the 23 placement. Upon making the placement, the department shall immediately begin to 24 search for a less restrictive placement for the child. 25 (g) A court shall review a placement made under (e) of this section within 48 26 hours after receiving notification of the child's placement in an acute psychiatric 27 hospital. The court shall notify the child, the child's attorney, the child's parents, the 28 department, and any parties to a child-in-need-of-aid case involving the child of the 29 time and place of the hearing once the hearing is scheduled. Computation of the 48- 30 hour period at an acute psychiatric hospital does not include Saturdays, Sundays, and 31 legal holidays, except that if the exclusion of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays
01 from the computation of the 48-hour period would result in the child being held for 02 longer than 48 hours, the 48-hour period ends at 5:00 pm on the next day that is not a 03 Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. The court may grant one request to continue the 04 hearing for up to two business days if necessary to secure the attendance of the child, a 05 party, or a material witness. The hearing shall be held at the acute psychiatric hospital 06 in person, by contemporaneous two-way video conference, or by teleconference, 07 absent extraordinary circumstances. If a hearing is held by contemporaneous two-way 08 video conference, only the court may record the hearing. The court may authorize the 09 department to continue the placement of the child in an acute psychiatric hospital if 10 the court finds by clear and convincing evidence, based on the testimony of a mental 11 health professional, that the conditions or symptoms that resulted in the initial 12 placement under (e) of this section have not ameliorated to such an extent that the 13 child's needs can be met in a less restrictive setting and that the child's mental 14 condition could be improved by the course of treatment or would deteriorate if 15 untreated. 16 (h) The court shall review a placement approved under (g) of this section 17 (1) at least once every 30 days; and 18 (2) when requested by the child or another party, upon a showing of 19 good cause. 20 * Sec. 4. AS 47.14.112(d) is amended to read: 21 (d) The division of the department with responsibility over the custody of 22 children shall prepare and make available to the legislature an annual report on 23 employee recruitment and retention, including a five-year plan, for the division. Not 24 later than November 15 of each year, the department shall deliver the report to the 25 senate secretary and the chief clerk of the house of representatives and notify the 26 legislature that the report is available. The report prepared under this subsection is 27 separate from the annual report to the legislature required under AS 18.05.020 and 28 must include, for the previous 12 months, 29 (1) the number of frontline social workers employed by the division, 30 the annual average turnover rate of the workers, and the average caseload of the 31 workers on January 1 and July 1 of that year;
01 (2) the number of children removed from their homes; 02 (3) the achievement of success measured by the following: 03 (A) rate of family reunification; 04 (B) average length of time children spent in custody of the 05 department; 06 (C) rate of placement with an adult family member or family 07 friend; 08 (D) number of children placed in a permanent living 09 arrangement with a guardian or biological or adoptive parent; 10 (E) number of children released from the custody of the 11 department; 12 (4) if the department has met or exceeded the caseload standards under 13 this chapter and, if the standards were exceeded, the number of caseworker positions 14 in the division that could be eliminated and the amount of funding that could be 15 reduced while continuing to meet but not routinely exceed the caseload standards; 16 (5) the performance of the department on federal benchmarks focused 17 on the safety, well-being, and permanent placements of foster children compared with 18 the previous five years; 19 (6) the number of children placed in residential facilities providing 20 care for children outside the state. 21 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 22 read: 23 DIRECT COURT RULE AMENDMENT. Rule 12.1(b), Alaska Child in Need 24 of Aid Rules of Procedure, is amended to read: 25 (b) Appointment Types. 26 (1) Mandatory Appointments. 27 (A) The court shall appoint an attorney for a child who is 10 28 years of age or older in any of the following circumstances: 29 (i) [(A)] The child does not consent to placement in a 30 [PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL OR] residential treatment center; 31 (ii) [(B)] The child does not consent to administration
01 of psychotropic medication; 02 (iii) [(C)] The child objects to disclosure of 03 psychotherapy information or records under CINA Rule 9(b); 04 (iv) [(D)] A request for a court order authorizing 05 emergency protective custody has been made under AS 47.10.141(c); 06 or 07 (v) [(E)] The child is pregnant or has custody of a minor 08 child; and 09 (B) The court shall appoint an attorney for a child who has 10 been placed in an acute psychiatric hospital as defined in AS 47.10.087. 11 (2) Discretionary Appointments. The court may appoint an attorney 12 in other circumstances including, but not limited to: 13 (A) The child's and guardian ad litem's positions are not 14 aligned on placement, family or sibling contact, permanency goal, case plan, or 15 another important issue in the case; 16 (B) The child would benefit from a confidential relationship 17 with an attorney; or 18 (C) The child is not residing in the designated placement.