HB 153-CHILD IN NEED OF AID; NOTICE OF PLACEMENT  4:51:25 PM CO-CHAIR ZULKOSKY announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 153, "An Act relating to the identification, location, and notification of specified family members of a child who is in state custody." 4:51:37 PM REPRESENTATIVE MIKE CRONK, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor, presented HB 153. He explained that HB 153 came about after discovering the extent of the delays in finding close friends or relatives when placing children in the most appropriate homes. He opined that using language, such as "the department completes the search in the shortest time feasible" [sourced from House Bill 151, passed during the Thirtieth Alaska State Legislature], does not provide sufficient time to ensure family searches are completed in a timely manner. He added that turnover at the division continues to be above 50 percent, with children's cases being handled by multiple case workers, increasing the time frame for the family search to be accomplished. He expressed his concern that any delay in the search for placement of Alaska Native children in appropriate family members' homes as close to the child's home in injurious to the child as well as to the child's cultural connections. REPRESENTATIVE CRONK expressed additional concern over the [United States] Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to strike portions of the Indian Child Welfare Act's (ICWA's) preference to indigenous family placements and how that may impact Alaska. Any delay in the family or cultural placement, he continued, could mean a return to the 85 percent non Native household placement rate, which was the rate that was experienced prior to the ICWA's implementation. He reiterated that it is important for children to be placed in a home as close to the child's family home as possible, and to be placed with relatives or family friends, as this ensures that the life of the child is not unnecessarily upended and provides the child with the cultural grounding. He expressed that this has been proven to be the best placement option for a child. REPRESENTATIVE CRONK shared a personal anecdote from his time working as a teacher where his family took in a child who he had previously taught who was taken away from her family home. He explained that there seemed to be nothing his family could do to alleviate her sorrow as she was not with her family and her brothers had been placed in different homes. He shared that this was an impactful experience for him. He noted that HB 153 originally was spearheaded by former State of Alaska Representative Dave Talerico. He concluded that putting a 30- day time limit on the search to find a family placement is vital. 4:54:33 PM REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY asked Representative Cronk whether the language in the bill definitively states that a child must be placed in an appropriate home within 30 days. REPRESENTATIVE CRONK responded that he understands that Alaska is a big state and that a child may or may not be placed within 30 days, but it is important that everything possible is done to place a child in the most appropriate home as possible. 4:55:43 PM CO-CHAIR SNYDER asked Representative Cronk about the description of Section 3, of HB 153, found in the Sectional Analysis, as follows [original punctuation provided]: Sec. 3. This section allows the department to provide for emergency placement of a child while conducting due diligence. CO-CHAIR SNYDER asked how the sectional analysis relates to the language in Section 3, lines 6 - 11, of HB 153, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Health and Social Services may adopt regulations necessary to implement the changes made by this Act. The regulations take effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of the law implemented by the regulation. CO-CHAIR SNYDER asked how the language in Section 3 of HB 153 differs from current practice. 4:57:54 PM CHRISSY VOGELEY, Community Relations Manager, Office of Children's Services (OCS), Department of Health and Social Services, stated that she is equally confused by the difference in content between the description of Section 3 in the Sectional Analysis and Section 3 of HB 153. REPRESENTATIVE CRONK noted that he has had some questions similar to this, but expressed that the goal of the proposed legislation is for children to not get lost, noting the high turnover at OCS as a potential cause of this, and for there to be an individual who is responsible for searching for appropriate families within 30 days. 4:49:20 PM CO-CHAIR SNYDER asked Ms. Vogeley how what is proposed in HB 153 differs from or augments what is currently happening. MS. VOGELEY answered that federal law requires OCS to conduct diligent and regular relative searches within the first 30 days to notify adult family members of the removal of a child from the child's home. She stated that this is already happening. She shared that OCS also continues searching past the initial 30-day timeframe, and per the federal relative placement preferences, OCS expands the search to find as many relatives as possible in an attempt to place a child with a relative. 5:00:43 PM REPRESENTATIVE SPOHNHOLZ commented that, while she supports the intent of the bill, there may be some "clean-up" required. She noted that Section 2 references an effective date in the bill, but that there is no effective date. The referenced section [Section 2, lines 1 - 15] read as follows [original punctuation provided]: * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: APPLICABILITY. Section 1 of this Act applies to a child in the custody or under the supervision of the Department of Health and Social Services under AS 47.10 on or after the effective date of sec. 1 of this Act. REPRESENTATIVE SPOHNHOLZ noted the aforementioned difference between the description of Section 3 in the Sectional Analysis and Section 3 of HB 153 as another aspect that needs to be cleaned up, and suggested that Representative Cronk consider drafting some amendments to give the bill more structure. 5:01:46 PM REPRESENTATIVE KURKA shared his understanding that there is a default effective date for every bill, and that it is not necessary to state an effective date explicitly. He asked Representative Spohnholz for clarification on what she is looking for regarding the effective date. REPRESENTATIVE SPOHNHOLZ responded, observing that the way [Section 3 of] HB 153 is drafted in its current state references an effective date in Section 1 of HB 153 but there is none listed. She said that she presumed that this was a drafting error. [HB 153 was held over.]