HB 151 — An Act relating to a special audit; relating to the duties of the Department of Health and Social Services; relating to training and workload standards for employees of the Department of Health and Social Services and providing immunity from damages related to those standards; relating to foster care home licensing; relating to civil and criminal history background checks for foster care licensing and payments; relating to placement of a child in need of aid; relating to the rights and responsibilities of foster parents; relating to completed investigations of reports of harm to a child; requiring the Department of Health and Social Services to provide information to a child or person released from the department's custody; and providing for an effective date.

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"AnRelating Act relating to a special audit;

and providing for an effective date."date. SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO.

151(FIN)00Enrolled 01HB "An151 Act01 relatingRelating to a special audit;

relating to the duties of the Department of Health 02 and Social 02 Services;

relating to training and workload standards for employees of the 03 Department of 03 Health and Social Services and providing immunity from damages 04 related to those standards;

04 relating to foster care home licensing;

relating to civil and 05 criminal history background checks 05 for foster care licensing and payments;

relating to 06 placement of a child in need of aid;

relating 06 to the rights and responsibilities of foster 07 parents;

relating to completed investigations of 07 reports of harm to a child;

requiring the 08 Department of Health and Social Services to provide 08 information to a child or person 09 released from the department's custody;

and providing for an 09 effective date."date. 10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:

10 _______________ 11 * Section 1.

The report prepared under this subsection is 18 separate from the annual report to the legislature required under AS 18.05.020,18.05.020 and 19 must include, for the previous 12 months, 20 (1) the number of frontline social workers employed by the division, 21 the annual average turnover rate of the workers, and the average caseload of the 22 workers on January 1 and July 1 of that year;

(E) number of children released from the department'scustody custody;of the 02 department;

0203 (4) if the department has met or exceeded the caseload standards under 0304 this chapter and, if the standards were exceeded, the number of caseworker positions 0405 in the division that could be eliminated and the amount of funding that could be 0506 reduced while continuing to meet but not routinely exceed the caseload standards;

0607 (5) the performance of the department on federal benchmarks focused 0708 on the safety, well-being, and permanent placements of foster children compared with 0809 the previous five years.

0910 * Sec.

1011 (b) If the department determines that it is in the best interests of a child in the 1112 department's custody of the department to place the child with an adult family member who does 13 not 12 have a foster care home license under AS 47.32, the department shall assist the 14 adult 13 family member in obtaining a license, including assisting the adult family 15 member 14 with obtaining any variances necessary to obtain the license, so that the family16 15family member is eligible for payments under AS 47.14.100(b) and (d).

1617 * Sec.

1718 (g) When the department or a local government health or social services 1819 agency (1) completes an investigation of a report of harm concerning a child, (2) 1920 determines, based on the investigation findings, that department or local agency 2021 services to protect the child are not required, and (3) identifies an appropriate 2122 community organization that will actively reach out to families to provide needed 2223 support services, the department or local government health or social services agency 2324 shall seek the written consent of the child's parent or guardian to refer the family to the 2425 community organization.

If the parent or guardian consents to the referral, the 2526 department or local government health or social services agency shall refer the parent 2627 or guardian to the community organization identified by the department.

If the child 2728 has more than one parent or guardian and only one parent or guardian consents to the 2829 referral, the department or local government health or social services agency shall 2930 refer the parent or guardian who consents to the community organization but may not 3031 provide information to the community organization concerning the parent or guardian 31 who does not consent to the referral.

A community organization that receives 02 information from the department or a local government health or social services 0203 agency under this subsection may not disclose the information to a person who is not 0304 authorized by law to receive it.

0405 * Sec.

0506 (d) When an individual 16 years of age or older who has been in state custody 0607 under AS 47.10 for at least six months is released from state custody, the department 0708 shall, in addition to any training, services, and assistance provided under (a) - (c) of 0809 this section, provide the individual with or assist the individual with obtaining the 0910 individual's 1011 (1) birth certificate;

the birth certificate may be an official or certified 1112 copy;

1213 (2) social security card;

1314 (3) health insurance information;

1415 (4) medical records;

1516 (5) driver's license or identification card;

and 1617 (6) certificate of degree of Indian or Alaska Native blood, if 1718 applicable.

1819 * Sec.

1920 (c) To the extent feasible, the department shall approve or deny a foster care 2021 home license, including a request for a variance under this section, not more than 45 2122 days after the date the department receives the application for a foster care home 2223 license.

If it is not feasible to approve or deny a foster care home license not more than 2324 45 days after receiving the application, a supervisory-level employee may authorize a 2425 longer period of time for the decision, but the period must be the shortest period 2526 feasible.

2627 * Sec.

The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 2728 read:

2829 APPLICABILITY.

(a) Sections 3, 8 - 10, 12 - 16, 18, and 20 of this Act apply to a 2930 child in the custody or under the supervision of the Department of Health and Social Services 3031 under AS 47.10 on or after the effective date of secs.