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Alaska Statutes.

Title 47. Welfare, Social Services and Institutions

Chapter 10. Children in Need of Aid

Section 13. Abandonment.

AS 47.10.013. Abandonment.

(a) For purposes of this chapter, the court may find abandonment of a child if a parent or guardian has shown a conscious disregard of parental responsibilities toward the child by failing to provide reasonable support, maintain regular contact, or provide normal supervision, considering the child's age and need for care by an adult. Abandonment of a child also includes instances when the parent or guardian, without justifiable cause,

(1) left the child with another person without provision for the child's support and without meaningful communication with the child for a period of three months;

(2) has made only minimal efforts to support and communicate with the child;

(3) failed for a period of at least six months to maintain regular visitation with the child;

(4) failed to participate in a suitable plan or program designed to reunite the parent or guardian with the child;

(5) left the child without affording means of identifying the child and the child's parent or guardian;

(6) was absent from the home for a period of time that created a substantial risk of serious harm to a child left in the home;

(7) failed to respond to notice of child protective proceedings; or

(8) was unwilling to provide care, support, or supervision for the child.

(b) For purposes of (a) of this section, a parent or guardian who is a victim of domestic violence, or who has a child in the parent's or guardian's care who is the victim of domestic violence, is considered to have justifiable cause to take an action or to fail to take an action that would otherwise be considered to be abandonment of a child under (a) of this section if the action or failure to act is necessary to protect the parent or guardian, or a child in the care of the parent or guardian, from further acts of domestic violence. However, a parent or guardian who initially had justifiable cause to act or fail to act as described in this subsection may be considered to have abandoned the child without justifiable cause for purposes of (a) of this section if the parent or guardian does not take reasonable steps to reunify with or provide care for the abandoned child after becoming secure from further acts of domestic violence or after providing that another child in the care of the parent or guardian is secure from further acts of domestic violence.

Note to HTML Version:

This version of the Alaska Statutes is current through December, 2004. The Alaska Statutes were automatically converted to HTML from a plain text format. Every effort has been made to ensure their accuracy, but this can not be guaranteed. If it is critical that the precise terms of the Alaska Statutes be known, it is recommended that more formal sources be consulted. For statutes adopted after the effective date of these statutes, see, Alaska State Legislature If any errors are found, please e-mail Touch N' Go systems at E-mail. We hope you find this information useful.

Last modified 9/3/2005