Title 7 . Health and Social Services

Chapter 50 . (Reserved)

Section 615. Emergency shelter care for runaway children in residential child care facilities

7 AAC 50.615. Emergency shelter care for runaway children in residential child care facilities

(a) In order to be approved as specializing in emergency shelter care for runaway children, a residential child care facility must meet the requirements of 7 AAC 50.610(a) - (j) and this section. A facility may not advertise or represent that it specializes in serving runaway children without a specialization in emergency shelter care for runaway children approved by the division.

(b) Upon a runaway child's admission to a facility the facility shall

(1) immediately inform the child seeking assistance of the child's legal rights and responsibilities under AS 47.10.141 - 47.10.142 and AS 47.10.300 - 47.10.399 and of services and assistance available for runaway children from the facility and from governmental and community sources;

(2) attempt to determine why the child is a runaway;

(3) notify the child's parent of the child's physical and emotional condition and the circumstances surrounding the child's admission to the facility as soon as possible, but no later than 48 hours after admission, unless

(A) the facility is notified that the division or the child's placement worker, if any, has already done so;

(B) there is reason to believe that the child has been physically or sexually abused by the child's parent and the division is notified immediately;

(C) there is reason to believe that notifying the child's parent would endanger the life or safety of the child or another person in the facility and the division is notified immediately; or

(D) the child will not divulge the name of the child's parent or the parent cannot be reached after a good faith effort and the division is notified within 48 hours;

(4) notify the division, within 24 hours, of the whereabouts of a child who has been reported by the division to be in state custody or for whom the facility knows there is a court order for the division or a law enforcement agency to take custody of the child; and

(5) obtain, within 48 hours, the consent of the division for a child in state custody to remain in residence at the facility.

(c) A facility must have a program of care for serving runaway children that includes

(1) establishing reunification of a runaway child with the child's family as a primary goal, except when reunification is clearly contrary to the best interests of the child;

(2) offering family mediation services within the first week of the child's residency, unless clearly not appropriate;

(3) assisting a runaway child to consider the child's legal rights and responsibilities, options, and access to services;

(4) determining why a child is a runaway;

(5) identifying a child for whom reunification is not an appropriate goal, and working with the division to develop plans to provide for the care and safety of the child;

(6) looking for symptoms of child abuse or neglect, and immediately reporting suspected cases of child abuse or neglect to the division;

(7) identifying the symptoms of alcohol and drug abuse or dependence, and making referrals of a child that has those symptoms to treatment resources;

(8) providing or assisting in arranging for necessary services for the child, including food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and individual and family counseling; and

(9) providing or arranging for visitation and other forms of communication by the child with the child's family and significant others.

(d) In order to promote reunification of a runaway child with the child's family, a facility may not normally provide shelter for a runaway child for a period exceeding two weeks during the child's stay at the facility.

(e) For a child, including a child in state custody, that is expected to remain in the facility for no more than 45 days, the facility shall, within 10 days of the child's admission, complete an assessment of the child and the child's circumstances that

(1) includes observations of the child while in the facility;

(2) is based in part on a meeting of staff, the child, the child's parent, and other concerned individuals, as available;

(3) includes a review of any materials about the child that the facility has received and the child's health information from the form 06-9372 adopted by reference in 7 AAC 50.610(c) ; and

(4) includes a review of the

(A) reasons for the child's admission to the facility and the child's circumstances at the time of admission;

(B) child's significant history, including education, health, and professional evaluations; and

(C) child's family circumstances, including the needs and strengths of the family and the likelihood of successful reunification.

(f) Upon completion of the assessment required by (e) of this section, the facility shall prepare a plan of care based on the assessment that includes

(1) the findings of the assessment;

(2) the goals to be achieved or worked toward for the child and the child's family, including reunification with the family or development of an alternative plan;

(3) a strategy for fostering positive family relationships for the child and the child's family, regardless of whether reunification is the goal of the plan;

(4) a description of the services to be provided by the facility, by the child's parents or agency having custody, from other community resources, and by the department;

(5) plans for family mediation or family involvement, as appropriate;

(6) plans for religious and cultural participation, as appropriate;

(7) plans for education, as appropriate; and

(8) a discharge plan that includes the anticipated date of discharge and the person or agency to whom the child is expected to be discharged, if any.

(g) For a child that is expected to reside in a facility for more than 45 days, the facility shall enter into an agreement between the facility and the parent of the child. The agreement must contain the elements of an agreement specified in 7 AAC 50.320(f) .

(h) A facility shall discharge a runaway child

(1) after 45 days if the facility has not obtained written consent from the child's parent for the child's residence at the facility for a period exceeding 45 days, unless the child has been placed in state custody;

(2) after 90 days if the facility has not obtained written consent from child's parent or the division for the child's continued residence at the facility for a period exceeding 90 days.

(i) A facility

(1) shall make a good faith effort to reunite a child in care with the child's family, when appropriate;

(2) if reuniting the child with the child's family is not appropriate, shall attempt to find a safe place for the child to stay with a responsible adult;

(3) may discharge a child age 16 or older care to the child's self, when necessary and appropriate; and

(4) shall report a proposed discharge of a runaway child to the child's parent, to the child's placement worker, and to the division at least 12 hours before the discharge if the discharge is to be made to the child's self or to the custody of a person other than the child's parent.

(j) A facility that receives state money in an amount that exceeds one-fourth of the program's costs shall install devices such as door and window alarms to establish the entire facility as semi-secure. In addition,

(1) the devices and installation must meet the approval of the fire safety authority to ensure egress; and

(2) selection and installation of a device may not impede adequate ventilation.

History: Eff. 1/1/96, Register 136; am 3/1/98, Register 145

Authority: AS 44.29.020

AS 47.05.060

AS 47.10.300

AS 47.10.310 (c)(6)

AS 47.10.320

AS 47.10.392

AS 47.35.010

Editor's note: The division's form that is referenced in 7 AAC 50.615(e) is form 06-9372 (Rev. 10/95) on file in the office of the lieutenant governor. The form may be obtained from the Division of Family and Youth Services, P.O. Box 110630, 350 Main Street, Room 404, Juneau, Alaska 99811-0630, or any office of the division.