A child I care about is in foster care in Alaska – An FAQ for friends and relatives

Maybe.  If you are not considered family, then you do not have a right to visitation.  However, it is a best practice to promote stability for children in foster care, including by supporting children’s connections with healthy individuals that were important to them before they entered foster care.  You should contact OCS to explain your relationship and request visits. 

Extended family members who have a relationship with the child have a right to “reasonable visitation.”  What is reasonable may depend on the nature of your relationship, as well as the needs of the child.  If OCS refuses to provide you with any visitation, then you may ask for a visitation review hearing. At that hearingOCS will be required to prove that denial of visitation is in the child’s best interest.  Forms to request a visitation review hearing are available online through the Alaska Court System.
 

OCS has an obligation to place children with suitable adult family members as its first priority when children cannot remain with their parents.  Its second preference is to place with family friends who go through the licensing process.   Crowded housing conditions or poverty are not considered good reasons not to place a child in a home of an adult family member or family friend.  Under OCS policy, after you request placement of a child in your home, OCS has 45 days to make a decision.

“Adult family members” has a specific legal meaning. Under state law, an “adult family member” is defined to include a child’s grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, or sibling’s parent or legal guardian.
In contrast to family friends or strangers accepting children into their home, “adult family members” do not need a foster care license.  However, like all homes, all individuals in the home over the age of 16 must be willing to submit to a fingerprint-based background check, and the home must be physically inspected for safety.  For Indian children, who are either members of a federally recognized tribe, or are eligible for membership through a member parent, adult family members also include individuals recognized by the Tribe as extended family members, as well as brothers- and sisters-in law, nieces and nephews, first and second cousins, and stepparents. 
 

If OCS denies your request, then it must provide you with a written notice of its decision, explaining why.  You have a right to request a hearing before the judge overseeing the child’s case. At that hearing OCS will have to prove that its decision to deny placement in your home was correct.  You will then have the opportunity to present your own evidence on why the child should be placed in your care.  Forms to request a placement review hearing are available available online through the Alaska Court System.

Prior to seeking a review in front of a judge, “adult family members” who have been denied placement because of a “barrier condition” may request additional consideration.  OCS regional staff managers have authority to make an exception to placing with you, even if you or a household member has a criminal or child protection history.  You should explain why your home is currently safe and appropriate.  While OCS is required to consider your criminal and child protection history in making placement decisions, your history is not an absolute barrier to placement as an unlicensed relative.  The judge, in a placement review hearing, will consider this criminal and child protection history as good cause to deny placement in your home.  However, you will have the opportunity to present your own evidence on why, despite this history, your home will be safe and appropriate. 

Parents and children both benefit from the support of family in many different ways.  OCS may not reach out for your assistance if they do not know you are available.  You should contact OCS and/or the parents to let them know if you are: 

• Willing to help facilitate visitation between parents and/or siblings by hosting, supervising, and/or transporting the family to visits. Without family involvement, visits are often held at OCS’s offices, supervised by OCS staff, rather than a familiar environment. 
• Willing to be an informal support to the parents or children. 
• Willing to participate in a safety plan, if one is appropriate.  This would mean assisting OCS in supervising the children while they are in the parents’ care, to ensure that the children remain safe. This can prevent children from entering foster care. 
• Willing to offer a permanent home for the children currently in foster care, even if you are not interested in providing temporary foster care.
   

Yes. As a grandparent, you should get:

• Formal notice that your grandchild is in OCS custody;
• Notice of any upcoming hearings to review the permanent plan for the child; and
• Notice of any petitions to terminate the parents’ rights.  

While you are not a legal party to the case, you have the right to be present at all hearings involving your grandchild, and to speak in court, unless the court determines otherwise.

If you have been convicted of crimes where your grandchild was the victim, or if a court has ordered you to have no contact with your grandchild, then you are not entitled to notice of the proceedings.
 

Information about foster children is confidential under Alaska law.  OCS is required to provide notice to extended family members that a child is in foster care, but the notice does not provide details. OCS may share other information as needed in order to meet the child’s specific needs.  However, most information is not available to the public, even if they are relatives. 
Even though OCS cannot freely share information, OCS can accept information about a family’s needs, and available supports, including placement.  You should contact the family’s OCS caseworker.  You may also call the local OCS office and ask to be connected to the right person.  Information on how to reach OCS is available online on OCS's website.  
The Alaska Court System is unable to share information regarding children’s cases to individuals who are not legal parties to the case.  However, if you have a right to court review of an OCS denial of placement or visitation, the Alaska Court System should be able to supply you with limited information if you explain the purpose of your request: the child’s case number, and legal parties to serve with your request.  The Alaska Department of Law’s Child Protection Division may also provide that limited information; the office can be reached at (907) 269-5140.

If you have a complaint regarding OCS staff, how staff are handling a case or situation or their behavior, you may file a formal grievance. Information on this process is available online on OCS’s website.
The grievance process will not undo or overturn any decision OCS has made.  If you disagree with a decision that OCS has made about you and you want to exercise your rights, you should seek review through a court review of OCS’s decision. 
Because OCS is an Alaska state agency, you may also submit a complaint to the Alaska State Ombudsman, which can investigate the allegations.  The Ombudsman’s office cannot overturn OCS decisions, but can make recommendations on improvements if OCS acted improperly.
 

You may apply to become a licensed foster parent through the state of Alaska.  The application process includes a written application; completion of reference checks; fingerprint-based background checks for all household members 16 and older; and a home inspection.  Licensed foster parents are required to follow licensing regulations on care for the child and the condition of the home.  Foster care payments are considered “reimbursements” for care and are not taxable income.  The rate of reimbursement depends on the age of the child and the cost of living in your community but are, at a minimum, $780/month per child (for a 30-day month). 

The licensing process can be lengthy. You should maintain copies of any documents before submitting originals to OCS.  You may ask OCS about requesting a “licensing assist” from a regional tribal non-profit to assist you in the application process.  Under some circumstances when a child needs a home, OCS can issue an emergency provisional license immediately, allowing the foster parent to work through the slower parts of the licensing process after placement is made.  OCS’s foster care application form is available on OCS's website.  

If you are denied a foster care license you are entitled to a written decision that explains why.  OCS licensing is required to deny some licenses based on regulations barring individuals with certain criminal and child protection histories from being licensed.  However, individuals with these barring conditions may still become licensed as foster parents by applying for a variance.  The background check variance application is available online on the State of Alaska's website.  There is also a fillable form for a recommendation letter.
 

Unlicensed adult family members within the fifth degree of kinship, or who are step-parents or step-siblings, may apply for “child-only” or “adult not included” cash benefit through either ATAP or TANF.  The eligibility of the child is based only on the child’s own resources, and not the assets or income of the caregiver.  Benefits are $452 a month for the first child, with $102 in additional benefits for each additional sibling.

If the child is receiving social security benefits, then you may apply to become the child’s representative payee. Being the representative payee authorizes you to use those funds for the child’s benefit.  If you are the licensed foster care placement for the child, you cannot also be the child’s representative payee. 

For children placed in the care of unlicensed relatives, OCS will offer temporary assistance of $500 per child per month, limited to two months.  It will not offer additional direct cash assistance for caring for the child.  OCS can assist with material goods on a limited basis, including by providing bedroom furniture to set a child up in an unlicensed relative’s home, if needed.  Ask the OCS caseworker what assistance can be provided. 

For children already placed in your home, OCS may periodically be able to provide assistance with extra costs associated with meeting kids’ needs, including funding for summer camp, extracurricular activities, clothing needs, and other unanticipated needs through the OCS Service Array.  You may reach the OCS Service Array at hss.ocsservicearray@alaska.gov or by calling 1.855.60.FUNDS. 

SNAP benefits might be available to your household, or having another child in your household might increase the monthly SNAP benefit for your household.  For more information, see AlaskaLawHelp's "Answers to Common Questions about SNAP" page.