7 AAC 53.299 - Definitions

In 7 AAC 53.200 - 7 AAC 53.299, unless the context requires otherwise,

(1) "adoptive parent" means

(A) an individual, including a foster/adopt individual, who has applied to adopt a hard-to-place child with special needs whose birth parents' rights have been relinquished or terminated;

(B) an individual, including a foster/adopt individual, who

(i) has applied to adopt a hard-to-place child with special needs whose birth parents' rights have not yet been relinquished or terminated; and

(ii) is aware of the legal risk that the adoption might not be finalized; or

(C) an individual who has adopted a hard-to-place child with special needs and who is receiving subsidized adoption payments;

(2) "AFDC" means Aid to Families with Dependent Children assistance, formerly administered by the former Department of Health and Social Services under former AS 47.25.301 - 47.25.420;

(3) "circumstances of the adoptive parent or guardian" means the capacity to incorporate the child into the household in relation to lifestyle, standard of living, and future plans, and overall capacity to meet the immediate and future needs, including educational needs, of the child;

(4) "department" means the Department of Family and Community

(5) "foster/adopt individual" means a foster parent who is interested in adopting a child and who is currently providing care in a licensed foster home for children in custody of the department;

(6) "guardian"

(A) means

(i) a legal guardian;

(ii) an individual who has qualified as, or has applied to be a guardian of a minor under court appointment;

(B) does not include an individual who is a guardian ad litem;

(7) "hard-to-place child with special needs" has the meaning given "hard-to-place child" in AS 25.23.240;

(8) "home study" means a home study or a guardianship study conducted under AS 25.23.200 and this chapter;

(9) "Medicaid" means the medical assistance program administered by the Department of Health under 42 U.S.C. 1396 - 1396v and AS 47.07;

(10) "qualified health professional" means a health professional who is qualified to diagnose the physical or mental condition that would qualify a child to be a hard-to-place child with special needs under this chapter; "qualified health professional" includes

(A) physician or other health professional licensed under AS 08; and

(B) mental health professional; for purposes of this subparagraph, "mental health professional" has the meaning given in AS 47.30.915;

(11) "specified relative" means a relative of a child who is related by blood, marriage, or adoption within the fifth degree of kinship to the child;

(12) "SSI" means the Supplemental Security Income program administered under 42 U.S.C. 1381 - 1383 f;

(13) "Title IV-E" means 42 U.S.C. 670 - 679 b (secs. 470 - 479A of the Social Security Act), revised as of October 10, 2014 and adopted by reference;

(14) "tribal court" means a court of a tribe that is in a state not subject to Public Law 280 and that has exclusive jurisdiction over child custody proceedings under 25 U.S.C. 1911(a), a tribe that has re-assumed jurisdiction over child custody proceedings under 25 U.S.C. 1918, or a tribe to which jurisdiction of the particular child custody proceeding has been transferred by the state court under 25 U.S.C. 1911(b);

(15) "deferred subsidy" has the meaning given in AS 25.23.210(b)(2);

(16) "dissolved" means that an adoption or guardianship relationship has ended because the parental rights of the adoptive or guardianship parents are terminated;

(17) "legal guardian" means the caretaker in a judicially created relationship between child and caretaker that is intended to be permanent and self-sustaining as evidenced by the transfer to the caretaker of each of the following parental rights with respect to the child:

(A) protection;

(B) education;

(C) care and control of the person;

(D) custody of the person;

(E) decisionmaking;

(18) "relative guardian" means a guardian or prospective guardian who is related to a child by blood, marriage, fictive kin, or tribal custom; for purposes of this paragraph, "fictive kin" means an individual who is unrelated by birth or marriage, but has an emotionally significant relationship with a child that has the characteristics of a family relationship;

(19) "Title XVI" means 42 U.S.C. 1381 - 1383 f (secs. 1601 - 1637 of the Social Security Act), revised as of October 1, 2010 and adopted by reference.

Notes

7 AAC 53.299

Eff. 3/31/2005, Register 173; am 4/13/2011, Register 198; am 8/1/2015, Register 215, October 2015; am 7/1/2022, Register 242, July 2022

Authority:AS 13.26.153

AS 25.23.210

AS 25.23.230

AS 47.14.100

AS 47.14.120