Title 47 — Welfare, Social Services, and Institutions

The department may accept on behalf of the state and deposit, apart from other public funds, grants from the federal government or gifts or contributions from other sources to assist in carrying out the purposes of AS 47.30.470.

Article 4. Community Mental Health Services Act. In AS 47.30.470 — 47.30.490, (1) “alcoholism” means a condition related to alcohol and concerns a physical compulsion which exists, coupled with a mental obsession; (2) “costs of improvement, renovation, or new construction of faci…

It is the purpose of the Community Mental Health Services Act to (1) provide a range of community-based inpatient, outpatient, and support services for persons with mental disorders; (2) assist communities in planning, organizing, and financing community mental health services th…

(a) It is the policy of the state that (1) the community mental health program provide a comprehensive and integrated system of community-based facilities, supports, and mental health services, including child and adolescent screening and diagnosis, inpatient, outpatient, prevent…

(a) The department shall administer the provisions of AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 and shall (1) define and develop standards for various levels and qualities of mental health care; (2) provide fiscal and professional technical assistance in planning, organizing, developing, implemen…

(a) A city or borough government or other political subdivision of the state, a nonprofit corporation, or a combination of these, is eligible to receive funds and administer local programs under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620. In order to ensure equitable access to funds and programs t…

The entities designated by the department to receive money under AS 47.30.540(b) shall provide one or more of the services that are set out in AS 44.25.290(i) to persons identified in AS 44.25.290.

[Repealed or reserved.]

An entity that provides community mental health services shall (1) make services available at times and locations that enable residents of the entity's service area to obtain services readily; (2) ensure each client's right to confidentiality and treatment with dignity; (3) estab…

(a) In a district designated by the department as a poverty area, the department may fund not more than 90 percent of the eligible costs of the community mental health services to be furnished under an entity's approved plan. (b) In a district that has not been designated by the …

The contracts for services provided for in AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 shall be reviewed, revised if necessary, and approved at the expiration of each contract year. A contract shall be approved if the department finds that the community entity has complied with its plan, AS 47.30.5…

The department shall adopt regulations specifying the types of services and program costs eligible for state participation. These regulations must include (1) a provision excluding capital expenditures as eligible costs; and (2) a requirement that the community entity contractor …

Plans and regulations adopted under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 must allow local programs sufficient administrative and program flexibility so that local community mental health programs may be joined with other programs such as intellectual and developmental disability programs, dr…

(a) An entity designated by the department under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 may provide community mental health services authorized under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 through telehealth to a patient in this state. (b) If an individual employed by an entity designated by the department …

(a) The department shall adopt regulations to assure patient rights and to safeguard the confidential nature of records and information about the recipients of services provided under this chapter. The regulations must require that entities identified in AS 47.30.540(b) develop a…

[Repealed or reserved.]

[Repealed or reserved.]

In AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.610, (1) “authority” means the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority established in AS 44.25.200; (2) “department” means the Department of Health; (3) “persons with mental disorders” means persons with disorders currently included within nationally accepted…

Article 5. State Mental Health Policy. AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 may be cited as the Community Mental Health Services Act.

The purpose of the 1981 major revision of Alaska civil commitment statutes (AS 47.30.660 and 47.30.670 — 47.30.915) is to more adequately protect the legal rights of persons suffering from mental illness. The legislature has attempted to balance the individual's constitutional ri…

Article 6. Voluntary Admission for Treatment. (a) The Department of Family and Community Services and the Department of Health, in cooperation, shall (1) prepare, and periodically revise and amend, a plan for an integrated comprehensive mental health program, as that term is defi…

A person 18 years of age or older may be voluntarily admitted to a treatment facility if the person is suffering from mental illness and voluntarily signs the admission papers.

(a) Upon the application of a person for voluntary admission, or at the time a person admitted under AS 47.30.690 reaches the age of 18, the person shall be given a copy of the following documents which shall be explained as necessary: (1) notice of rights as set out in AS 47.30.…

A patient who no longer meets the standards established in AS 47.30.670 shall be discharged from the treatment facility.

A voluntary patient who is 18 years of age or older and who desires to leave a treatment facility shall submit to the facility a request to leave on a form provided by the facility. When the investigation is completed, the patient shall be evaluated immediately in writing and dis…

(a) A minor under the age of 18 may be admitted for 30 days of evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment at a designated treatment facility if the minor's parent or guardian signs the admission papers and if, in the opinion of the professional person in charge, (1) the minor is gravel…

When a minor under 18 years of age is detained at or admitted or committed to a treatment facility, the facility shall inform the parent or guardian of the location of the minor as soon as possible after the arrival of the minor at the facility. When an adult for whom a guardian …

Article 7. Involuntary Admission for Treatment. The parent or guardian of a minor who is less than 18 years of age may file a notice to withdraw the minor from the facility. On receipt of the notice, (1) the facility may discharge the minor to the custody of the parent or guardia…

(a) Upon petition of any adult, a judge shall immediately conduct a screening investigation or direct a local mental health professional employed by the department or by a local mental health program that receives money from the department under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 or anothe…

(a) A peace officer, health officer, mental health professional, or physician assistant licensed by the State Medical Board to practice in this state who has probable cause to believe that a person is gravely disabled or is suffering from mental illness and is likely to cause ser…

(a) If a person who has been charged with a felony offense against a person under AS 11.41 or felony arson has been found incompetent to proceed under AS 12.47, before the charges are dismissed, an attorney with the Department of Law shall petition a court to have the person deli…

(a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, when a crisis stabilization center admits a respondent under AS 47.30.705, the crisis stabilization center may hold the respondent at the center for a period not to exceed 23 hours and 59 minutes. A mental health professional shall e…

(a) A respondent who is delivered to a crisis residential center for emergency examination and treatment shall be examined and evaluated as to mental and physical condition by a mental health professional within three hours after arrival at the facility. (b) The mental health pro…

(a) If, at any time during a respondent's hold at a crisis stabilization center or detention at a crisis residential center, the professional person in charge determines that the respondent does not meet the standard for a hold or detention, the respondent may no longer be held o…

(a) A respondent who is delivered under AS 47.30.700 — 47.30.706 to an evaluation facility for examination and treatment shall be examined and evaluated as to mental and physical condition by a mental health professional and by a physician within 24 hours after arrival at the fac…

(a) After the court grants an ex parte order authorizing hospitalization for evaluation, the department shall immediately transport a person who is detained at a medical or other facility, including a correctional facility, to a crisis residential center or evaluation facility fo…

If at any time in the course of the 72-hour period the mental health professionals conducting the evaluation determine that the respondent does not meet the standards for commitment specified in AS 47.30.700, the respondent shall be discharged from the facility or the place of ev…

(a) When a respondent is detained for evaluation under AS 47.30.660 — 47.30.915, the respondent shall be immediately notified orally and in writing of the rights under this section. Notification must be in a language understood by the respondent. The respondent's guardian, if any…

(a) Within 30 days after a respondent has been found incompetent to proceed under AS 12.47.110 and committed under AS 47.30.700 — 47.30.915, and every 30 days thereafter until the civil commitment case has concluded, the division of the Department of Law that has responsibility f…

(a) In the course of the 72-hour evaluation period, a petition for commitment to a treatment facility may be filed in court. The petition must be signed by two mental health professionals who have examined the respondent, one of whom is a physician. The petition must (1) allege t…

(a) Upon receipt of a proper petition for commitment, the court shall hold a hearing at the date and time previously specified according to procedures set out in AS 47.30.715. (b) The hearing shall be conducted in a physical setting least likely to have a harmful effect on the me…

(a) At any time during the respondent's 30-day commitment, the professional person in charge, or that person's professional designee, may file with the court a petition for a 90-day commitment of that respondent. The petition must include all material required under AS 47.30.730(…

(a) A respondent subject to a petition for 90-day commitment has, in addition to the rights specified elsewhere in this chapter, or otherwise applicable, the rights enumerated in this section. Written notice of these rights shall be served on the respondent and the respondent's a…

The hearing under AS 47.30.745 shall be conducted in the same manner, and with the same rights for the respondent, as set out in AS 47.30.735(b).

(a) After the hearing and within the time limit specified in AS 47.30.745, the court may commit the respondent to a treatment facility for no more than 90 days if the court or jury finds by clear and convincing evidence that the respondent is mentally ill and as a result is likel…

Treatment shall always be available at a state-operated hospital; however, if space is available and upon acceptance by another treatment facility, a respondent who is committed by the court shall be placed by the department at the designated treatment facility closest to the res…

The respondent has the right to an appeal from an order of involuntary commitment. The court shall inform the respondent of this right.

(a) The respondent shall be released from involuntary treatment at the expiration of 90 days unless the professional person in charge files a petition for a 180-day commitment conforming to the requirements of AS 47.30.740(a) except that all references to “30-day commitment” shal…

(a) The respondent shall be released from involuntary treatment at the expiration of 180 days unless the professional person in charge or the attorney general's office files an additional 180-day petition or a petition for a commitment of up to two years conforming to the require…

An evaluation facility or designated treatment facility may administer medication or other treatment to an involuntarily committed patient only in a manner that is consistent with the provisions of AS 47.30.817 — 47.30.865.