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Authority: AS 44.30.020 AS 47.10.392

AS 47.10.300 AS 47.32.030 Editor’s note: As of Register 215 (October 2015), the regulations attorney made a technical correction under AS 44.62.125(b)(6), to 7 AAC 56.320(d). 7 AAC 56.330. Counseling before accepting relinquishment of parental rights or consent to adoption or guardianship. (a) An agency shall encourage a birth mother to identify the father of the child. An agency shall give a father the opportunity to sign a voluntary relinquishment, a waiver of notification of the adoption under AS 25.23.050, a denial of paternity, or otherwise exercise parental rights. (b) In addition to the intake evaluation that must be offered under 7 AAC 56.320, an agency shall offer a minimum of two counseling sessions to a parent who is considering relinquishment of parental rights to a child, including

(1) a comprehensible explanation of the alternatives to adoption or guardianship in a language that the parent can understand, and with due regard to any special needs the parent may have;

(2) an explanation of the meaning and consequences of relinquishment, of consent to adoption procedures, of the right to revoke consent, and of procedures for withdrawal or revocation of consent or relinquishment; and

(3) a discussion of possible placement alternatives, including placement with family members. (c) An agency offering guardianship services shall, in addition to meeting the requirements of (b) of this section, counsel a parent on

(1) the meanings and consequences of guardianship;

(2) the limitations of guardianship with regard to permanency, especially for a child under age 10 years of age;

(3) an explanation of residual parental rights and responsibilities; and

(4) the information that a guardian may be removed only by court order. (d) An agency may not pressure a parent to relinquish a child for adoption or to pursue