Senate Judiciary Committee advances House Bill 36 on psychiatric treatment for foster children

The Alaska Senate Judiciary Committee on May 15, 2025, adopted a committee substitute for House Bill 36 and voted to report the bill out of committee with individual recommendations after a brief second hearing.

The committee substitute for House Bill 36 (version Q) would change language about placement settings, clarify notice requirements for short-term psychiatric hospital stays, require written stipulations and treatment plans for initial placements, set program requirements for treatment foster homes including training and care standards, and add an uncodified section related to Medicaid state plan waivers. Supporters said the changes add guardrails while aiming to expand treatment options for foster children with behavioral health needs.

Brianna Kakaruk, committee aide to Senator Clayman, summarized the committee substitute’s changes, saying, “Version Q changes the least restrictive environment to a less restrictive setting” and that the substitute “adds in senate bill 90 work order 34 LS025a.” Kakaruk told the committee the substitute “clarifies that the department is not required to provide notice to the court if a child in a hospital for short term psychiatric care is released from the hospital within 23 hours,” while noting that parties must still receive notice. She also said the substitute “requires the parties involved in the initial placement … to submit a written stipulation with a treatment plan and timeline to the court” and that “the court must find that the treatment plan and timeline is responsible and will release a child to a least restrictive setting.”

The substitute sets program standards for treatment foster homes. Kakaruk said Version Q “requires that a treatment foster home provide treatment including medical care, trauma informed care, and interventions for post traumatic stress disorder, abuse related to trauma, depression, anxiety,” and places “a cap of up to 4 children to be at a treatment foster home.” She also said Version Q requires that children be placed in a treatment foster home “as determined by a healthcare provider” and that care providers “take ongoing training approved by the department.” The text also adds an uncodified provision addressing Medicaid state plan waivers.

Representative Gray, sponsor of House Bill 36 (House District 20), spoke in support of the substitute and said she was “grateful to Senator Tobin for some amendments that added some languages and some guardrails to some concerns that were expressed.” Gray added, “I like the additional bill. And as long as there's no concerns about a single subject rule, I, am happy.” Senator Clayman and other committee members discussed the single-subject question on the record and concluded the bill’s provisions related to care of children satisfied that rule.

Senator Kiel moved first to adopt the committee substitute as the working document and later moved that the committee report out the senate committee substitute for House Bill 36 with individual recommendations and any attached or forthcoming fiscal notes. The committee reported the bill out with no objections; members were instructed to stay after adjournment to complete paperwork. No roll-call vote was recorded on either motion in the transcript.

Department staff were available for questions during the hearing: Chrissy Voguely from the Department of Family and Community Services and Andrea Muica, deputy director of the Division of Behavioral Health at the Alaska Department of Health. Committee staff said the substitute incorporates language that previously appeared in Senate Bill 90 and that it is the second hearing on HB 36 in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The committee convened at 6:02 p.m. and adjourned at 6:09 p.m.; the next scheduled meeting announced on the record was Friday, May 16, at 1:30 p.m. in Petrovich 205.

Key implementation details from the committee summary: treatment foster homes would be required to provide medical and trauma-informed care and interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder and related conditions; placements into treatment foster homes must be supported by a written stipulation, treatment plan, and timeline that the court finds responsible; the substitute sets a cap of up to four children per treatment foster home; care providers must take ongoing department-approved training; and the substitute includes an uncodified provision addressing Medicaid state plan waivers. These elements were presented to the committee by staff and discussed by members but will require rulemaking, department implementation, and, where noted, potential Medicaid waiver actions to take effect.

No formal amendments, roll-call votes, or fiscal note details beyond the committee aide’s reference to a forthcoming fiscal note were recorded in the transcript.