Alaska § 47.17.035 - Duties of department in domestic violence cases.

§ 47.17.035. Duties of department in domestic violence cases.

 (a) In consultation with the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, the department shall develop written procedures for screening reports of harm for abuse and neglect of a child to assess whether there is domestic violence occurring within the family. The procedures must include the following factors:        (1) inquiry concerning the criminal records of the parents or of the alleged abusive or neglectful person or the alleged perpetrator if not the parent of the child; and

 (2) inquiry concerning the existence of protective orders issued or filed under AS 18.66.100 — 18.66.180 involving either parent as a petitioner or respondent.

 (b) If the department determines in an investigation of abuse or neglect of a child that        (1) the child is in danger because of domestic violence or that the child needs protection as a result of the presence of domestic violence in the family, the department shall take appropriate steps for the protection of the child; in this paragraph, “appropriate steps” includes             (A) reasonable efforts to protect the child and prevent the removal of the child from the parent or guardian who is not a domestic violence offender;

 (B) reasonable efforts to remove the alleged domestic violence offender from the child's residence if it is determined that the child or another family or household member is in danger of domestic violence; and

 (C) services to help protect the child from being placed or having unsupervised visitation with the domestic violence offender until the department determines that the offender has met conditions considered necessary by the department to protect the safety of the domestic violence victim and household members;

 (2) a person is the victim of domestic violence, the department shall provide the victim with a written notice of the rights of and services available to victims of domestic violence that is substantially similar to the notice provided to victims of domestic violence under AS 18.65.520 .

 (c) For purposes of obtaining access to information needed to conduct the inquiries required by (a)(1) and (2) of this section, the department is a criminal justice agency conducting a criminal justice activity.

 (d) A person may not bring a civil action for damages for a failure to comply with the provisions of this section.

 (e) In this section,        (1) “criminal justice activity” has the meaning given in AS 12.62.900 ;

 (2) “criminal justice agency” has the meaning given in AS 12.62.900 ;

 (3) “domestic violence” has the meaning given in AS 18.66.990 .