Parental Substance Use as Child Maltreatment - Alaska

Substance-Exposed Newborns
Citation: Alaska Stat. § 47.17.024

A practitioner of the healing arts involved in the delivery or care of an infant whom the practitioner determines has been adversely affected by, or is withdrawing from exposure to, a controlled substance or alcohol shall immediately notify the nearest office of the Department of Health and Social Services of the infant's condition.

In this section, the following definitions apply:

• 'Controlled substance' has the meaning given in § 11.71.900 but does not include a substance lawfully taken under a prescription from a health-care provider who is authorized to prescribe the substance.
• 'Infant' means a child who is less than 12 months old.

Children Exposed to Parental Substance Use
Citation: Alaska Stat. § 11.51.110

A person commits the crime of endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree if the person, while caring for a child under age 10, does either of the following: 

• Causes or allows the child to enter or remain in a dwelling or vehicle in which a controlled substance is stored in violation of chapter 11.71
• Is impaired by an intoxicant, regardless of whether it was prescribed for the person, and there is no third person who is at least aged 12 and not impaired by an intoxicant present to care for the child

In this section, the following definitions apply:

• 'Impaired' means that a person is unconscious or is physically or mentally affected so that the person does not have the ability to care for the basic safety or personal needs of a child with the caution characteristic of a sober person of ordinary prudence.
• 'Intoxicant' has the meaning given in § 47.10.990.