Jude M., Appellant v. State of Alaska, Department of Health & Social Services, Office of Children’s Services, Appellee

Summary

The court held that the superior court had statutory authority to establish a long-term guardianship because the father's custodial rights were suspended when the child was adjudicated in need of aid. The guardianship was an ICWA foster-care placement requiring clear and convincing proof, supported by qualified expert testimony, that returning the child to her father would likely cause serious emotional or physical harm, rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The court vacated and remanded because part of the superior court's harm finding relied on a danger of sexual abuse that was not supported by the expert testimony, while upholding the active-efforts and best-interests determinations subject to reconsideration on remand. Stowers, C.J., concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have affirmed because the therapist's testimony supported the harm finding when considered with the other evidence.