Native Village of Kwinhagak v. State of Alaska, Dhss, Ocs

Summary

The court held that OCS could use its legal-custody authority to obtain acute psychiatric care for a child without invoking the civil commitment statutes, because neither hospital was a designated treatment facility or secure residential psychiatric treatment center. The Tribe had standing under the parens patriae doctrine, but its constitutional arguments were reviewed for plain error because they were not adequately preserved. The court found no plain equal-protection or substantive-due-process violation, but held that the lack of prompt notice and a hearing during the child's 46-day hospitalization violated procedural due process and required reversal of the authorization for continued hospitalization.