Walker E. v. Office of Children's Services
Annotate this CaseWalker E. (father) and Astrid S. had five children together. Before moving to Alaska in 2014, the family had interactions with a protective services agency in Oklahoma following rumors of neglect and abuse. In Alaska, OCS became involved with the family in 2016 when their four-year-old tested positive at birth for oxycodone, cannabinoids, and an opiate; after Walker successfully participated in a random urinalysis (UA) program, OCS closed the case. In 2018, OCS took custody of the children following a hospital visit when most of them has MRSA sores and tested positive for methamphetamine. OCE referred father to many services, but he failed to engage with them. Father appealed the superior court’s termination of parental rights to his five Indian children. He argued: (1) the court violated the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) by erroneously finding that the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) made active efforts to reunify his family and that returning the children to his custody would likely seriously harm them; (2) OCS’s proffered expert witness was not qualified under ICWA; and (3) the court erred by determining termination of his rights to be in the children’s best interests without discussing their Native heritage or mother’s recent death, although these factors are mentioned nowhere in the relevant statute. Finding the superior court’s findings satisfied statutory requirements, the Alaska Supreme Court affirmed its termination of parental rights.
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