── Jace B. (Father) v. State of Alaska, DFCS, OCS ──
Court: Alaska Supreme Court
Date: May 29, 2026
Category: General
Notice: This opinion is subject to correction before publication in the PACIFIC REPORTER.
Readers are requested to bring errors to the attention of the Clerk of the Appellate Courts,
303 K Street, Anchorage, Alaska 99501, phone (907) 264-0608, fax (907) 264-0878, email
[email protected].
THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
JACE B. (Father), )
) Supreme Court No. S-19490
Appellant, )
) Superior Court No. 3AN-19-00355 CN
v. )
) OPINION
STATE OF ALASKA, DEPARTMENT )
OF FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ) No. 7811 – May 29, 2026
SERVICES, OFFICE OF )
CHILDREN’S SERVICES, )
)
Appellee. )
)
)
Appeal from the Superior Court of the State of Alaska, Third
Judicial District, Anchorage, Una Gandbhir, Judge.
Appearances: Rachel Cella, Assistant Public Defender,
Anchorage, and Terrence Haas, Public Defender,
Anchorage, for Appellant. Laura Wolff, Assistant Attorney
General, Anchorage, and Stephen J. Cox, Attorney General,
Juneau, for Appellee.
Before: Carney, Chief Justice, and Borghesan, Henderson,
Pate, and Oravec, Justices.
ORAVEC, Justice.
INTRODUCTION
A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child, who is
an Indian child as defined by the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).1 He argues that
the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) did not make active efforts to reunify him with
his son. We agree with the father because the record shows that OCS did not make
referrals or provide support for his completion of substance abuse treatment and did not
otherwise connect him with services aimed at assisting reunification. Accordingly, we
reverse.
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
A. Facts
Effie S. and Jace B.2 are the parents of Jonah, who was born in February
2022. Effie reported to hospital staff that she had been using methamphetamine
throughout the early stages of her pregnancy and on the day of delivery. The staff
reported this to OCS, but because Jonah did not test positive for methamphetamine, he
remained with Effie. Although Effie initially informed hospital staff that Jace was not
involved in their child’s life, she later indicated that Jace visited Jonah when he was
two weeks old.
In September, hotel staff called the police to report an unattended child
found in one of the hotel rooms. The child was in the care of an adult who appeared to
be under the influence of substances and had locked herself out of the hotel room. OCS
took emergency custody of Jonah. After OCS eventually located Effie, Effie was
unable to share information about possible relatives Jonah could be placed with.
1
The child is eligible for enrollment in his mother’s tribe. See 25 U.S.C.
§ 1903(4).
2
Pseudonyms are used to protect the privacy of the parties. Effie
relinquished her parental rights to Jonah prior to the termination trial and is not
participating in this appeal.
-2- 7811
However, she did tell OCS that Jace was the child’s father and that he was incarcerated
but due to be released from a halfway house.
The next day, OCS located Jace at the halfway house where he was
incarcerated and delivered the emergency petition, along with instructions for Jace to
call into the hearing the next day. Jace telephonically attended the emergency hearing.
The court awarded OCS temporary custody after finding that there was probable cause
to believe Jonah was a child in n