Right to counsel for parents
Alaska Stat. § 44.21.410(a)(10) requires the Office of Public Advocacy to provide representation to “an indigent parent of a child with a disability; in this paragraph, ‘child with a disability’ has the meaning given in AS 14.30.350.” Given that AS 14.30.350 is located in the education code, this appointment provision seemingly would apply only to school proceedings. However, in In re Protective Proceedings of Freddy A., 2012 Alas. LEXIS 46 (Alaska 2012) (unpublished), involving a parent seeking to be appointed counsel in a proceeding regarding a guardianship of her developmentally disabled adult child, the court cited to § 14.30.350 for the proposition that “If Freddy were a minor, there would be little question that Mia is entitled to appointed counsel.”
