Matter of E.A.O.

OPINION

BURKE, Justice.

In this appeal from the superior court, the mother and guardian ad litem of E.A.O. seek to clarify the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Services for the medical costs of children in the department’s legal custody who are placed in their parents’ home. The superior court held that in such a case the department has no responsibility. We reverse.

I

E.A.O. was born prematurely on June 11, 1987, at Anchorage’s Humana Hospital and soon transferred to Providence Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. On August 12, 1988, the Department of Health and Social…