Legislature(2019 - 2020)ADAMS ROOM 519
05/14/2019 09:00 AM House FINANCE
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Audio | Topic |
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Start | |
SB16 | |
SB43 | |
SB10 | |
Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
*+ | HB 159 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | TELECONFERENCED | ||
+= | SB 16 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+= | SB 43 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | SB 10 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SENATE BILL NO. 10 "An Act extending the termination date of the Statewide Suicide Prevention Council; and providing for an effective date." 9:47:52 AM JACOB GARISH, STAFF, SENATOR SCOTT KAWASAKI, thanked the committee for hearing the bill that would extend the council for another eight years as recommended by the audit. Co-Chair Wilson spoke to the new fiscal note from the House Finance Committee for the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS). She relayed that she changed the fiscal note due to the lack of response from the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) to her requests for further information regarding the list of grantees and specifics about the award amounts and how they utilized the grant. She understood the importance of the council and believed that it needed additional funding for travel and services to respond to emergencies. She elucidated that she deleted $ 461.7 thousand from the Grants and Benefits line and added $61.7 thousand to the governors request of $51.3 to the Services line to enable the council to respond to an emergency in any area of the state. She expressed discomfort with authorizing funding for pass through grants without accountability. Mr. Garish pointed out that AS 14.30.362 (a) and read the following from the statute: (a) A school district and the department shall provide youth suicide awareness and prevention training approved by the commissioner to each teacher, administrator, counselor, and specialist who is employed by the district or department to provide services to students in a public school in the state at no cost to the teacher, administrator, counselor, or specialist. Mr. Garish indicated that currently the funding through the grant program was the only money available to the school districts for youth suicide awareness and prevention training. He was uncertain how the administration would respond if the funding was eliminated. Co-Chair Wilson did not care how the administration was going to respond to actions taken by the committee. She asserted that she understood statute and countered that the grants were not being utilized for the intended purpose. Online training was currently available at no cost to the school districts. She was aware that the grant funding was not awarded to every district. She wondered whether he had documentation showing how the grant money was spent and what districts received the funding. Mr. Garish noted that not every school district received the grant funding. Co-Chair Wilson maintained that every district was required to abide by the statute. She asked if her statement was correct. Mr. Garish replied in the negative. Co-Chair Wilson reiterated that the grants were not going to every school district. She attempted to get specifics from DEED regarding what the grants were being spent on in the current year since the training was online and available to every district. She restated her request for documentation about the grant awards and purpose. Mr. Garish answered in the negative. 9:51:39 AM Co-Chair Foster concurred that he would like to see more complete information concerning the grants. Co-Chair Wilson emphasized that she had tried for one month to get the information. The grants passed through the department and she did not know what the districts spent the money on. She reiterated her concern that not all districts received a grant and that online training was available and was not an unfunded mandate. She recalled testimony from Representative Tarr stating the council mobilized to an area when a suicide happened and provided services, which was the reason she appropriated additional funding to the services line. Representative Josephson asked if Co-Chair Wilsons proposal was to move away from intervention and to prevention. Co-Chair Wilson answered in the negative. She clarified that she had been unable to get any information about the grants; therefore, she moved some of the funding to services. She determined that a very valuable service of the council was to provided services to a community in response to suicide. She appropriated approximately $110 thousand to the council to carry out the emergency services. 9:53:33 AM Representative Josephson remembered that the committee had previously approved the $400 thousand for grant funding. Co-Chair Wilson agreed with the statement. She recounted that she had no response from DEED on what the funds had been spent on. The training was online at no cost to teachers. Representative Josephson asked how the other body saw the matter. He asked whether the fiscal note had been funded by the Operating Budget Conference Committee. Co- Chair Wilson responded that the funding was included in a fiscal note and was completely different than the operating budget and was a totally different piece of legislation. She was unaware of what the other body was proposing. Mr. Garish answered that $70,000 of the grant funding was appropriated to the online modules and the other funding went to various things including competitive grants in the amount of $25 thousand that school district could apply for. Co-Chair Wilson asked what specifically the $25,000 in grant funding was being used for. Mr. Garish replied that he included supporting documents in the committee packets. He deferred to the department for details. Co-Chair Wilson asked for specific information regarding what the grants were used for and why some districts were chosen over others. 9:55:59 AM SHARON FISHEL, EDUCATION SPECIALIST, SCHOOL HEALTH, SAFETY, AND ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT (via teleconference), indicated that she managed the councils grant funds. She detailed that currently 9 school districts received grant funding for suicide prevention. She reported that the Anchorage School District used the funding in its most at risk schools to train staff. She listed the following schools: McLaughlin, New Path High School, AVAIL, Benson Secondary/SEARCH, SAVE High School, and Crossroads School. The funding was used for Safe and Civil Schools training that fostered a positive school climate. The Mat-Su School District used its funding for the You Are Not Alone Club that trained students on peer to peer modeling to teach other students on the warning signs of suicide prevention. Currently, the district had trained over 1,400 students since November. She furthered that the Kenai School District used the funding for the Sources of Strength program, which was a peer to peer model. She informed the committee that the Juneau School District also employed the Sources of Strength program and used much of the funding for restorative practices at the Yaakoosge Daakahidi High School. The Petersburg School District used the grant funding to provide mental health counseling and positive behavioral support for all schools. The Fairbanks School District used their funding for the Signs of Suicide Prevention Program (SOS) in all its schools. The North Slope District used the funding for restorative practices and positive behavioral intervention and support. The Bering Straits School District directed its funding for the Youth Leader Program in coordination with the Nome School District, which trained the students to become leaders in suicide awareness and prevention practices. She added that the Lower Yukon School District used the same program. In addition to suicide prevention in the schools, the youth leaders reached out to elders in the community. 10:01:22 AM Co-Chair Wilson asked to receive the information in writing during the current day. SB 10 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further consideration.
Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
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SB 10 NEW FN DHSS BH SPC 5.14.19.pdf |
HFIN 5/14/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 10 |
SB010 Sponsor Statement 5.3.19.pdf |
HFIN 5/14/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 10 |
SB010 Letters of Support 5.3.19.pdf |
HFIN 5/14/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 10 |
SB010 Supporting Document SSPC White Paper 5.3.19.pdf |
HFIN 5/14/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 10 |
HB0159 Supporting Document - ASMA letter of support 5.13.19.pdf |
HFIN 5/14/2019 9:00:00 AM |
HB 159 |
SB010 Supporting Document SSPC Legislative Audit Report 5.3.19.pdf |
HFIN 5/14/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 10 |
HB0159 Supporting Document - UW Medicine letter of support 5.13.19.pdf |
HFIN 5/14/2019 9:00:00 AM |
HB 159 |
SB 10 Response DEED Grants.pdf |
HFIN 5/14/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 10 |
HB 79 PERS Plan Comparison.pdf |
HFIN 5/14/2019 9:00:00 AM |
HB 79 |
SB 43 NEW FN DCCED CBPL 5.12.19.pdf |
HFIN 5/14/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 43 |