Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/20/1998 03:17 PM House HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 384 - LEGISLATIVE COM. ON FAMILY LAW REFORM Number 0045 CHAIRMAN BUNDE announced the first item on the agenda was HB 384, "An Act establishing the Legislative Commission on Family Law Reform; and providing for an effective date." He asked Representative Hodgins to present his bill. Number 0064 REPRESENTATIVE MARK HODGINS, Alaska State Legislature, Sponsor of HB 384, said this legislation, HB 384, will create a legislative commission to track new regulations concerning child and family issues, gather testimony on statutes and regulations already in force and fine tune them, and suggest draft legislation to create a statewide family court and other needed child protection laws. He said in looking at the situation with the Division of Family and Youth Services (DFYS) and other agencies involved in child protection, this commission would help guide and review the various proposals being discussed this legislative session. The commission consisting of three senators and three representatives would guide future legislation as he is of the opinion this legislature would not be able to address every issue that needs to be fixed. He acknowledged that many people don't like commissions and he agrees, but additional legislation will be required on the child protection issues. This legislation includes reviewing a family court system which may not be cost efficient, but he believed it needed to be looked at. He stated Diana Buffington has been instrumental in the formation of House Bill 384 and asked the committee's indulgence in allowing her to comment at this time. CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked Ms. Buffington to present her comments. Number 0248 DIANA BUFFINGTON, Chairman, Alaska Task Force on Family Law Reform, testified via teleconference from Kodiak, stating the family law process in Alaska and elsewhere is broken and needs major fixing. Governors, agency employees, mediators, judges, counselors and citizens all agreed the current system is too court-oriented and too confrontational to meet the needs of most families. She said families live in a reality-based world while agencies of the state do not. Most cases in family law in Alaska are prepared as if going to court when only a small percentage actually do. She stated the Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSED) and the DFYS are the two most complained about agencies in the state, respectively. Many clients complain of violations of civil rights and due process of law. She said this legislation will bring a family oriented and family based common sense back to these agencies. She said, "The task force that we headed up included persons here in the state of Alaska and included people all over the United States who were involved in child protective services, helping persons going through separation and divorce, and establishing parentage and we find that a nonadversarial system will go a lot farther instead of having to be so adversarial as these agencies currently are." MS. BUFFINGTON pointed out the duties of the commission established by this legislation would be to review all current laws, practices and policies of the CSED, the DFYS, the court system, the custody investigators offices and the guardian ad litem program. She stressed it is important that individuals elected to the legislature understand the current laws and practices of the agencies. Oftentimes, laws are passed by legislators without understanding the effects on people down the line. Currently, CSED and DFYS are far out of balance and out of compliance with state and federal law. Another duty of the commission is to help prepare legislation and assist legislators in submitting a report of finding of proposed legislation. She said it's important for the commission to review the establishment of a family court of law. A family court of law previously existed, but it was dissolved under Judge Johnstone because it was too costly to the state. She noted the buzz words in much of the legislation relating to child protective services are "kid time." She agreed that kid time was important but when kid time is put at the bottom of criminal hearings and the criminal process in the superior court, kid time gets put off. It's time to get back on real time and have a family court of law. Most states have a family court of law to deal with issues that are family-based, family-oriented, child custody and visitation, child support and anything else resembling a family matter. A family court of law could also address emergency hearings for domestic violence instead of having so many ex parte orders which are in violation of civil rights. She agrees that stronger laws are needed, but Alaska needs laws that are narrowly definable and with more specificity. Number 0604 MS. BUFFINGTON urged the committee to pass HB 384. She stressed it was time to bring Alaska up to the level of, if not exceed, other states in family law. Number 0646 CHAIRMAN BUNDE remarked it appears the commission established in HB 384 is a duplication of what legislators currently do and an expansion of government. He asked Ms. Buffington how she would balance a request for an expansion of government with the frequently expressed need to reduce the role of government in an individual's life. MS. BUFFINGTON said currently the legislature receives a number of calls per week concerning the CSED, the DFYS, the custody investigators' office or the guardian ad litem program which requires many staff hours dealing with these complaints. Additionally, an exorbitant amount of money is being spent on auditing the DFYS and CSED. These agencies need to be brought into line and the money they spend should be based on their performance. She didn't see that happening and instead the agencies always want more money and more staff, while states comparable to Alaska are spending less money, have less staff and do a better job in family law areas. This legislation will put an end to all the extraneous spending and will allow time for clients to express how these two agencies interact with and impact clients. Number 0793 REPRESENTATIVE HODGINS reiterated the commission was made up of three senators and three representatives with the thought in mind that it's the legislature's duty to solve problems. There is a problem in child protection currently and he believes it's wise to form a commission that would work with the Administration at problem resolution within the confines of the departments. He also believed the family court system should be revisited to determine if it's cost efficient. He said it's time to review some of the problems with the child protection system and in his opinion, it's appropriate for the legislature to staff the commission that would be making the recommendations. Number 0866 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said this bill appears to be a duplication of a legislator's current job and it seems to assume that the six legislators appointed to this commission would somehow be sensitive, more concerned or more opposed to the management of the DFYS. REPRESENTATIVE HODGINS explained last summer when he became involved with the DFYS situation, he found that several of his colleagues were referring people to him because of his active interest. This bill, by laying out specific areas needing to be addressed, makes the commission task orientated. He noted this legislation is unnecessary if the Senate President and Speaker of the House appoint a committee to review and come up with suggestions. He found that he, working as a legislator without a committee structure, didn't have the credibility with some of the departments who felt they needed to come through the HESS Committee or the Children's Caucus and that was not solving his problem. Number 0979 REPRESENTATIVE TOM BRICE said the proposed commission would recommend and prepare legislation to create a nonadversarial conflict management system for families, and yet the very nature of these issues are full of conflict and emotion. With that in mind, he asked Representative Hodgins to explain what kind of a system he had in mind. REPRESENTATIVE HODGINS said when he came forward with the concept of this bill, he had not seen HB 375 and acknowledges there are some areas of HB 375 that address the adversarial issue such as the multi-disciplinary teams and the child protection teams. He explained these are natural areas for this commission to review; however, if some areas are covered in other legislation, the commission could devote less time to those areas and more time in others. CHAIRMAN BUNDE announced William Phillips was standing by to testify offnet from Missouri. Number 1047 WILLIAM PHILLIPS testified offnet from Missouri, in favor of HB 384. He has experienced problems with the Alaska Child Support Enforcement Agency for about the past five years. He explained he has been paying double child support, but the CSED wouldn't acknowledge it. He has experienced a number of problems with CSED and is of the opinion the laws need to be reviewed and revamped. Agencies like CSED need to listen to both sides; it's taken five years for CSED to finally review his side of the case. He reiterated his support for this proposed legislation. CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Mr. Phillips and asked Mr. Grimes to testify at this time. Number 1112 ROCKY GRIMES testified via teleconference from Kenai in support of HB 384. He stated he's been paying child support timely for the past 13 years, and there was a modification effective February 1997. Because it appeared it to be inevitable there would be an increase, he began paying the extra money immediately which amounted to about $90. The extra money was sent back to him along with a support payment for his monthly obligation. A couple of weeks later he was contacted by his child's mother announcing the child support payment had not arrived. After several unreturned phone calls to CSED, he finally figured out the agency had sent back the extra money plus the support payment. When the agency asked him to return the payment, they charged interest even though it was their fault. The agency continued to return the extra money submitted. Finally, when the Attorney General's Office sent a bill it included interest on all arrearages back to February 1997 despite the fact he had indeed paid and CSED had returned it to him. After several discussions, the interest was waived. He has been given conflicting information from staff which is indicative of the need for additional training. He reiterated his support for this legislation. Number 1221 CHAIRMAN BUNDE agreed that far too many complaints are received about Child Support Enforcement Division. He said if this bill passed, the commission would exist for two years. He wondered if Mr. Grimes viewed it as an ombudsman-type commission where he could have taken his complaint about CSED. MR. GRIMES said he didn't look at it so much in that direction, although it would be an important factor; he would like the option to (indisc.) the commission in and request that a state audit be done on his particular case. He hoped this commission would do routine quality control as well, not just act as an ombudsman-type agency, although that's an important issue as well. CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Mr. Grimes for his testimony and asked Carol Palmer to submit her remarks. Number 1279 CAROL PALMER testified via teleconference from Mat-Su in support of HB 384. She suggested the commission be expanded to perhaps include an attorney specializing in family matters and a couple of parents who have experience in dealing with the agencies. She agreed with Diana Buffington's comments on the family court system and added that family court mediation, which has been successful in Rock County, Wisconsin, would perhaps be a better idea. Number 1341 WALTER GAUTHIER testified from Homer via teleconference in favor of HB 384. He referred to Chairman Bunde's previous remark on the expansion of government and said the Domestic Violence Prevention Act passed by the legislature in 1996 contained provisions redefining a lot of violence and exposure to violence in the home in terms of child abuse. Due to the passage of that legislation, in one year the Child in need of Aid (CINA) court cases for superior court in Anchorage increased 60 percent and 25 percent statewide. He believed a family court would alleviate some of the caseload for the superior court system and that some of these cases could be adjudicated through mediation, as suggested by the previous speaker. CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Mr. Gauthier for his remarks and asked Suzette Graham to testify. Number 1389 SUZETTE GRAHAM testified via teleconference from Kenai, reiterating the remarks of Ms. Buffington. As a foster parent, she believes this legislation would help hold accountable some of the offices involved in child protection and it would rectify some of the concerns she has. She noted that a lot of child protection cases are put on hold for criminal cases in the court and by giving criminal cases precedence, it means a child in a foster home is put off even longer. She suggested that an ombudsman-type agency for foster parents would be very helpful. CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked if Ms. Graham felt that talking with her Senator or Representative wasn't adequate and that something more was needed. MS. GRAHAM replied it would be nice to have a centralized group that focused just on these issues. Legislators are busy dealing with issues in many different areas, whereas this group could devote their time to just these areas. Number 1459 REPRESENTATIVE BRICE pointed out for teleconference participants the state has an ombudsman office through the Legislative Branch which can be contacted regarding these issues and that office will go through the investigatory process to determine if things were done appropriately or not. Number 1482 REPRESENTATIVE HODGINS said it's important to realize the regular duties of a legislator in responding to constituent complaints or concerns would still be available. This commission would actually focus more on solving longer range, bigger problems than an individual legislator would do in responding to constituent concerns. CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked Debbie Nelson to testify at this time. Number 1519 DEBBIE NELSON testified via teleconference from Kenai. She's a foster parent and is definitely in support of HB 384. CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Ms. Nelson for commenting and called on Cindy Houser to comment. Number 1530 CINDY HOUSER testified via teleconference from Kenai. She, too, is a foster parent and supports HB 384. CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Ms. Houser and asked Chris Hutchinson to testify next. Number 1540 CHRIS HUTCHINSON testified from Kenai via teleconference. She said in light of the upcoming audits of the Division of Family and Youth Services and Mental Health, the establishment of this commission is critical. She said, "The DFYS has been a pain for we don't know how many years and right now we're looking at $31 million headed our way for three years - the only requirement of the state is to match $7 million according to Fran Ulmer last night. Now we need to get this straightened out before we start siphoning that $31 million into the mess we've got." In her opinion what is needed is a family law court and some accountability for the DFYS; not more immunity. She urged the committee to pass HB 384. CHAIRMAN BUNDE referenced the $31 million of Medicaid funds and said $7 million will be used as matching funds for creating more Medicaid for making people eligible, particularly children, who live up to 200 percent above the poverty line, but the rest of the money will not go to the DFYS. Number 1630 MARTHA HODSON, Representative, Guardians of Family Rights, testified via teleconference from Kenai in support of HB 384. She related her personal experience with the Child Support Enforcement Division. She requested a modification several times and finally after several years, they made her ex-husband prove what his earnings were even though she had submitted tax forms, W-2s, and so on. Then when she had only one child left at home, CSED finally made him prove what he made. She asked that it be made retroactive which is in accordance with the law, so now CSED has money paid by her ex-husband and she's having a difficult time getting it. She said even though her child is now grown, it's her money; her ex- husband was ordered to pay it and he paid it directly out of his check. She still runs into a brick wall every time she talks with CSED. CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Ms. Hodson for her remarks and asked Karen Leonard to present her remarks. Number 1683 KAREN LEONARD testified via teleconference from Anchorage in support of HB 384. She favored the idea of having a committee of legislators keeping an eye on child protective services to ensure the laws are being implemented in accordance with the intent of the law. She has often heard comments that the courts, the DFYS, or the CSED are missing the point and this legislation would provide for a review of laws and regulations to ensure they are on track. CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Ms. Leonard for her comments and asked Yolanda Boma to present her testimony. Number 1763 YOLANDA BOMA testified via teleconference from Anchorage in support of HB 384 in its entirety. Number 1775 CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked if there were other individuals wishing to testify on HB 384. There being no additional persons, Chairman Bunde announced HB 384 would be held in committee for further review and brought up at a later date.
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