Legislature(2013 - 2014)HOUSE FINANCE 519
02/21/2014 01:30 PM House FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Update: Choose Respect Initiative Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
February 21, 2014
1:34 p.m.
1:34:52 PM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Austerman called the House Finance Committee
meeting to order at 1:34 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Alan Austerman, Co-Chair
Representative Mark Neuman, Vice-Chair
Representative Mia Costello
Representative Bryce Edgmon
Representative David Guttenberg
Representative Cathy Munoz
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Bill Stoltze, Co-Chair
Representative Les Gara
Representative Lindsey Holmes
Representative Steve Thompson
Representative Tammie Wilson
ALSO PRESENT
Michael Geraghty, Attorney General, Department of Law;
Lauree Morton, Executive Director, Council on Domestic
Violence and Sexual Assault, Department of Public Safety;
Michael Hanley, Commissioner, Department of Education and
Early Development; Terry Vrabec, Deputy Commissioner,
Department of Public Safety; John Skidmore, Director,
Criminal Division, Department of Law; Ron Taylor, Deputy
Commissioner, Department of Corrections; Ree Sailors,
Deputy Commissioner, Family, Community and Integrated
Services, Department of Health and Social Services;
Catherine Stone, Director, Public Housing, Alaska Housing
Finance Corporation.
SUMMARY
^UPDATE: CHOOSE RESPECT INITIATIVE AGAINST DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT
Co-Chair Austerman discussed the agenda for the day.
1:35:55 PM
MICHAEL GERAGHTY, ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF LAW,
stressed that there was an epidemic occurring in the state
related to sexual assault and domestic violence that far
exceeded national averages. The crime was widespread
throughout the state and had a disproportionate impact on
Alaska Natives. He discussed that with the help of the
legislature, the governor had shown a light on the crime;
subsequently, the work was beginning to "stem the tide." He
provided a PowerPoint presentation titled "Domestic
Violence and Sexual Assault Initiative Update" dated
February 21, 2014 (copy on file). He relayed that the
governor's Choose Respect initiative was a historic
undertaking that involved all Alaskans. He communicated
that the trauma of sexual assault and domestic violence
impacted children and families; the problem created a long-
term cycle of violence for children growing up in domestic
violence situations. Progress had been made, but there was
much more work to do. He discussed the goals of prevention,
protection, and healing; in order to succeed all three
items needed to be focused on. He highlighted the
importance of changing norms, working with young children,
and teaching respect. He was optimistic about change that
could be made.
1:38:59 PM
Attorney General Geraghty pointed to slide 2. The
initiative had begun with an emphasis on survivors of
sexual assault and domestic violence by ensuring there were
programs and shelters available. The focus had adjusted to
include offender accountability, including bringing
offenders to justice, ensuring the right crimes and
punishments were in place, and that legal and judicial
responses were appropriate. He spoke to the importance of
changing the environment so that the crimes did not occur
(e.g. educating children at school about the issue). He
turned to slide 3 titled "Building Comprehensive
Strategies." He reiterated that the key to long-term
success was to protect, prevent, and heal. He communicated
that during the presentation the committee would receive
highlights on key areas and would hear from all departments
involved in the initiative including the Department of
Education and Early Development (DEED), the Department of
Law (DOL), the Department of Public Safety (DPS), the
Department of Corrections (DOC), the Department of Health
and Social Services (DHSS), the Alaska Housing Finance
Corporation (AHFC), and the Council on Domestic Violence
and Sexual Assault (CDVSA).
1:40:57 PM
Attorney General Geraghty moved to slide 4 titled "Key
Priority Areas by Funding." The slide provided a historic
overview of funding beginning in FY 11 through FY 15; it
was broken down into key priority areas. Slide 5 addressed
progress that had been made. The initiative was tracking
progress over time including population measures. He had
been struck by the Dashboard, which included a series of
population and performance measures for the departments
involved in the initiative. Effective programs had been
implemented, which were evidence-based, best practices, and
promising. He discussed the importance of accountability.
He looked at slide 6 that focused on progress in all three
priority areas. He addressed increasing prevention
programming and community engagement, increasing reporting
to law enforcement, and other. He relayed that sexual
assault and domestic violence was stigmatized and had been
in the dark. He stressed the importance of reporting the
crimes. The state measured how many cases DOL accepted for
prosecution in addition to how many individuals took
advantage of advocacy centers and shelters.
1:43:31 PM
Attorney General Geraghty addressed slide 7 titled
"Population Measures of Success." He looked at an increase
in primary prevention and protective factors, which
included screening of high school students to determine
whether there were adults other than their parents that
they would report problems to. Also included in the
category was whether doctors discussed the importance of
reporting domestic violence with pregnant patients. He
stated that an increase in self-reporting or in reports of
harm was needed; the crime had been hidden too long.
Additional measures on the chart included increase in
utilization and access to services, increase in offender
accountability, decrease in perpetration, and decrease in
victimization.
1:45:08 PM
LAUREE MORTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY,
noted that a copy of the "2014 Alaska Dashboard" had been
included in members' packets (copy on file). She addressed
slide 8 titled "Tracking Progress: Alaska Dashboard." She
stated that the Dashboard provided an at-a-glance review of
statistics from surveys of individuals and information
gathered from state divisions and services. The Dashboard
was a broad overview of population indicators on the key
issues impacting domestic violence and sexual assault in
Alaska. She pointed to several columns on the Dashboard;
the "information and start date" column included available
information concerning the item as close to the start date
of the initiative as possible; the "current date" column
contained information closest to the current fiscal year;
the "percent change" was the increase or decrease in the
current Alaska data relative to the start date; and the
"progress" column noted whether progress was satisfactory,
uncertain, or needed improvement. She detailed that
subsequent pages provided explanations of what was measured
and where, when, and how information was gathered. The
Dashboard was used to monitor trends, strengthen policy and
practices, determine ways to help with prevention efforts,
and to identify corrections to strategies that should be
made along the way.
1:47:06 PM
Ms. Morton turned to slide 9 and continued to discuss the
Dashboard. She shared that the "progress" column was not
meant to be a comment on the rate of domestic violence or
sexual assault, but whether or not progress at turning the
curve was occurring at a satisfactory pace. As an example,
number 16 on the Dashboard was the rate of forcible rape
reported to law enforcement. She pointed to page 8 of the
Dashboard and relayed that reports were increasing. The
state measured the increase as satisfactory because more
people were coming forward to report. She highlighted other
items making progress under "offender accountability"
including numbers 27, 30, and 31; more rape was reported,
more arrests were being made, more arrests were taken up
for prosecution, and more of the prosecutions were
resulting in convictions. She looked at slide 10 pertaining
to progress needing improvement. She explained that the
percent change showed the increase or decrease in the
current Alaska data relative to the start date. She pointed
to slide 10 that showed an increase from 4 percent to 4.8
percent in the "percent of mothers whose 3-year old child
saw violence or physical abuse." She explained that the
figures actually represented a 20 percent increase. She
explained that numbers 2 and 5 on the slide were trending
progress that needed improvement; the data showed that more
3-year olds were exposed to violence; however, less reports
of harm were being made.
Ms. Morton relayed that the CDVSA looked at its strategies
to assist children exposed to violence to determine what
could be done to strengthen them. She moved to slide 11
titled "Implementing Effective Programs." She stated that
the council recognized the critical area and it supported
evidence-based practices to work on the issues such as
strengthening families, parents-as-teachers, and
social/emotional learning. Additionally, the council had a
small increment in its budget that would go to piloting
programs for children who accompany their parents into
shelters. She discussed that programs the council had
selected were evidence-based and practice-informed. She
explained that evidence-based generally referred to
programs that were validated by scientific evidence and had
the ability to replicate results; practice-informed were
programs shown to work effectively, produce successful
outcomes, and were supported to some degree by data;
promising programs were those that had the potential to
effectively address the issues. Some of the evidence-based
programs were the "Fourth R," legal representation and
adequate housing for victims. She relayed that one of the
practice informed programs was "Green Dot"; a couple of
other promising programs included Alaska Men Choose Respect
and Stand Up, Speak Up.
1:50:31 PM
Ms. Morton communicated that the departments would address
the three elements including prevent, protect, and heal.
Departments would highlight their initiative programs
beginning with prevention. She stated that working with
communities to build capacity and adaptations for what
makes sense in their cultures and communities was really
what prevention and supporting the efforts was all about.
She shared that Commissioner Hanley would describe several
of the efforts.
MICHAEL HANLEY, COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND
EARLY DEVELOPMENT, turned to slide 14 titled "The First
Step: Breaking the Silence." He acknowledged that
prevention did not happen via a program or a silver bullet;
it occurred by way of supporting a community, building
capacity, and working to change expectations. He referenced
a quote by Governor Sean Parnell on slide 14: "This battle
is going to be won in the hearts and minds of our young
people." He stated that it would take everyone to make the
change and that the first step in breaking the cycle was
breaking the silence. One of the efforts that had been made
to engage communities, connect victims to support, and
bring issues of domestic violence and sexual assault out
into the open were Choose Respect marches throughout the
state. He detailed that the marches represented the public
component of the efforts taking place in communities. He
looked at slide 15 that showed children who represented
lessons that took place prior to the march and efforts to
stand up for positive change in their communities. There
were several events that took place after the marches.
Commissioner Hanley moved to slide 16 titled "150
Communities Strong." He communicated that since the
inception of the initiative more and more Alaskans had
found the courage to speak, the strength to act, and
connection to needed support. The initiative had begun with
18 involved communities in 2010; the number had grown to
150 by 2013. He stressed that the significance of the
marches and the state's public awareness campaign should
not be minimized. He stated that breaking the silence was
part of the solution and represented a vital part of
changing social norms that put children and women at risk.
He referred to a recent comment by a Village Public Safety
Officer (VPSO) who had said "you can't have a brighter
tomorrow unless you decrease the darkness of today. When we
strengthen our families, our tribes, and communities we
become the sparks for a brighter dime."
1:53:45 PM
Commissioner Hanley showed an image of middle school
students (with the governor and first lady) involved in a
Choose Respect march on slide 18. He spoke to the
importance of engaging young students in the message; it
was critical to involve middle and high school students. He
stressed that the students would drive the school climate
and connectedness in their own schools. He added that the
climate in schools was one of the primary protective
factors. He looked at a DEED model on slide 19 taken from
the coordinated school health program model. He noted that
the bubbles shown on the page did not all fall within DEED,
but neither did the needs of children. The department
partnered with CDVSA and DHSS to provide the services. He
detailed that the categories of healthy and safe school
environment and comprehensive health education fell under
the purview of DEED, primarily in its effort related to the
"Fourth R": recognizing healthy relationships (others
included reading, writing, and arithmetic). He briefly
referred to the department's Coaching Boys into Men program
(slide 20). The department had a health and safety
coordinator and used a small component of domestic violence
and sexual assault funds to support the programs. Dashboard
indicator 15 recognized that the percentage of students who
felt connected to the school was up by almost 8 percent
(slide 23 and 24). He stated that the Coaching Boys into
Men program was tremendous; de facto student leaders were
frequently student athletes. The program engaged athletic
coaches and helped students recognize their leadership
roles on the court, in schools, and in their families.
1:56:29 PM
Commissioner Hanley turned to slide 21 titled "Fourth R:
Healthy Relationships." The curriculum shown on the slide
was used in grades 7 through 9 in physical and health
education to promote healthy relationships and reduce
interpersonal and dating violence. To date 275
professionals had been trained in the Fourth R curriculum.
He shared that in 21 school districts, 63 secondary schools
had been trained and approximately 50 of the schools had
implemented the program; over 1,200 students in the prior
year had been involved in the curriculum. He continued to
discuss the Fourth R curriculum on slide 22. He shared that
the final results would be available in the summer of 2014.
He detailed that results would indicate whether youth
report a decrease in the rate of self-reported perpetration
in dating and peer violence; and an increase in participant
awareness and understanding of dating behavior, including
dating violence.
Ms. Morton discussed a bystander intervention called Green-
Dot (slide 23). She shared that the program was currently
piloted in Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks, Homer, Kenai, and
Prince of Wales. She explained that the state was
developing an Alaska-specific curriculum; a trainer's
bureau would be developed in the program's third year in
order for Alaskans to reach out to other Alaskan
communities. She elaborated that a green-dot may involve
pulling a friend out of a dangerous situation, displaying
an awareness poster, putting a note on a person's Facebook
page, or other. She looked at Green-Dot measures on slide
24. She highlighted that the state had been methodical in
its implementation of the program; it had begun with one
program in Dillingham. The program had expanded over the
last couple of years to approximately 13 communities. She
relayed that implementation of the program would be
implemented in the present year. For example, in Anchorage
the program would work with taxi drivers and bartenders to
determine how they could increase the safety of their
patrons. In the program's third year it would look at
measures included on slide 24; the hope was that a
difference would be seen in the communities.
2:00:11 PM
TERRY VRABEC, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
SAFETY, introduced himself and representatives from other
departments. He communicated that one of the Choose Respect
initiative keystones was to provide a law enforcement
presence in every community that wanted one (slide 26). He
believed that through an increased presence and changes in
cultural norms, victims would be more willing to report
crimes to law enforcement. He referenced victimization
surveys showing that domestic violence and sexual assault
was highly underreported in Alaska. The department did not
view an increase in reporting as an increase to
victimization, but as an indicator that the state's efforts
were encouraging victims to seek help. Additionally, the
department believed efforts would help better prosecution
through investigations and victim participation.
Mr. Vrabec relayed that the department had increased the
training provided to law enforcement across the state to
bolster its response to investigations and crimes of sexual
assault and domestic violence. He turned to slide 27
showing a map of VPSO and Alaska State Trooper locations
throughout the state including the regional boundaries of
the 10 VPSO program grantees (9 were nonprofit corporations
plus the North West Arctic Borough). The primary method of
increasing law enforcement presence across the state was
through VPSO placement in rural communities. The effort was
promising and challenging. Prior to the start of the
initiative there had been 46 VPSO positions filled; there
were currently 88 VPSO positions filled, which covered more
than 69 communities. He acknowledged that the department
wanted to fill all of the VPSO positions; as it continued
to recruit and fill positions it looked for innovative ways
to expand the program. He spoke to VPSO rover positions
that were based in hub communities such as Bethel and
Fairbanks and traveled to outlying communities for
coverage. The Tanana Chiefs Conference used rovers to
provide coverage for up to 30 communities. Rovers also
provided assistance to the other 12 communities with VPSOs.
He detailed that each of the four rovers made two to three
visits per month and stayed five to seven days per visit.
2:04:25 PM
Mr. Vrabec showed a video showing the effect VPSOs have on
Alaskan communities [video duration was 3:40 minutes].
2:08:35 PM
Mr. Vrabec looked at slide 29 related to the rate of
forcible rape incidents reported to law enforcement
(Dashboard number 16) and the percent of forcible rapes
resulting in an arrest (Dashboard number 27). The source of
the data shown on the slide was the Uniform Crime Report
(UCR), which compiled submissions from law enforcement
agencies statewide. He stated that the increase in the
percent of forcible rapes resulting in an arrest suggested
that the state was making progress in holding offenders
accountable. Slide 30 related to Dashboard number 16; the
chart showed an increase in reports of forcible rape to law
enforcement. He opined that it should be interpreted as a
positive sign that victims of sexual assault were more
willing to report. He looked at a graph showing the sexual
assault reports to law enforcement in 2012 (Dashboard
number 19). The UCR bar represented the number of sexual
assault reports to law enforcement in 2012, totaling 576.
The State Statute bar represented the number of sexual
assault offences reported to law enforcement based on state
statute, totaling 804. He communicated that a significant
limitation of UCR data was related to its reliance on a
decades-old, narrow definition of forcible rape; the
definition did not represent sexual assault offences under
Alaska law. As a result, DPS began collecting data from
local law enforcement agencies related to reports of sexual
assault and abuse from crimes defined by state law. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation had since revised its
definition based on a more inclusive description. He
relayed that agencies had begun submitting data based on
the new definition beginning in January 2013.
Mr. Vrabec highlighted slide 31 that showed the number of
increased sexual assault and domestic violence training
hours at DPS.
2:11:20 PM
JOHN SKIDMORE, DIRECTOR, CRIMINAL DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF
LAW, spoke to offender accountability on slide 32.
Dashboard measures related to DOL fell into three
categories including sexual assaults, sexual abuse of
minors, and domestic violence; within the categories the
department looked at the number of cases accepted for
prosecution and the conviction rate. The slide pertained to
the number of sexual assault cases accepted for
prosecution. He reported that the department had been
accepting more cases in all three categories primarily due
to the increase in reporting. The expectation early on in
the initiative was that the number of crimes reported would
increase based on greater awareness and a shift towards
breaking the silence. He relayed that the number of sexual
assault cases accepted for prosecution (Dashboard number
30) had increased from 111 to 141 between 2008 and 2011 (a
27 percent increase). There had been 144 cases accepted
pertaining to the sexual abuse of minors (Dashboard number
32) representing a 32 percent increase. The acceptance of
domestic violence cases had increased 17.2 percent or from
2,617 to 3,068 (Dashboard number 34).
Mr. Skidmore continued to discuss offender accountability
on slide 33, specifically related to accepted sexual
assault cases resulting in a conviction. The conviction
rate had increased by 8.4 percent between 2008 and 2011; 26
additional convictions had been made. The percent of
accepted sexual abuse of minor cases with a conviction had
gone down by 10 percent. He addressed the decrease and
underscored that it would be a problem if there was a 100
percent conviction rate. He explained that if the state
only accepted cases it was certain of winning it meant the
prosecution was not aggressive enough. He stressed that the
envelope needed to be pushed and cases needed to be
accepted even when it was not clear the state would win. He
explained that even though the conviction rate went down,
the prosecution had taken on more challenging cases; the
net result was convicting 17 more individuals. He
communicated that if the rate dropped by 20 or 30
percentage points he would be concerned; however, he did
not find a 10 percent decrease troublesome. He noted that
the area was listed on the Dashboard as needing
improvement; the state was working to bring the number up.
2:16:32 PM
Mr. Skidmore discussed the percent of accepted domestic
violence cases with a conviction (Dashboard number 35) on
slide 33. The percent of accepted domestic violence cases
with a conviction increased 4.6 percent, which involved
more than 400 more convictions (the category had increased,
but it had room to increase more). He believed progress had
been made in holding people accountable.
Mr. Skidmore discussed how money allocated by the
legislature had helped to achieve progress on the Choose
Respect initiative. He looked at slide 34 titled "New
Kotzebue Attorney." He relayed that Kotzebue had started
with one prosecutor; the legislature had provided the
department with funds for a second attorney in 2011. He
highlighted the domestic violence assault 4 conviction
rate. He shared that misdemeanor offences were more likely
to work their way through the entire court system. The
number of accepted domestic violence cases increased from
157 to 201 or by 28 percent due to the new prosecutor.
Between 2011 and 2013 the acceptance rate remained 91
percent to 93 percent. He stressed that the acceptance rate
was steady and high. He underscored that the conviction
rate between 2011 and 2013 increased 17 percent. He
stressed that accountability had increased in Kotzebue as a
direct result of the new attorney. He thanked the
legislature for its efforts.
2:21:05 PM
RON TAYLOR, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,
looked at slide 35 related to the recidivism rate for adult
sex offenders (Dashboard number 36) from FY 06 to FY 10. He
highlighted the department's focus on reducing recidivism
rates and on holding offenders accountable by providing
access to programs and ensuring offenders followed through
with probation or parole conditions. He discussed that
since FY 06 recidivism rates for sex offenders had
continued to decrease and remain below the general offender
recidivism rate. He relayed that of the approximately 160
sex offenders released from custody in FY 10, less than 10
had returned to custody charged with a new sex offence over
a three-year period; the majority of recidivism had
occurred in the first year (five return offenders). He
communicated that DOC took holding offenders accountable
when released very seriously. In FY 13 the department's
institutional sex offender management program was expanded
to serve an additional 30 offenders at Palmer Correctional
Center.
Mr. Taylor spoke to probation outcomes related to the
initiative on slide 36. The first outcome related to a
reduction in the number of felony domestic violence and
sexual assault technical violations of supervised
probationers. He elaborated that the increment was specific
to three probation officers in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and
Bethel. The increment was to provide targeted supervision
to people on felony supervision for sexual assault or
domestic violence. Additionally, the item targeted
individuals trapped in hub communities who were from rural
areas where the individuals could not return to their
communities without the completion of some type of program
(i.e. substance abuse or sex offender management) or if
they had a restriction preventing them from moving back to
the area. The probation officers had been hired by the
department in the prior fiscal year with the goal of
providing a more targeted probation officer with training
to ensure the offenders' needs were met when returning to
their communities. Additionally, the officers would also
work with DPS to determine how a person could be safely
returned to their community with limited supervision. He
relayed that because of the early stage of the program, no
participants had been released back into their communities
as of yet; 50 individuals had been targeted for tracking of
items such as failure to report, alcohol violations, or
missed appointments.
2:25:35 PM
Mr. Taylor discussed that the second outcome was to
increase the number of domestic violence misdemeanor
probationers participating in the Probation,
Accountability, and Certain Enforcement (PACE) program
(slide 36). He relayed that even though the primary DOC
mission for community supervision pertained to felons, the
commissioner felt it was appropriate to take advantage of
strengths seen in the adult and felony PACE programs for
use in a pilot program for misdemeanants. He elaborated
that the program was aimed at high risk misdemeanor
probationers who continually violated protective orders or
returned with domestic violence charges. The project began
in 2012 and the number of participants had doubled,
totaling 17 in 2013. The department was ensuring that
participants with technical violations (i.e. failure to
report, alcohol or drug violations, or missed appointments)
were brought before the court immediately. The department
was proud to report that none of the individuals in the
PACE program had returned for domestic violence crimes.
2:27:29 PM
REE SAILORS, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND
INTEGRATED SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL
SERVICES, introduced colleagues. She spoke to understanding
trauma on slide 38. She stated that trauma accompanied
domestic violence and sexual assault. She detailed that
trauma impacted children in addition to victims. She
addressed trauma-informed care and stressed that trauma
represented a vicious cycle that needed to be broken. She
discussed how children and victims experiencing trauma
learned to cope throughout their lives. Dashboard number 5
related to the number of reported child abuse cases. She
referred to testimony from a previous meeting citing that
the department received over 15,000 calls per year related
to child abuse. Subsequently, DHSS believed that becoming a
trauma-informed care system was critical for individuals in
the state. She pointed to various forms of abuse including
physical abuse and neglect, emotional, sexual, alcohol and
drug abusing family members in a household, incarcerated
household members, a mother treated violently, and
homelessness. She reminded the committee that 37 percent of
homeless people were families.
2:30:48 PM
Ms. Sailors discussed slide 38 further. The specific kind
of trauma impacted brain neurobiology and its ability to
function at a reasonable level. She stressed that that the
trauma impacted children in a permanent way including their
ability to have successful social, emotional, and cognitive
functioning. The trauma tended to encourage adaptive
behaviors such as risk taking and coping mechanisms like
abuse and addiction. Additionally, the trauma contributed
heavily to persistent and severe behavioral health
problems. She discussed that if a child had experienced
more than four adverse childhood experiences including
being a victim or witness of sexual assault or domestic
violence, their chances of having substance abuse problems
were 350 percent greater than the norm. Likewise, their
chances of having severe emotional problems were over 3
percent higher. She discussed what the issue meant
financially for the department's Medicaid budget and the
services provided. She underscored that prevention was
urgent.
2:32:36 PM
Ms. Sailors discussed trauma-informed care on slide 39. She
relayed that DHSS trained over 1,300 mental health
professionals in the state. She detailed that without the
training, the chances of misunderstanding, mistreating, and
misdiagnosing people, was significantly increased.
Additionally, DHSS had trained 500 of its personnel in its
Division of Juvenile Justice. She stressed that the
training was creating a culture change in the department's
institutional care and probation services. She pointed to
examples including a reduction in need for restraints,
isolations, and other.
Ms. Sailors highlighted the trauma-informed care provider
agreement. The idea was to create partnerships between
partners trained in the DHSS "trauma 101" (a "trauma 201"
training was in development; training was also available
online) and domestic violence and sexual assault programs.
She elaborated that the goal was to provide short-term,
well-informed treatment consistent with trauma-informed
care principles for individuals in shelters. The department
had worked with the Rural Domestic Violence Sexual Assault
Prevention Pilot Projects in four communities; funding had
been provided to the communities for another form of
"capacity building" to help communities identify problems,
resources, and to create strategic plans for solutions. The
first 1 to 2 years of the 4-year program had been used to
organize groups, collect data at the local level, and to
provide funding to local initiatives to make a difference
in the communities. She stressed the importance of
grassroots efforts and stated that "it takes a village."
The grants represented efforts to build the capacity and to
educate community members in order to work collaboratively
on the problem.
2:36:00 PM
Ms. Sailors believed some of the results had been stunning.
She communicated that benefit had been witnessed from
moving treatment and communities forward in terms of
understanding how to successfully treat trauma victims.
Ms. Morton discussed slide 40: "Council on Domestic
Violence and Sexual Assault." She spoke to two evidence-
based intervention programs including legal advocacy and
legal representation. She detailed that at the beginning of
the initiative $65,000 had been set aside to assist with
working to increase the number of pro bono attorneys in the
state and to increase the comfort level of dealing with
family law and the complex issues through continuing legal
education. She referenced the chart, which showed the
return had grown exponentially; in 2011 the amount of
service had totaled $826,000, which had increased to over
$1 million in 2013. She shared that part of the program was
to mentor attorneys who were new to domestic violence or
sexual assault cases for the first time. She mentioned the
return on the investment and lives that were changed for
the better. The department had asked involved attorneys and
recipients of services about how the program had impacted
them. She quoted a response from a recipient:
I'm 100 percent sure I would never have been able to
take this huge step without legal representation. It's
changed my life. It feels like I can now exhale. I
felt like I've been holding my breath for so many
years. Keep on doing the work you're doing; it is life
changing.
2:38:43 PM
Ms. Morton detailed slide 41: "Council on Domestic Violence
and Sexual Assault." She spoke to ensuring victims had safe
havens when needing to get out of a dangerous situation. A
chart on slide 41 tracked shelter nights in order to
include beds, toiletries, clothing, food, and advocacy
services. When the number of shelter nights were monitored,
better decisions could be made about the levels of staffing
and funding. The chart showed a 20 percent increase in
shelter nights from FY 09 to FY 13. She communicated that
Alaska participated in a national annual survey that looked
at a day in the life of a shelter program. The prior year
the day had been September 17; 18 of the state's domestic
violence programs had participated. During the 24-hour
period the participating programs had served 618 victims;
336 had found refuge in emergency shelters or transitional
housing; and 282 had accessed nonresidential services
including legal advocacy and medical accompaniment. During
the last year, over 9,000 people had accessed services; of
services utilized approximately 75 percent were for
domestic violence, 20 percent were for sexual assault, 3
percent were for stalking, and 13 percent for other violent
crime. The figure exceeded 100 percent because victims
suffered from more than one type of crime. She pointed to
support programs in communities; the prior year there had
been over 3,000 volunteers that had provided over 78,000
hours of service.
2:41:05 PM
Ms. Morton looked at slide 42 titled "Victim Service
Programs Make a Difference." She relayed that in the prior
year DHSS had begun measuring outcomes and had moved away
from only measuring outputs (e.g. the number of people
staying the night in a shelter, the number of crisis
interventions, the number of emergency transportations, and
the number of counseling sessions). Outcomes measured
whether department's efforts were making a difference in
victims' lives and how the information could inform the
type of practices and services provided. The department had
looked at three areas including safety, healing, and
justice. She moved to a chart on slide 43 and relayed that
funded programs were on the right track; victims knew more
ways to keep safe, to access resources, to help their
children, they felt less isolated, understood crisis and
trauma, and better understood their legal rights. She
communicated the importance of staff, boards, and the
department to understand how to make adjustments that would
benefit all victims seeking help.
2:42:46 PM
CATHERINE STONE, DIRECTOR, PUBLIC HOUSING, ALASKA HOUSING
FINANCE CORPORATION (AHFC), addressed slide 44 titled "VPSO
Housing." She noted that the availability of decent,
affordable housing was a significant factor in a
community's ability to support and retain a VPSO position.
Annually, the governor had requested $1 million in funding
for VPSO housing through AHFC's Teacher, Health
Professional, and Public Safety Housing (THHP) grant
program in order to improve the quality of rural housing
and to address turnover. She shared that funding for the
program was $6 million in FY 15 with $1 million designated
for VPSO housing. She reported that since 2011, 12 units
had been funded specifically for VPSO housing in rural
locations statewide and since 2004, 13 other projects had
been funded that allowed VPSO housing tenants under their
public safety eligibility as part of a multiple unit
project. She looked at slide 45 titled "AHFC Empowering
Choice Housing Program." The program was a three-year time
limited referral program run in collaboration with the
Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and
the CDVSA. The program had been launched in 2012 with $1.34
million in state funds and a $1 million match from AHFC's
Moving to Work federal allocation. The average assistance
paid in the first year was $920 per month; currently the
average was $707 per month. She shared that as assistance
to private landlords decreased more referrals could be sent
out into the community and an increased number of
individuals could be assisted.
Ms. Stone looked at slide 46 titled "Empowering Choice
Housing Program." As of December 31, 2013, 256 families
were referred to AHFC and 135 families were receiving
rental assistance. Currently the agency had met its target
of 254 referrals statewide. She shared a story about a
pregnant mother who had come to a shelter the prior year.
She relayed that women typically arrived with very little
clothing and belongings. She elaborated that the woman's
partner had cleaned out their bank account and left the
state. Subsequently, the woman received a housing voucher;
the mother was currently working and had a car; she was now
able to take care of her children in a safe and loving
environment. She relayed that the story was a typical
example of how the program impacted lives.
2:48:21 PM
Ms. Morton communicated that she was frequently asked if
the department was making a difference in people's lives;
she believed the answer was yes. She shared that the proof
was in looking into a woman's eyes who did not show fear
for the first time and when a child was learning to laugh
instead of remaining quiet in the corner. She had worked in
the field since 1984, but she had only begun to see people
from "all walks of life" talk about the issues in recent
years and changing the way of being. She referred to a
presentation she had given to the other legislative body.
Subsequently, she had received an email from someone
wanting to help in their local community. She discussed
that 10 years earlier she would not have received the same
kind of email; she believed she would have been called a
"home wrecker" and a "man hater" in the past. She stated
that she would have been viewed as destructing the fabric
of society instead of trying to weave it back together.
2:50:50 PM
Attorney General Geraghty viewed the initiative as a moral
imperative. He stressed that the legislature had helped to
start stemming the tide. He compared the work to a marathon
and not a sprint. He discussed that progress was being made
slowly and steadily. He stated that healing the vast
numbers of Alaskans from the physical and emotional trauma
that had been inflicted upon them would take people
courageously standing up and speaking out. He pointed to a
quote from a child sexual abuse survivor on slide 47. He
stated that it would take time to change the social norms
that promote and condone domestic and sexual violence. He
asked committee members to keep the long-term commitment to
end the epidemic.
Co-Chair Austerman thanked the presenters for their
presentation.
Vice-Chair Neuman spoke to his judgment of the initiative
based on a multitude of documents provided to the committee
that included results and numbers. He ranked the program at
a D letter grade at best. He referred to the 804 sexual
assaults reported to law enforcement, which he believed was
one of the only documents based on reports by victims. He
opined that it did no good to go from 101 [111] to 141; he
did not care that the number increased by 31 percent. He
stated that on average a perpetrator committed 20 assaults
prior to being arrested. He referred to the increase in
sexual assault cases accepted for prosecution. He remarked
that there had been slightly over 100 cases with
convictions of over 2,400 assaults. He reiterated that many
assaults were not reported. He did not believe the state
was doing a great job. He did not see numbers showing that
the millions of dollars spent were making a significant
difference. He discussed lives that were being ruined. He
noted that over 3,000 children went through the Division of
Juvenile Justice annually, of which, 48.3 percent had
traumatic life experiences; he stated that the primary
contributor was sexual abuse. He communicated that it was
DHSS's job to pick up the kids and adults to help them
straighten out their lives. He stressed that $2.7 billion
had been spent. He thought the charts provided in the
presentation were meaningless. He commented on the report
that the recidivism rate had decreased over a three-year
period. He stressed that the recidivism rate for sexual
assault was closer to 90 percent. He referred to
legislation he had worked on in the past related to the
issue. He did not believe the report told him anything he
needed to know. He stressed that the report did not contain
numbers. He observed that the report did not quantify how
many sexual assaults occurred that were not reported. He
reiterated that there had been slightly over 100
convictions pertaining to more than 2,400 assaults.
2:58:02 PM
Attorney General Geraghty disputed the statement that all
departments had characterized themselves as doing a great
job; however, he did believe the initiative was stemming
the tide. He reiterated his earlier statement that there
was a long way to go and that the addressing the work was
like a marathon. He did not question the data cited by
Vice-Chair Neuman, but was unfamiliar with any data showing
that there were 20 prior assaults before an arrest. He
relayed that Alaska had a mandatory arrest statute for
domestic violence and sexual assault; it was DOL's job to
prosecute and convict. He relayed that many victims changed
their mind after making a report and withdrew charges. He
stated that a report could be a vindictive act by a victim
to get back at a perpetrator such as her husband or
significant other. He detailed that there was a whole gamut
of facts that applied in the situations. He stressed that
if the victim chose not to testify he had to make a choice
about where to devote department resources. He underscored
that numbers were improving and the rate of acceptance was
increasing. He agreed that he wanted to see more arrests
resulting in prosecution. He could not specify why a
discrepancy existed; however, based on police reports, many
victims many times did not want to testify. He questioned
how the department could prosecute when a victim would not
testify. He noted possible exceptions when physical
evidence was present. He emphasized that many reasons went
into the screening process. He agreed that improvement was
needed. He encouraged Vice-Chair Neuman to read the entire
Dashboard report. He respectively disagreed with the
statement that the Dashboard did not tell anything. He
agreed that much more work needed to be done, but progress
had been made. He reiterated his earlier statement that the
issue was a moral imperative. He concluded that the state
could not responsibly turn its back on the problem.
3:01:10 PM
Representative Edgmon commended the governor and the
departments for work done on the issue. He understood that
it took time to make progress. He believed that over time
raising awareness and removing the stigma of reporting
would produce tangible results. He had heard adults talk
with children about abuse. He addressed cultural norms and
changing society. He referred to the 78,000 hours of
volunteer time and surmised that a portion of the hours
could probably be attributed to department employees as
public servants. He believed the reduction in recidivism
would take many years. He appreciated the passion shown by
Mr. Skidmore in his earlier testimony. He had seen lives
destructed in rural Alaska. He asked the departments to
address the underlying forces including adverse childhood
experiences.
3:04:06 PM
Ms. Morton replied that some of the DHSS programs in
development would address the issue raised by
Representative Edgmon. She listed several programs
including Parents as Teachers, pre-Head Start, and Social
Emotional Learning (a K-12 program teaching children how to
interact). She discussed nurse-mother partnerships that
would allow new mothers to work with a nurse on how to
interact with their child. She shared that some of the
department's programs went into elementary schools to teach
ways to take care of oneself and to identify adults to
confide in. She believed there had been recognition in the
past several years that it was important to begin teaching
children as early on in life as possible about
understanding who they are, where boundaries are, and how
to interact respectfully. She believed it was important to
do a better job creating safe places to talk about the
issue. She believed that until a person was able to talk
about what happened to them there was still much work to be
done. She discussed the Coaching Boys into Men program
where high school athletes talked with younger boys about
ways to act and treat each other. She addressed the Girls
on the Run program where girls aged 8 through 13 learned
they have a right to be safe and how to help other people.
She believed the answer relied on a combination of items.
She noted the importance of focusing on the issues earlier
than what the state currently was able to provide.
3:07:15 PM
Representative Edgmon underscored the ongoing nature of the
issue. He observed that the current effort had been
underway for only a handful of years. In his role as a
legislator, he wanted to contribute to making efforts
successful.
Representative Costello thanked the departments for their
presentation and collaborative efforts. She discussed that
the US Gulf States had revenue sharing with the federal
government, which had resulted in their receipt of $29
billion. She discussed that Alaska did not have revenue
sharing with the federal government for outer continental
shelf development. She referred to legislation offered by
Alaska's US Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich. She
believed it would help if Congress would pass revenue
sharing to enable Alaska to receive funds. She stressed
that $29 billion was an immense amount of money. She
believed funds generated from resource development could
help the state address chronic issues. She asked about
trauma-informed care. She wondered if there had been
discussion about training educators in schools on trauma
care.
Ms. Sailors answered in the affirmative. She communicated
that DHSS was preparing trauma informed curriculum (Trauma
101 and 201) for a conference of school administrators in
Alaska. She believed looking at other places the training
could be provided was important; the work had begun in the
behavioral health professional community, but the state was
working to move the work through as many relevant sectors
as possible. She believed the training effort was important
to helping how to overcome the problems and to avoid
exacerbating trauma. She discussed the importance of
determining how to build resiliency, which was the key to
overcoming traumatic experiences. She stated that
curriculum had been developed and could be made available
to anyone interested. She added that Trauma 201 focused on
helping organizations to transform into trauma-informed
care organizations.
3:12:00 PM
Representative Costello believed the state's sex offender
registry was helpful to parents. She wondered if the state
should pursue meeting federal standards in order to be
eligible for the receipt of federal funds. She believed the
state was currently out of compliance for receipt of the
funds.
Mr. Skidmore replied in the affirmative. He discussed that
a consideration was related to strings attached to taking
federal funds. He detailed that frequently federal funds
would end up costing the state money due to the lengthy
requirements the state had to comply with. He did not know
the situation specific to sex offender registration. He
relayed that the cost/benefit analysis related to accepting
federal funds was ongoing.
Representative Guttenberg thanked the departments for their
presentation. He spoke to testimony from his community on
the importance of VPSO officers. He observed that there
were many communities in Alaska that did not have VPSOs. He
referred to a committee meeting earlier in the session
where failures of the state had been discussed. He noted
there were various items that would increase the state's
ability to put VPSOs or troopers in communities. He pointed
to difficulties in the program. He asked the administration
to work harder on the VPSO program. He wondered why an
increased number of qualified people could not be brought
to the areas.
3:16:29 PM
Attorney General Geraghty answered that the state had spent
$44 million in the past four years to increase the number
of troopers, VPSOs, and housing. He noted that the number
of VPSOs had increased. He remarked on the high VPSO
turnover rate. The legislature was working on legislation
that would arm the positions to increase safety for the
officers. The department was working with tribes in order
to engage communities to increase safety. He remarked that
he had written the chairman of the Indian Law and Order
Commission asking for increased funding for tribal courts.
He commented that the commission had issued a "scathing"
report about Alaska.
Representative Guttenberg discussed the state's ability to
build housing for VPSOs through AHFC. He believed agencies
could work together to accomplish the goal.
3:18:59 PM
Co-Chair Austerman referred to a prior presentation related
to victims of domestic violence. He recalled testimony that
87 percent of the victims felt good about how the program
was working and providing help. He remarked that the
presentation had not addressed that there were 5 percent
less perpetrators. He wanted to know how the money
allocated by the legislature was being spent and the
benefit ratio related to hiring the directors and other. He
was interested in changes taking place and the benefit of
using the money in its current capacity. He discussed that
prior to "white-man civilization" in Alaska it had not
taken communities long to determine solutions to their
problems. He emphasized that the state was currently in
worse shape than ever before. He recognized that the work
to improve the problems could not occur overnight. He was
willing to allocate the money, but wanted more concrete
information about the cost/benefit in the future.
Co-Chair Austerman discussed the agenda for the following
week.
ADJOURNMENT
3:22:43 PM
The meeting was adjourned at 3:22 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Choose Respect 2014 Legislative Report.pdf |
HFIN 2/21/2014 1:30:00 PM |
Choose Respect Update HFIN |
| Choose Respect 2014 Report Transmittal Letter 02.18.2014.pdf |
HFIN 2/21/2014 1:30:00 PM |
|
| Choose Respect Initiative(Revised) HFIN Presentation 02_21_14.pdf |
HFIN 2/21/2014 1:30:00 PM |