Legislature(1999 - 2000)
04/14/2000 09:04 AM House HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL
SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
April 14, 2000
9:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Fred Dyson, Chairman
Representative Jim Whitaker
Representative Joe Green
Representative Carl Morgan
Representative Tom Brice
Representative Allen Kemplen
Representative John Coghill
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 413
"An Act relating to intensive family preservation services; and
providing for an effective date."
- MOVED HB 413 OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 184
"An Act granting certain juvenile detention or juvenile
correctional institution employees status as peace officers under
the public employees' retirement system; and providing for an
effective date."
- MOVED HB 184 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 413
SHORT TITLE: INTENSIVE FAMILY PRESERVATION SERVICES
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
2/16/00 2221 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
2/16/00 2222 (H) HES, JUD, FIN
4/06/00 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
4/06/00 (H) Scheduled But Not Heard
4/13/00 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
4/13/00 (H) Heard & Held
4/13/00 (H) MINUTE(HES)
4/14/00 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 184
SHORT TITLE: PERS BENEFITS FOR JUV INSTIT EMPLOYEES
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
4/09/99 702 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
4/09/99 702 (H) HES, FIN
4/13/00 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
4/13/00 (H) Scheduled But Not Heard
4/14/00 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
COLLENE BRADY-DRAGOMIR, Director
Mental Health Services
The Ark of Anchorage
2211 Arca Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 413.
VIAN NATIONS, Director
Family Services Division
Cook Inlet Tribal Council
670 West Fireweed Lane
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 413.
BLAIR McCUNE, Deputy Director
Central Office
Public defender Agency
Department of Administration
900 West Fifth Avenue, Suite 200
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 413.
TIM SPENGLER, Development Specialist
Division of Family and Youth Services (DFYS)
Department of Health & Social Services
PO Box 110630
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 413.
REPRESENTATIVE SHARON CISSNA
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 420
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor on HB 413.
REPRESENTATIVE BETH KERTTULA
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 430
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor of HB 184.
GUY BELL, Director
Division of Retirement & Benefits
Department of Administration
PO Box 110203
Juneau, Alaska 99811
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 184.
JASON WILSON, Youth Counselor
Johnson Youth Center
Probation Services
Division of Juvenile Justice
Department of Health & Social Services
3252 Hospital Drive
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 184.
ANDY LEE, Unit Leader
Johnson Youth Center
Probation Services Division of Juvenile Justice
Department of Health & Social Services
3252 Hospital Drive
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 184.
ELMER LINDSTROM, Special Assistant
Office of the Commissioner
Department of Health & Social Services
PO Box 110601
Juneau, Alaska 99811
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 184.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 00-47, SIDE A
Number 0001
[This is a continuation of the HES Committee meeting on April 13,
2000, 3:13 p.m.]
CHAIRMAN FRED DYSON reconvened the House Health, Education and
Social Services Standing Committee meeting at 9:04 a.m. Members
present when the meeting was reconvened were Representatives Dyson,
Green, Morgan, Brice and Coghill. Representatives Whitaker and
Kemplen arrived as the meeting was in progress. Chairman Dyson had
to leave to present a bill in Senate Finance so he turned over the
gavel to Representative Green to chair the meeting.
HB 413 - INTENSIVE FAMILY PRESERVATION SERVICES
Number 0088
COLLENE BRADY-DRAGOMIR, Director, Mental Health Services, The Arc
of Anchorage, testified via teleconference from Anchorage. She has
worked with families and children for the past 15 years; the last
eight years have been focused on children with extreme needs such
as mental illness and severe emotional disturbance in the Anchorage
area. The increase of children being placed in out-of-home
placement the past five years has alarmed her. Unfortunately, many
of those children are in out-of-state residential treatment
facilities. Many might argue that this increase is due to the
growing severity [of the problems] of these children, which many
people believe require an institutional setting.
MS. BRADY-DRAGOMIR urged the committee to think differently than
that perception. Although this population exhibits many needs, a
good portion of out-of-state placements, and out-of-school
placements, could be prevented if families had resources available
to them prior to the decision of removing the child from the
environment. She believes that HB 413 begins to fill that void and
provides an opportunity to address a missing piece in the child
delivery system. Intensive intervention promotes family
self-sufficiency and minimizes dependency on outside intervention
by emphasizing family strengths, increasing parenting life skills,
increasing family communication and structure, and enhancing stress
and anger management techniques as well as developing linkages to
community resources.
MS. BRADY-DRAGOMIR explained that at the Arc of Anchorage there is
an intensive home-based prevention program targeted at working with
parents that experience a disability. Since the inception of this
program, the support of the parenting project has demonstrated its
effectiveness in providing prevention services as shown through
measurable and successful outcomes. It is very similar to the
Homebuilders program in Washington state. It is truly an effective
program; intensive intervention works. It is not only fiscally
smart, but it is the right thing to do for Alaska's children and
families. She encouraged the committee to support HB 413 which
will begin to improve the quality of life for Alaska's children and
families and will assist in preventing long-term out-of-home
placement.
Number 0324
VIAN NATIONS, Director, Family Services Division, Cook Inlet Tribal
Council, testified via teleconference from Anchorage. She
expressed strong support for HB 413. The Family Services Division
currently has three programs that are similar to HB 413. The Cook
Inlet Tribal Council has a federally funded family preservation
program, a healthy home program for child abuse prevention and a
healthy families of Alaska program. She likes the fact that HB 413
provides services in the family's home. Those services can
certainly be culturally sensitive which help families be more open.
Providing intensive home-based services helps establish a trusting
relationship with families; many families do not get the needed
help because they lack trust. Building a relationship is one of
the first steps toward getting the needed help. Home visitors are
able to engage the family in services.
MS. NATIONS noted several years ago a study was done with the
Healthy Families of Alaska program known as New Beginnings, and she
has sent copies of that study to members of the Children's Caucus.
The intervention group in the study received intensive home-based
service visits weekly or more; the other group received quarterly
visits. The results showed there was increased social support in
the families so the families learned to access other services and
increase their own support system through the program. There were
fewer out-of-home placements in the intervention group so having a
home visitor in the home allowed children to stay in the home.
There were no emergency visits indicating harm to any of the
children in the intervention group whereas there was in the control
group. There was less violence and aggression in the home where
there was a home visitor on a weekly basis.
MS. NATIONS indicated there were standardized tools used to measure
these things. There was decreased family stress, and family stress
is an issue that can lead to child abuse and neglect. Families
learned to reach out and access services through family
preservation services. Recently an in-take worker in the Anchorage
Division of Family and Youth Services (DFYS) told her there were
several families where children were being kept in the home and not
being taken into state custody because they were working with Cook
Inlet Tribal Council Family Preservation Program which provides
home visits in the home, case management, access to counseling and
so on.
MS. NATIONS reported in a previous study, several families that
would have had their infants removed at birth were given the choice
of having their children removed or accessing intensive home-based
services. These services help families in a time of crisis.
Through the services offered by Cook Inlet Tribal Corporation
(CITC), there has been success; the services work, but there are
not enough people to do the intensive work that needs to be done.
Currently 140 families are being served by CITC, and that could be
doubled or tripled based on the need in Anchorage. She urged the
committee to support HB 413.
Number 0675
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN referred to the federally funded program that
Ms. Nations mentioned and asked how the state program would
interact with the federal program.
MS. NATIONS answered the family preservation money they and some
other tribes in the state get are not as definitive; it talks about
helping families in their own homes, family reunification, helping
find permanent places and so on. The CITC has developed its own
program that meets the standard of being intensive. Based on the
family's needs, an intensive home-based service program has been
developed. The bill is fairly structured with guidelines which she
likes better, but she believes that the programs could certainly
dovetail and use the money together to reach the same outcomes.
Number 0784
BLAIR McCUNE, Deputy Director, Central Office, Public Defender
Agency, Department of Administration, testified via teleconference
from Anchorage. He said that HB 413 seems like a logical step as
far as the state's child protection and child welfare is concerned.
With passage of legislation which became effective in 1998, the
foster homes in the Anchorage area, especially the emergency homes,
have been very crowded. His office is concerned that the cure is
worse than the disease. It makes little sense to take children out
of homes where there certainly are problems, but to place children
in overcrowded foster homes doesn't make much sense either.
MR. MCCUNE commented that his agency has enjoyed working with the
Cook Inlet Tribal Council which has been a great addition to child
protection and working with families in the Anchorage area. The
Anchorage Center for Families has been another program that has
helped out a lot in the area. The Healthy Families Program is
working and doing the best to try to preserve families. He spoke
in favor of intensive home-based services as an alternative to
removing children from the home.
Number 0923
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL referred to page 3, Section 4, where there
is an effectiveness percentage required. He wondered if the 70
percent of effectiveness is a realistic number.
MR. MCCUNE answered from the testimony heard yesterday, it seems
realistic from the experience in Michigan and Washington. In order
to achieve that success rate, it would seem some pretty careful
screening would have to be done about the cases.
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE asked Mr. McCUNE about his statement "the cure
is worse than the disease." He wondered if that was meant to imply
that the Public Defender Agency believes it is better to leave a
child in a situation that the courts have found to be dangerous to
that child.
MR. MCCUNE answered no. There have been times when his agency has
objected to probable cause in temporary custody findings in certain
cases. In many of the cases, his agency stipulated to probable
cause. There are a number of other cases where probable cause is
fought. In a certain percentage of those cases, his agency is
successful in having children returned to the home even though the
Department of Health & Social Services objects to it. There are a
small number of cases where the court decided the child should
return home. If it goes to a hearing, and the court determines
that the child should be removed, his agency would accept the
court's ruling. He did not mean to say that removal is always
worse, but there are some cases that it is better for a child to
remain in the home.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked Mr. McCUNE if he believes this bill
would give some degree of comfort to the department so there is not
an either/or but some degree of accountability.
Number 1232
MR. MCCUNE said he believes that trying, when possible, to give
these services would help things. If a child is removed, a lot of
that family's ability to stay together and function is taken away.
Often people's low-income housing is dependent upon the children
living there. There is a long rebuilding process that is
difficult. It makes a lot of sense to have things work if possible
before the child is taken out of the home.
Number 1300
MS. NATIONS said she thought Mr. McCUNE was trying to say that
trying to work with children in their home is better than the
trauma of removing them and putting them in overcrowded crisis
centers. A lot of times if someone is in the home and monitoring
the situation and providing intensive care, the parents are able to
make the changes in the home without the trauma of the removal of
the child. Obviously everyone wants a child removed if he/she is
in imminent harm. Many times that is not the case. The child may
not be in imminent harm, but there is a lot of dysfunction in the
family.
Number 1375
TIM SPENGLER, Development Specialist, Division of Family and Youth
Services (DFYS), Department of Health & Social Services, came
forward to testify in support of HB 413. He noted that HB 413 is
in line with the goals of the DFYS of keeping families together.
If this passes, HB 413 would be a great tool for the families. It
wouldn't be a panacea, and it wouldn't eliminate removal of a huge
percentage of children from the homes, but it would be a wonderful
tool for a significant percentage of children. In the last decade
there has been an increase in reports of harm and children in
out-of-home placements.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked Mr. Spengler if he felt comfortable
with the 70 percent effectiveness number or would it be better to
wait for the study.
MR. SPENGLER agreed it is a significant number. He would defer
this question to the testimony from the states that have done it
and apparently have achieved this total. The study will certainly
tell if it is an achievable goal. In order to reach that number,
the access to services has to be screened. The people have to be
in crisis and willing to accept the services. That would increase
the chance of a high percentage of success.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked Mr. Spengler if he could foresee any
time where the department might become adversarial with a tool such
as HB 413.
Number 1500
MR. SPENGLER said he cannot see the department being anything but
supportive of this. The department would love to have the
resources to plug in the intensive up-front services. The
resources to do it are not there now.
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked Mr. Spengler if he saw this as being
exclusive to the point of trying to reach more emphasis on the 70
percent success than on the helping of children where it may drop
to 60 percent.
MR. SPENGLER answered in his mind, 60 percent would be success, but
apparently the 70 percent is a legitimate number that has come out
of other states that have been able to maintain that. This program
would not work with the number of sexual abuse or bad physical
abuse cases where the children have to be removed, but with
families that are willing to work and acknowledge they are in
crisis and don't want the state to come into their lives, then it
would be highly successful.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked Mr. Spengler if he has determined what
area might be studied to give the best cross section for this type
of program.
MR. SPENGLER said the fiscal note is for a coordinator position
which would do two things: making sure the pilot program is
developed very solidly and well and finding federal and private
funding streams to expand this beyond the pilot. The site to do
the pilot program has not been determined.
Number 1650
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA referred to the 70 percent. She said the
public is requiring more and more of government and demands real
results. Other states have had better than 70 percent
effectiveness rate. The service itself has to be top notch. It
really has to be 70 percent at the bottom because it has to be done
well.
Number 1730
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE made a motion to move HB 413 out of committee
with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. There
being no objection, HB 413 moved from the House Health, Education
and Social Services Standing Committee.
HB 184 - PERS BENEFITS FOR JUV INSTIT EMPLOYEES
Number 1743
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN announced the next order of business as House
Bill No. 184, "An Act granting certain juvenile detention or
juvenile correctional institution employees status as peace
officers under the public employees' retirement system; and
providing for an effective date."
REPRESENTATIVE BETH KERTTULA, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor,
came forward to present HB 184. She noted that HB 184 changes the
retirement system for the juvenile justice youth counselors. The
reason for this legislation is because the youth counselors have a
very difficult and, at times, a very dangerous job. The lack of
recognition in the statutes, that like peace officers and adult
correctional officers, they deserve a 20 year and out system. She
told the committee that she had a committee substitute (CS)
prepared, but it is not her wish to have the CS considered. The CS
has the employees pay for any difference to go to 20 years and out,
but the department has polled the employees, and it is the vast
desire of the employees not to use that method. She would like the
committee to hear from the youth counselors because they can
explain the merits of the bill which does have a fiscal note of
approximately $320,000 per year.
Number 1844
GUY BELL, Director, Division of Retirement & Benefits, Department
of Administration, came forward to testify. He noted the division
submitted a fiscal note that is based on the cost of moving from a
30-year retirement to a 20-year retirement for 236 people that
would be affected by HB 184.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL noted that in considering the fiscal note,
hiring beyond that will have to be considered. A third of the work
force will have to be replaced, and he wondered how that would be
reflected in the overall cost.
MR. BELL said it is figured to assume that the characteristics of
that group will be carried forward. There will be people in their
first year and people who have 25 years. The whole group is valued
as a group. The assumption is the characteristics of that group
will be the same five and ten years from now.
Number 1932
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked for a motion to adopt the CS.
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE explained that the sponsor wanted the original
bill rather than the CS.
Number 1955
JASON WILSON, Youth Counselor, Johnson Youth Center (JYC),
Probation Services, Division of Juvenile Justice, Department of
Health & Social Services, came forward to testify. He has been a
youth counselor for five and a half years and urged the committee
to support HB 184. He gave a brief idea of what the youth
counselors deal with on a daily basis. The JYC is the only
detention facility in Southeast Alaska and just opened up the only
treatment center in Southeast Alaska, so JYC deals with all of
Southeast. The JYC is an eight-room, fifteen-bed facility which
houses between 20 to 25 kids. It is above capacity almost all the
time. The counselors have a thankless job because they don't see
the kids after they graduate and become productive citizens. The
counselors deal with the kids when they are experimenting and
dealing with drugs. There are frequent assaults on staff members
and residents. There are many mental cases. The counselors deal
with kids who want to hurt themselves or spit on the counselors or
have major anger management problems.
MR. WILSON stressed that the counselors deal with a great deal of
stress. These counselors are keeping these kids in a safe
environment as well as keeping the public safe by having these kids
in a safe environment. He believes the counselors deserve this and
the 20 year retirement has been one of the most talked about things
since he has been at JYC. He invited the committee to take a tour
of JYC. Walking into the JYC is not unlike walking into the Lemon
Creek facility except there aren't bars, there are solid doors.
The counselors deal with the same sort of things as adult
corrections, if not worse.
Number 2148
ANDY LEE, Unit Leader, Johnson Youth Center (JYC), Probation
Services, Division of Juvenile Justice, Department of Health &
Social Services, came forward to testify. He has worked at JYC for
ten years, and part of that time he was acting superintendent, and
he managed the detention facility. During his tenure, the
detention facility has operated at 300 percent capacity. During a
single month, as many as 33 physical restraints have been done with
particularly volatile young people. Nationally, youth counselors
are assaulted at a rate three times that of correctional officers
and the youth counselors have less tools. They don't have mace,
weapons, or insert teams to go into the cells; they just have their
physical selves. While they are highly trained and skilled, the
average length of a career of youth counselors at JYC is three and
a half years. In his tenure, no one has retired. He is one of the
senior staff members. In addition to operating at an always high
capacity rate, the new treatment facility that opened last April
has never been below capacity. There has never been an empty bed.
In the past, many of the residents were gang members, but more
recently they are seeing more mental health residents because there
is nowhere else to put them. The result is there are self-harm
behaviors and suicidal ideation. The detention unit frequently
gets multiple detentions for minor consuming. So there may be
someone in detoxification while someone is acting out in another
cell. The unit is typically staffed by three individuals. The
peak population last year was 33 residents in eight cells. Some of
the cells had five residents in them so when the counselor enters
those cells, all that is between the counselor and the five
residents for escape, injury to each other, or injury to the
counselor is the wits and training of the counselor.
MR. LEE indicated they are very proud of the work they do. There
are about 230 counselors who were originally part of the
correctional officers retirement bill but were dropped at the
twelfth hour; the counselors made a very strong case at that time
for the amount of risk they were assuming. One of the collateral
costs is the high rate of worker's compensation that is utilized.
He believes it was over $300,000 in 1997, and most of that was
borne by individuals over the age of 45. There are some other
costs that need to be considered with regard to this. The staff
continues to try to come up with strategies to cut down on the
population, but there are some individuals who simply need the type
of service that JYC provides. With the loss of Alaska Psychiatric
Institute, the long-term ability to house individuals there has
been lost. With the loss of residential beds, there are less
alternatives for placement in the community. Currently at the
Bethel youth facility there are eight individuals in the treatment
unit, five of whom are there for murder. Given that most of the
populations are fairly safe individuals or are not acting out,
there is always a certain percentage of the population who are
cited as at-risk individuals for assault to staff, assault to each
other or self-harm. In a given day the counselors do everything
from receptionist duties, correctional officer duties, family
counseling, community service and transporting to and from court in
caged cars. By statute they have all the arrest authority of a
state trooper, yet they have none of the benefits. He commended
his great staff and believes they deserve the 20-year retirement
bill as the correctional officers have.
TAPE 00-47, SIDE B
Number 2328
ELMER LINDSTROM, Special Assistant, Office of the Commissioner,
Department of Health & Social Services, came forward to testify.
He said the sponsor indicated she did not wish to pursue the CS and
he assumes part of the reason for that is the division director
attempted to poll the staff in the youth corrections facilities and
the staff felt by 2-1 that the original bill is what they would
like to pursue. This was not an administration bill. Should this
bill not pass this year due to the lateness of the session, the
division director will propose it through the normal legislative
development process. The department has not had the straight up
discussion whether or not these employees merit inclusion in the
peace officers retirement system, but it will have that discussion
for the next session. The committee heard very compelling
testimony today, and he is confident the division director will
make a very compelling case.
Number 2263
REPRESENTATIVE WHITAKER asked Mr. Lindstrom about the status of
other bills where other groups of employees are moving from a
30-year program to a 20-year program. He wondered if those bills
are close to becoming law.
MR. LINDSTROM answered that his sense is that those bills are
moving, but other people may have a better sense.
REPRESENTATIVE WHITAKER said there appears to be a reasonable
opportunity given no fiscal note for this to succeed. However, in
having a fiscal note, the chance for success is probably
diminished. It is important that all concerned understand if this
is to happen, there would be a much better chance of it happening
if the individuals bear the costs. That is a major factor.
MR. LINDSTROM indicated HB 184 is not the department's proposal at
this time. He suspects the sponsor is listening to those remarks
and it will be considered. The Division of Juvenile Justice was
just created this last year. Previously it was under the Division
of Family and Youth Services. The director, Mr. Buhite, came up
through the ranks with over 30 year's experience in this field, 16
years as superintendent at McLaughlin. He has put together an
outstanding management team. The director enjoys the support of
the commissioner as well as the support of his staff. All of the
facilities were just accredited which is not the case in most
states of these type of facilities.
Number 2090
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL made a motion to move the original HB 184
with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. There
being no objection, HB 184 moved from the House Health, Education
and Social Services Standing Committee.
ADJOURNMENT
Number 2055
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee meeting
was adjourned at 9:58 a.m.
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