Legislature(2019 - 2020)DAVIS 106
02/18/2020 03:00 PM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation: Statewide Suicide Prevention Council | |
| Presentation: Improving Public Health and Comprehensive Sex Education | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 18, 2020
3:08 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Tiffany Zulkosky, Chair
Representative Ivy Spohnholz, Vice Chair
Representative Matt Claman
Representative Harriet Drummond
Representative Geran Tarr
Representative Sharon Jackson
Representative Lance Pruitt
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: STATEWIDE SUICIDE PREVENTION COUNCIL
- HEARD
PRESENTATION: IMPROVING PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMPREHENSIVE SEX
EDUCATION
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
BEVERLY SCHOONOVER, Executive Director
Statewide Suicide Prevention Council
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a PowerPoint titled "Statewide
Suicide Prevention Council.
SHARON FISHEL, Education Specialist
School Health and Professional Development
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the presentation on
suicide prevention.
REBECCA PIATT, Counseling Coordinator
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
Palmer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the presentation on the
Statewide Suicide Prevention Council.
KRISTIN GAROT, Principal
Yaakoosge Daakahidi High School
Juneau School District
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the presentation on
suicide prevention.
MAX WHEAT, Student
Yaakoosge Daakahidi High School
Juneau School District Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the presentation on
suicide prevention.
MELISSA LINTON, Curriculum Coordinator
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the presentation on
suicide prevention.
KAEGAN KOSKI, Student
River City Academy
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the presentation on
suicide prevention.
MEGHAN CROW, Lead School Social Worker
Lower Kuskakwim School District
Bethel, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the presentation on
suicide prevention.
SAMANTHA McNELLY, Facilitator
Anchorage Teen Council
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a PowerPoint titled "Improving
Public Health and Comprehensive Sex Education."
ZOE KAPLAN
Anchorage Teen Council
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the PowerPoint
presentation.
MICHAELA GOODMAN
Juneau Teen Council
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the PowerPoint
presentation.
ZAFARA STRAIN
Anchorage Teen Council
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the PowerPoint
presentation.
SAMMY STEVENS
Anchorage Teen Council
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the PowerPoint
presentation.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:08:30 PM
CHAIR TIFFANY ZULKOSKY called the House Health and Social
Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:08 p.m.
Representatives Zulkosky, Drummond, Tarr, and Claman were
present at the call to order. Representatives Spohnholz,
Jackson, and Pruitt arrived as the meeting was in progress.
^Presentation: Statewide Suicide Prevention Council
Presentation: Statewide Suicide Prevention Council
3:09:10 PM
CHAIR ZULKOSKY announced that the first order of business would
be a presentation by the Statewide Suicide Prevention Council.
3:09:41 PM
BEVERLY SCHOONOVER, Executive Director, Statewide Suicide
Prevention Council, presented a PowerPoint titled "Statewide
Suicide Prevention Council." She shared slide 1, "Behavioral
Health Advisory Boards and Councils," which listed the
Behavioral Health Advisory Boards, noting that she was the
director of all three boards: Alaska Mental Health Board,
Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, and the Statewide
Suicide Prevention Council. She added that these citizen
advisory members were all Alaskan with lived experience and
expertise related to mental health, substance use, and suicide,
and were appointed by the governor. She explained that they
advised, educated, and collaborated with multiple partners
regarding state funded behavioral health services.
MS. SCHOONOVER shared slide 2, "Statewide Suicide Prevention
Council Meeting," reporting that the council was in statute and
served in an advisory capacity to the legislature and governor
regarding suicide awareness and prevention. She said that they
meet 4 times annually, had 1 paid staff member, and 17 council
members, of which 13 were voting members, with 2 non-voting
members from the Alaska House of Representatives and 2 non-
voting members from the Alaska Senate. She pointed out that of
these voting members, there were specific seats established,
including a military seat, a youth seat, a suicide survivor
seat, a clergy seat, a rural seat, and a seat recommended by the
Alaska Federation of Natives. She declared that the main duty
was to work with Alaskans statewide to create and maintain the
five-year suicide prevention plan and to collaborate with
statewide partners on the groundwork of suicide prevention.
MS. SCHOONOVER reported that, in the Center for Disease Control
(CDC) list of state suicide rates, Alaska was always in the top
three for highest, and currently was in second place behind
Montana. She declared that the data on the following graphs
were for Alaskans, and she shared slide 5, "Intentional Self-
Harm Mortality by Year," a bar graph listing Alaska suicide
deaths, rate per 100,000, and the U.S. suicide rate each year
from 2009 to 2018. She pointed out that although the number of
deaths were low, as Alaska has a small population, the rate of
suicide was high, adding that one death by suicide in Alaska has
huge and lasting impacts in the community.
3:14:23 PM
MS. SCHOONOVER presented slide 6, "Intentional Self-Harm
Mortality by Race," a graph which also depicted 2009 - 2018 in
Alaska. This graph compared Alaska Indian/Alaska Native rate,
the non-Alaska Indian/Alaska Native rate, the Alaska rate, and
the U.S. rate. She pointed out that the Alaska Natives were
most at risk for suicide in Alaska, a huge concern for the
council. She reported that the council had an annual booth at
the Alaska Federation of Natives, conducted outreach to tribes,
and was always looking for more ways to partner with tribes and
tribal citizens.
MS. SCHOONOVER shared slide 7, "Intentional Self-Harm Mortality
by Region," a bar graph showing suicide deaths and the statewide
rate. She pointed out that, although the Matanuska-Susitna
(Mat-Su) region had the highest number of deaths, it did not
have a high rate of suicide per 100,000 people. She reported
that Alaska Natives living in the northern regions, such as
Nome, Bethel, and Dillingham, were the most at risk for suicide.
She added that these areas were the most challenging to receive
and provide services and support. She moved on to slide 8,
"Intentional Self-Harm Mortality by Age Group," noting that it
was necessary to consider Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs),
historical trauma, racism, and economic disparity. She
emphasized that it was necessary to have dedicated resources and
focused efforts in the rural Alaskan communities. She directed
attention to the bar graph, pointing to the spikes in the 15 -
29 age group, as suicide was the leading cause of death for
Alaskans age 15 - 19. She expressed concern with the rates and
discussed the focus for youth intervention in the schools. She
relayed that the prevention plan supported early childhood
interventions to reduce ACEs. She added that there was concern
for the spike in the 60 - 79-year-old population, noting that
the council had addressed this with the Alaska Commission on
Aging with a hope to partner on some projects.
MS. SCHOONOVER directed attention to slide 9, "Youth Risk
Behavior Survey (YRBS)," a survey of Alaska teens in both
traditional and alternative high schools, done every other year
with parental consent. She reported that, since 2009, the rates
of depression and attempted suicide had grown dramatically. She
noted that there was improvement, however, with a reduction in
tobacco use and youth drinking. She declared that this was the
most important data for school-based suicide prevention
programs.
3:18:13 PM
CHAIR ZULKOSKY asked if the YRBS survey was facilitated through
the state-wide council and what was the total number of surveys.
SHARON FISHEL, Education Specialist, School Health and
Professional Development, Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED), in response to Chair Zulkosky, said that the
Division of Public Health conducted the survey in collaboration
with the schools and the DEED. She added that the 2019 data
would soon be available.
3:18:54 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR reported that nationwide rates for suicide
were "really skyrocketing," adding that this had been a trend
for the last number of years. She pointed out that the Alaska
rate had plateaued whereas the national trends were continuing
to rise, and that this spoke to the importance of the prevention
work.
3:19:47 PM
MS. FISHEL presented slide 10, "Suicide Awareness Prevention &
Postvention Program," and slide 11, "Reducing Youth Suicide
SAPP Grantees." She reported that funding through the Suicide
Prevention Council had been the primary funding for school based
mental health programming, which included suicide prevention,
intervention, postvention and trauma work. She pointed out that
there was not any other dedicated funding to meet this need,
noting that this work had reached all of Alaska's school
districts in some form with more than 23,000 online e-learning
users. She clarified that these SAPP (Suicide Awareness
Prevention & Postvention Program) grants were really the SAPP
program. She reported that the program provided opportunities
for schools to support programs, practices and policies that
focused on the areas that were related to state suicide
prevention plans, goals, and strategies. She stated that these
programs provided an action plan, parts of which also met the
statewide Suicide Prevention Plan. She listed the SAPP grantees
for FY20, which included schools in Juneau, Petersburg, Kenai,
Bering Straits, and North Slope. Almost all these programs
included peer to peer work.
MS. FISHEL paraphrased slide 12, "Statewide Crisis Response
SAPP Program," stating that in addition to the more traditional
suicide programming DEED administered through district grants
and training, DEED is often able to respond to unforeseeable
district crises. DEED can authorize grant funds to be allocated
for crisis counseling and even provide funding for external
counseling support to a school in crisis.
MS. FISHEL stated that this funding also provided statewide
support by having staff that could respond to district requests
for support during a crisis, including a mental health crisis,
suicide crisis, counseling support, and technical assistance.
She shared anecdotes for responses to four different crises in
the past two weeks, as well as earlier incidents of suicide and
attempted suicide in a school in December. She acknowledged
that, as she was the only staffer with the Department of
Education and Early Development to do behavioral health which
included mental health, suicide prevention, trauma, and
substance abuse, she also worked with school counselors
statewide.
3:26:40 PM
MS. FISHEL moved on to paraphrase slide 13, "DEED eLearning
Suicide Resources (Statewide)," which broke the staff training
program into four training sections. She said that this
training was in response to Senate Bill 36 in 2012 which
required that all school district staff receive suicide
awareness prevention and postvention training. She added that
these were online courses available to anyone statewide. She
reported that there was a collection of professional development
resources for the districts, noting that since July 1, 2019,
5600 educators had taken at least one of the suicide courses.
She shared that 195 educators had taken the student lessons
listed on slide 13, "Navigating Transitions: Promoting Wellness
to Prevent Suicide, Grades 5-12."
MS. FISHEL explained that five counselors from the Mat-Su School
District had helped create these lessons, the first online
lessons for students around suicide prevention. She added that
about 150 students from this school district had been trained to
deliver these peer-to-peer model lessons to other students, with
some of these students going to Anchorage to train other
students to deliver these lessons.
MS. FISHEL shared slide 14, "Transforming Schools," stating that
Alaskan students endured an extremely high rate of trauma and
ACEs. She reported that one of two youth in Alaska had lived
through one or more ACEs by the beginning of kindergarten. She
explained that this framework was a result of lessons learned by
school staff and community members in Alaska, using stories,
research, and best practices to improve academic outcomes and
well-being for all students, adding that more than 2500 copies
of this framework had been distributed throughout Alaska.
3:30:54 PM
MS. FISHEL shared slide 15, "DEED eLearning Trauma Resources,"
stating that the online lessons for suicide prevention and the
trauma lessons were all paid for out of the DEED funding. She
pointed to the micro courses, including classroom practice,
self-regulation, mind-body connection, and emotional
intelligence, which she described as hands-on tools and
activities that teachers and educators can do with their
students in the classroom. She pointed to the new courses
listed on the slide, which read: Childhood traumatic grief for
school personnel; a Guide to Family Partnerships (Live); Self
Care for Educators; and Birth-to-5 Trauma Engaged Practices
MS. FISHEL reported that the self-care chapter was most
requested for training.
CHAIR ZULKOSKY asked if the framework for trauma-engaged
practice was used as a tool by school boards and teachers as a
resource to implement trauma engaged environments. She asked
for any statistics that this had been used for developing models
statewide.
MS. FISHEL reported that the Bering Strait School District
offered a copy of the document to every educational staffer.
She added that the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District
had requested 500 copies of the framework, and that requests
were coming in soon from the Anchorage and Lower Kuskokwim
School Districts.
MS. FISHEL declared that, although this was not a lot of money,
there was a lot done with the money. She shared a personal
anecdote about suicide in her family.
3:35:23 PM
MS. SCHOONOVER concluded with slide 17, "Statewide Suicide
Prevention Council 2020 Activities:" the Reducing Lethal
Means Campaign, which created space between potentially suicidal
people and their guns; the Careline Promotion, with its
objective to alleviate stress and give folks someone to talk to
by calling 877-266-HELP (4357); and "Recasting the Net-
Promoting Wellness to Prevent Suicide in Alaska," increasing the
resource base for statewide planning, data collection and
assessment.
REPRESTATIVE JACKSON expressed her gratitude to Ms. Schoonover
for her work.
3:39:03 PM
The committee took a brief at-ease.
3:39:31 PM
REBECCA PIATT, Counseling Coordinator, Matanuska-Susitna Borough
School District, spoke about the necessity for full and
continued funding for the suicide awareness prevention and
postvention (SAPP) program. She reported that her district had
been a grantee of the program for multiple cycles, and the
district SAPP activities all aligned with the state suicide
prevention plan strategies. She stated that some of the major
deliverables included explicit suicide prevention training to
students and staff, educational programming to foster resiliency
and connectedness, and social-emotional skills for students in
some of the alternative schools. She shared that SAPP funds had
supported the development of navigating transitions, promoting
wellness to prevent suicide, e-learning modules in collaboration
with the Department of Education and Early Development, and free
curriculum for any Alaskan educator. She spoke about the major
goal for the current grant cycle to expand the reach of the
navigating transitions curriculum by using a peer-to-peer
training model and shared some details about the "saving teens
at risk" suicide prevention training for student leaders and
staff advisors.
MS. PIATT shared that the cost for this district-wide training
was about $2.83 per student. She declared that these SAPP-
funded efforts were making a difference, pointing to the
increase in the number of suicide interventions as students were
recognizing warning signs and had the courage and training to
speak up. She shared an anecdote from her school district. She
reported that the youth suicide indicators in the YSRB survey
reflected that 21.6 percent of high school students in the Mat-
Su Borough School District reported engagement in suicide
consideration and 9.2 percent had reported an actual suicide
attempt. She pointed out that the statewide averages were
higher. She declared that, as the reach of the SAPP dollars
extended farther than any statistic could truly show, full and
continued funding was important to support the suicide
prevention activities and resources to promote the safety and
well-being of the students.
CHAIR ZULKOSKY asked if there had been any discussions for
contributions to the rise in suicide across the state.
MS. PIATT, in response, offered her belief that, although there
was not any officially clear causation, the ACEs research had
brought recognition for the extent of trauma within the
community, with no discrimination. She declared that there were
also uphill battles with substance abuse issues in Alaska which
did lead to suicidal behavior. She relayed that the activities
tried to address these issues in order to build connections and
pipelines toward support and resources for healing.
3:47:39 PM
KRISTIN GAROT, Principal, Yaakoosge Daakahidi High School,
Juneau School District, acknowledged that, as Alaska did have
one of the highest rates of suicide in the U.S., targeted
intervention, support, and education for high school students in
high-risk school districts was important. She said that the
SAPP program helped her school with a grant of $25,000 which had
increased the support for student engagement at school and in
the community, provided staff training, and increased attendance
and positive connections. She reported that the funding had
shown success for student engagement, attendance, and graduation
rates. She relayed that more students now shared when they and
their friends were struggling and asked for help. She declared
that, without the funding, it was more difficult to
systematically fill the gaps, so kids did not "fall through the
cracks."
3:50:17 PM
MAX WHEAT, Student, Yaakoosge Daakahidi High School, shared some
stories about his participation in leadership circles which
helped bring people in and make them want to talk. He said that
one person could make a difference, and this was contagious. He
declared that having a trusting relationship with a teacher
would allow someone to talk about traumatic issues. He offered
his belief that the program helped kids not go to "that dark
side" and made them feel "happy about life." He shared an
anecdote about one of the classes that helped a lot of the
students deal with a lot of trauma, knowing that "someone has
your back." He spoke about community involvement, which goes "a
long way just saying, 'got you'." He spoke about the importance
of the program for helping to know the signs of suicide so that
you could look out for your family, your friends, and even a
teacher and help them. He expressed his appreciation for the
program.
3:54:11 PM
MS. GAROT spoke about the program to support students who had
experienced trauma, a full day training for specific ways to
teach kids self-regulation strategies which the grant had helped
provide to the school staff. She referenced the signs of
suicide that were taught in the e-learning modules and had been
implemented school-wide for the students. She noted that the
teachers used those resources to lead and teach their classes.
She declared that the funding was critical for her school.
MS. GAROT, in response to Representative Jackson, explained that
it was the supporting students who have experienced trauma
class.
CHAIR ZULKOSKY spoke about the importance for having the
vocabulary to express and describe what someone was going
through.
3:56:53 PM
MELISSA LINTON, Curriculum Coordinator, Kenai Peninsula Borough
School District, shared that, in 2017, she had become the
coordinator of a Project Aware grant for the alternative school.
That experience had brought her the recognition for a need for
the students to address suicide prevention and awareness. Since
2017, the district had increased the number of suicide
assessments from almost 60 per year to almost 110 for the first
semester, which could double by year end. She reported that at
the end of the previous year, there had been 210 risk
assessments for student suicide. She reported that, with the
SAPP program, the district had introduced a program, "Sources of
Strength," an evidence-based program for suicide prevention.
She pointed out that this training was for students, to give
them the skills and leadership to be connectors, as they were
the first responders when it was known their peers needed help.
She stated that previous training had been directed toward
adults. She declared that this was a positive program that
emphasized strength-based ideas for students: what one can do,
instead of what one can't or shouldn't do.
MS. LINTON shared that currently there were almost 600 students
and 100 adults throughout the community trained as adults or
student advisors for Sources of Strength, active in 14 middle
and high schools. She added that the SAPP program funding had
also provided for 6 trainers within the district to continue to
train students and schools on the Sources of Strength program.
She explained that the SAPP funding also supported other
programs, and she offered some details on these, including work
on trauma informed practices.
4:02:51 PM
KAEGAN KOSKI, Student, River City Academy, Kenai Peninsula
Borough School District, shared that he was in the eleventh
grade at River City Academy and was a participant in the Sources
of Strength program. He declared his support for the program,
pointing to the effects in his school when kids were encouraged
to connect with each other, to talk and identify when there was
a problem. He reflected that there had been many past instances
when the Sources of Strength "would have been incredibly useful
to me." He shared an anecdote of a friend's earlier attempt at
suicide and his own lack of knowledge for what to do. He said
that daily he saw examples in which Sources of Strength had
changed the brain chemistry of students. He declared support
for any grants toward suicide awareness that would keep these
programs teaching his peers how to deal with terrifying
situations and save lives.
4:05:33 PM
MS. LINTON reported that there had recently been more
collaboration with partners on the Kenai. She offered an
example for the Sources of Strength program with Central
Peninsula Hospital and other outside agencies throughout the
community. She declared that this program was very positive,
and it was "connecting all the right people to the right places
and supporting the students." She added that Sources of
Strength activities had been used for the staff to deal with
secondary trauma.
4:08:19 PM
MEGHAN CROW, Lead School Social Worker, Lower Kuskakwim School
District, reported that she had been a school social worker for
22 years as well as a member of the statewide suicide prevention
council for 7 years. She said that suicide prevention was
currently a focus among the 10 school social workers. She
shared that the free lessons offered by the state had helped the
department to train teachers. She added that the addition of
resilience and protective factors into the presentations had
been proven effective in prevention. She relayed that the SAPP
programs had been used to expand existing programs by training
advocates from the rural schools to better respond to student
needs. She added that this also included training in Yupik life
skills and traditional skills, the way of being well, using
Yupik values. She noted that mental health first aid was also
taught, as well as ways to combat bullying and dating violence.
She pointed out that the SAPP program allowed them to think in a
different direction and expand comprehensive prevention efforts
for life skills, protective factors, and community involvement.
She added that these funds allowed a broadening of focus for
trauma to staff, teachers, and students.
MS. CROW, in response to Chair Zulkosky, said there were 28
schools in the district.
MS. CROW, in response to Representative Tarr, explained that the
district had both social workers and counselors. The counseling
department had 8 counselors, with 2 full time at the Bethel High
School, which comprised about 33 percent of the high school
students in the district. She said that the other 6 counselors
and 5 social workers visited the 23 village schools. She
reported that the social workers did a lot of social, emotional
counseling, especially in the village. The academic counselors
were doing testing, scheduling, and guidance lessons, as well as
college and vocational programs. She pointed out that although
each had different focuses, the two groups came together for
crisis intervention and the social, emotional needs of students.
She acknowledged that having both was a unique system.
^Presentation: Improving Public Health and Comprehensive Sex
Education
Presentation: Improving Public Health and Comprehensive Sex
Education
4:19:22 PM
CHAIR ZULKOSKY announced that the final order of business would
be a presentation on improving public health and comprehensive
sex education.
4:19:48 PM
The committee took a brief at-ease.
4:21:21 PM
SAMANTHA McNELLY, Anchorage Teen Council Facilitator, presented
a PowerPoint titled "Improving Public Health and Comprehensive
Sex Education," stating that the statistics were very alarming
and that a lot of them had "been true for quite some time." She
directed attention to slide 3, "Scope of the Problem," which
stated that Alaska had some of the country's highest rates of
sexual assault, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and
unintended pregnancy.
MS. McNELLY moved on and paraphrased from slide 4, "Public
Health Crisis," which read:
Alaska has extremely high rates of STIs, ranking
highest in the nation for chlamydia and second highest
for gonorrhea. Alaska youth (ages 15-19) are
particularly vulnerable contracting chlamydia at a
rate more than 3x the state average.
MS. McNELLY, in response to Representative Jackson, said that
she did not know exactly when these numbers had begun to rise.
CHAIR ZULKOSKY offered for her office to provide additional
information at the end of the presentation.
MS. McNELLY moved on to slides 5 and 6, "Scope of the Problem,"
and paraphrased the slides, which read:
Syphilis Outbreak: During 2018, there was a 293%
increase over 2017 for reported syphilis cases.
Alaska's rate of teen pregnancy is above the national
average. Nearly 48% of all pregnancies in Alaska are
unintended.
MS. McNELLY shared slide 7, "Scope of the Problem," which read:
Sexual Violence
Alaska has the highest rate of reported rape in the
country almost 3 times the national average.
13.7% of people in Alaska have experienced some form
of childhood sexual abuse, estimated to be the highest
in the country.
MS. McNELLY added that this was unacceptable and there needed to
be a way to address this problem.
MS. MCNELLY directed attention to slide 8, "UAA's Alaska
Victimization Survey," and reported that of 100 adult women in
Alaska, 40 would experience some sort of intimate partner
violence, 33 would experience sexual violence, and 50 would
experience intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or both.
She emphasized that one of every two women in Alaska would
experience this violence, noting that although the data was only
looking at women, it was known that people of all genders did
experience intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or both.
She declared that it was necessary for more education across the
state to "tackle these numbers and to really bolster protective
factors specifically for young people across Alaska."
MS. MCNELLY shared slide 9, "Discrimination against LGBTQ+
youth," which read:
Compared to students in schools without an LGBTQ -
inclusive curriculum, LGBTQ students in schools with
inclusive curriculum were...
? More likely to feel safe because of their sexual
orientation and gender expression
? Experienced lower levels of victimization related to
their sexual orientation and gender expression
4:27:45 PM
MS. MCNELLY presented slide 10, "Primary Prevention and Behavior
Change," and said that primary prevention was the idea of
intervening before negative health events occurred in someone's
life. She offered an example for the encouragement of
vaccinations before the contraction of a harmful disease. She
added that primary prevention could also include substance abuse
education and be as simple as encouragement of an environment
for youth to bond with trusted adults so there would be someone
safe to talk with. She shared slide 11, "Prevention," which
read:
Health Promotion
"Empowering people to increase control over their
health and its determinants through health literacy
efforts and multisectoral action to increase healthy
behaviors."
MS. MCNELLY stated that the goal of health promotion was to
increase better health outcomes for all Alaskans, adding that it
demanded to meet people where they were, so whatever point in
their lives they were at with their health and their choices,
information resources that would them move forward to an even
healthier life could be provided.
MS. MCNELLY shared slide 12, "Behavior Change," which stated
that long term changes in health behavior involved multiple
actions and adaptations over time, and that behavior change
often took time and multiple opportunities.
MS. MCNELLY pointed to the similarity within the models and
mentioned that there needed to be consistent information and
conversation.
MS. MCNELLY declared that some of the programs throughout the
U.S. did not follow the best practices for behavior change
models, directing attention to slide 13, "Abstinence Only
Programs,: which stated that abstinence was "not effective in
delaying initiation of sexual intercourse or changing other
health behaviors associated with reducing unintended pregnancy
and STIs" and indeed "may have negative impact on several groups
of young people, including LGBTQ youth, sexually active youth,
youth with history of sexual abuse, and parenting teens."
MS. MCNELLY stated that there were numerous studies showing that
these programs were not effective in delaying the initiation of
sexual intercourse or other health behaviors associated with
unintended pregnancies and STIs, and could, instead, cause
direct harm for many groups of youth, specifically LBGTQ youth.
She pointed out that these programs could be harmful for
sexually active youth because of the shame and stigma attached
to these programs and would not necessarily encourage them to
make healthier future choices.
MS. MCNELLY provided more information via slide 14, "Abstinence
Only Programs," stating considerable research, including from
the CDC, found that abstinence-only education withheld critical
information from young people, leaving them at risk.
4:32:33 PM
ZOE KAPLAN, Anchorage Teen Council Member, shared slide 16, "Sex
Education should ..." which read:
Cover a wide range of topics including:
? Healthy and unhealthy relationships
? Decision-making and peer pressure
? Abstinence
? Communication
? Consent
? Gender identity
? Sexual orientation
? Body image
? Media literacy and critical thinking
? Birth control
? Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
MS. KAPLAN acknowledged that these should be taught to age-
appropriate groups and she offered examples for younger ages
that could be built upon as the children were older. She
pointed out that abstinence was an important form of birth
control for many people.
MS. KAPLAN moved on to slide 17, "Sex Education should ..."
which read:
? Be culturally specific and taught each school year
by a trained educator
? Equip young people with skills they need for a
lifetime of good health
? Inclusive of LGBTQ+ population
MS. KAPLAN said that it was important in rural areas for the
lessons to focus on what was accessible. She declared that sex
education should equip young people with skills needed for a
lifetime of good health. She added that sex education should be
inclusive of LGBTQ youth who felt marginalized or excluded as
there was a higher risk for mental health problems among this
group.
MS. KAPLAN stated that when these best practices were put into
use, there were a lot of positive outcomes, and she directed
attention to slide 18, "Positive Health Outcomes," which read:
Comprehensive Sex Ed:
? Reduces unprotected sex
? Delays initiation of sex
? Increases condom and contraception use
? Reduces likelihood of unintended pregnancy
MS. KAPLAN stated that this directly challenged the beliefs
about abstinence-only sex education and addressed the high
percentage of unintended pregnancies and STIs.
MS. KAPLAN referenced slide 19, "Comprehensive Sex Ed," which
read:
Young people should get age-appropriate, medically
accurate information and answers to their questions
about sex and relationships, without being shamed or
judged.
MS. KAPLAN moved on to slide 20, "National Sexuality Education
Standards," and reported that these standards were derived from
the CDC's National Health Education Standards. They were
developed by multiple national organizations working together
and broken into seven sexuality standards, explained further on
slide 21, "Essential Content:" there are 7 topics chosen as the
minimum, essential content and skills for K-12 sexuality
education, the standards for each one of these topics varying by
grade level.
MS. KAPLAN stated that these topics would be developmentally
appropriate for every grade level and she shared slide 22,
"Essential Content," in which the topics were broken down:
1. Anatomy and Physiology
2. Puberty and Adolescent Development
3. Identity
4. Pregnancy and Reproduction
5. Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV
6. Healthy Relationships
7. Personal Safety
MS. KAPLAN reported that, in 2018, fewer than half of Alaska's
secondary schools gave information for ways to access valid and
reliable products, information, and services related to STIs and
pregnancies. She emphasized that it was necessary to ensure
there was correct, valid information.
4:38:49 PM
MICHAELA GOODMAN, Juneau Teen Council, explained that Teen
Council was a peer-led sex education program affiliated with
Planned Parenthood which had been active for about 30 years, and
she directed attention to slide 24, "Teen Council," which gave
more information about that program's location, members, and
offerings:
? Anchorage and Juneau
? 22 members
? Extensive Training
? Formal and Informal Ed
? Peer Led Sex Ed
4:40:21 PM
ZAFARA STRAIN, Anchorage Teen Council Member, shared slide 25,
"Why it matters?" and offered a personal anecdote for the
comprehensive sexual health education she received in the eighth
grade, taught by Teen Council, a lesson for how to properly use
a condom to protect a partner. After this lesson, she knew she
wanted to be part of Teen Council. She stated that the
questions she heard from friends disheartened her, as she knew
that if they had had the same resources and comprehensive,
inclusive sexual education as she had, they would have the same
feelings of personal empowerment.
4:42:48 PM
MS. KAPLAN explained that her sex education had been very
limited, and she shared a personal anecdote detailing how that
information had not been applicable to her life. She noted
that, as she was a very shy middle schooler, she was hesitant to
broach this topic with her parents or anyone else. She shared a
personal anecdote about her menstrual cycle and its symptoms,
noting that sexual education would have taught her that this was
not normal. She reflected on how much happier and healthier she
would have been, had she had this knowledge earlier in her life.
4:45:15 PM
SAMMY STEVENS, Anchorage Teen Council Member, shared a personal
anecdote about his sexual education, which he determined to be
"less than adequate" as it stigmatized STDs rather than give any
information for how to prevent or treat. He declared that it
was "much more important that we have this information and not
need it than need this information and not have it." He shared
slides 26 and 27, which read:
Public health authorities agree:
Comprehensive and medically accurate sexual health
education is...
The best way to help young people stay healthy!
Comprehensive sex education is essential to young
people's health, relationships, and life goals young
people deserve to have the information, resources, and
skills they need to protect their health and build
their future.
4:46:52 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR reported that public health research
indicated that comprehensive sexuality education delayed the
onset of sexual activity. She shared her personal involvement
with sex education during the campaign to prevent teenage and
unplanned pregnancy.
4:48:06 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SPOHNHOLZ acknowledged that, although talking
about sexual health education was an uncomfortable topic for
many people, it was important for this to be talked about
amongst peers. She reiterated that the research clearly
indicated that providing more information delayed the initiation
of intercourse and sexual activity.
4:49:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON said that there were a lot of issues in
the state. She expressed her concern for kids to learn to read.
She offered her belief that sexual education should not
necessarily be provided in the education system. She opined
that sex education in school "scared the sex out of our mind for
a while." She offered her belief that, until graduation rates
and reading abilities were up, this was "nice to be available
but it just seems that it could be overwhelming for some." She
expressed her desire to be careful and "not to cross the line of
overwhelming those that aren't ready."
4:51:16 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN declared that all the research showed that
accurate and timely information on sex education was needed by
everyone.
4:51:44 PM
CHAIR ZULKOSKY added that it was "incredible to see such poised,
educated young leaders of the great State of Alaska, a new
generation of leadership come before a committee and talk about
something that can be really difficult and sometimes politically
divisive." She offered her belief that the presentation was
thoughtful and thorough.
4:53:09 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health and Social Services Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 4:53 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Suicide Prevention Council Presentation.pdf |
HHSS 2/18/2020 3:00:00 PM |
Statewide Suicide Prevention Council |
| Teen Council Presentation.pdf |
HHSS 2/18/2020 3:00:00 PM |
Teen Council |
| Teen Council FACT SHEET.pdf |
HHSS 2/18/2020 3:00:00 PM |
Teen Council |
| Teen Council ALPHA-Passed Resolution-Sexuality Education.pdf |
HHSS 2/18/2020 3:00:00 PM |
Teen Council |
| Teen Council AASG Resolution 9_Sept. 2018.pdf |
HHSS 2/18/2020 3:00:00 PM |
Teen Council |
| Teen Council 1.24.20 AK Sex Ed fact sheet FINAL.pdf |
HHSS 2/18/2020 3:00:00 PM |
Teen Council |