Legislature(2019 - 2020)CAPITOL 106
04/11/2019 08:00 AM House TRIBAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HR7 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HR 7 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON TRIBAL AFFAIRS
April 11, 2019
8:03 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Tiffany Zulkosky, Chair
Representative Dan Ortiz
Representative Chuck Kopp
Representative Dave Talerico
Representative Sarah Vance
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Bryce Edgmon, Vice Chair
Representative John Lincoln
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 7
Urging the governor to continue to fully implement the Alaska
Tribal Child Welfare Compact and build ongoing partnerships
between the state and tribal governments.
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HR 7
SHORT TITLE: SUPPORT AK TRIBAL CHILD WELFARE COMPACT
SPONSOR(s): TRIBAL AFFAIRS
04/10/19 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/10/19 (H) TRB
04/11/19 (H) TRB AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
GRACE SINGH, Staff
Representative Tiffany Zulkosky
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced HR 7 on behalf of the House
Special Committee on Tribal Affairs, the prime sponsor.
FRANCINE EDDY JONES, Director
Tribal Family & Youth Services
Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the hearing on HR 7.
ERIN DOUGHERTY LYNCH, Senior Staff Attorney
Native American Rights Fund
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided clarification on a question about
the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:03:25 AM
CHAIR TIFFANY ZULKOSKY called the House Special Committee on
Tribal Affairs meeting to order at 8:03 a.m. Representatives
Talerico, Kopp, Ortiz, Vance, and Zulkosky were present at the
call to order.
HR 7-SUPPORT AK TRIBAL CHILD WELFARE COMPACT
8:03:57 AM
CHAIR ZULKOSKY announced that the only order of business would
be HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 7, "Urging the governor to continue to
fully implement the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact and
build ongoing partnerships between the state and tribal
governments."
8:04:15 AM
GRACE SINGH, Staff, Representative Tiffany Zulkosky, Alaska
State Legislature, said HR 7 encourages Governor Michael J.
Dunleavy to fully implement the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare
Compact. She said HR 7 recommends the continuation of
partnerships between the State of Alaska (SOA) and tribal
governments. She said these partnerships strengthen child
welfare services in the best interests of Alaska's children.
She remarked that the protection and wellbeing of the next
generation of Alaskans is important to every community, family,
and leader in Alaska. She referenced a previous presentation
before the committee on the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact.
She called the compact "a historic agreement, the first of its
kind between a state and tribal governments." She said that in
times of decreased SOA spending, it is important to form
partnerships based on mutual responsibility to a shared
constituency in order to strengthen program delivery across
Alaska, and particularly in its most remote areas. She said all
children deserve to be protected, loved, and nurtured, no matter
where in Alaska they live.
MS. SINGH said the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact
formalizes a relationship intended to maximize resources that
support child welfare services across Alaska. She stated that
tribal involvement and intervention in child welfare cases has
proven to be more effective and responsive to the needs of rural
communities. She said SOA and tribal governments can work
together to provide a holistic approach to serving families,
foster parents, and children.
8:06:42 AM
FRANCINE EDDY JONES, Director, Tribal Family & Youth Services,
Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska,
introduced herself in Tlingit and relayed her personal and
professional background. She said she has served for 26 years
in her current position with the Central Council of Tlingit and
Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA). She said she is partly
testifying on behalf of her friend and colleague Nicole
Borromeo. She said she has worked with the federal Indian Child
Welfare Act (ICWA) since its inception in 1979 and shared that
she is very passionate about it. She discussed the
opportunities she has had to partner with SOA and its Office of
Children's Services (OCS), as well as to correspond with tribes
in other states and share experiences related to implementing
ICWA. She said CCTHITA has been fortunate to partner for 19
years with Casey Family Programs, a private foundation that has
provided guidance, technical assistance, opportunities for
training, and opportunities to connect with other tribes across
the nation.
MS. JONES referenced previous testimony by Valerie Davidson
about the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact. She extolled Ms.
Davidson's leadership in helping to move the compact forward.
She said many of the people who were part of compact
negotiations have been in partnership with SOA for many years.
She noted that CCTHITA has partnered with SOA since 1984 on
child welfare and in efforts to improve services. She remarked
that 72 percent of CCTHITA's caseload is in Juneau. She said
the Alaska State Legislature honored the work of tribes in the
mid-1980s. She continued, "We were written into the state
budget as a [Budget Request Unit] BRU back then." She said the
relationship between tribes and SOA evolved over the decades.
She again recognized Ms. Davidson for her work as then-
Commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services
(DHSS) in taking the relationship "to the next level." She
named other tribal organizations that have been in partnership
with SOA since 1984: Maniilaq Association, the Association of
Village Council Presidents (AVCP), and Tanana Chiefs Conference
(TCC). She noted that larger organizations like CCTHITA have
larger caseloads.
8:11:48 AM
MS. JONES referenced previous testimony heard before the
committee on the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact. She said
she has worked on the compact since its inception and has had a
significant role in participating in the process. She said the
topic of what a successful tribal child welfare program would
look like is a frequent piece of conversation in tribal caucus,
especially in how it would compare to SOA's child welfare
program. She stated that SOA's child welfare system is heavily
focuses on intervention. She said OCS intervenes when it
receives notice that a child is being abused or neglected, and
frequently removes children from their homes. She commented
that often when it comes to Alaska Native children, the problem
is neglect rather than abuse. She said that is important to
remember. She remarked that tribes are often able to ascertain
that a family is struggling before an official notice has been
issued. She stated that tribes and tribal organizations are
ready and available to deploy wraparound services to prevent
family breakup. As an example, she compared the model used by
CCTHITA as one which goes "further upstream" rather than one
which waits for a child to be brought to the attention of SOA.
She discussed the evidence-based "structured decision-making
tool" used by CCTHITA to assess potentially at-risk families.
She said the tool allows them to intervene early with families
that may be dealing with substance abuse, trauma, or other
issues. She noted that AVCP is rolling out a similar tool. She
remarked that the child welfare systems of tribes involved with
the compact are of varying levels of sophistication. She said
some are in their infancy, some are developing, and some like
CCTHITA's are complex.
8:15:17 AM
MS. JONES stated that SOA and tribal governments think
differently and measure success differently. She said 161 of
the 229 federally recognized tribes are directly or indirectly
participating in the compact. She commented on the compact's
"incredible geographic reach." She said OCS has struggled
historically to service the entire state. She stated that the
ability to communicate in real-time with each region and sub-
region would be beneficial to Alaska. She said meaningful
collaboration and cooperation between SOA and the tribes will
allow for participating tribes to leverage SOA resources
associated with the Title IV-E program. She noted that 11 of
the 18 tribes and tribal organizations participating in the
compact are currently in a pass-through agreement with SOA under
Title IV-E. She said this allows those tribes and tribal
organizations to leverage SOA dollars that are federally
reimbursed to SOA in order to build up tribal welfare
structures. She said CCTHITA has been operated under that
agreement for nearly 20 years. She remarked that this is
another example of the long-term nature of SOA-tribal
partnerships related to child welfare.
8:17:27 AM
MS. JONES stated that anecdotal evidence suggests that Alaska
will meet the ICWA's placement preferences in higher percentages
under the compact. She relayed that she had participated in a
recent conference call with Natalie Norberg, Director of OCS,
during which Ms. Norberg informed tribal representatives that
Alaska is ranked highest in the nation for placing children with
relatives. Ms. Jones said it is "pretty incredible" for Alaska
to be a national leader, and that it is reflective of the hard
work done to implement ICWA in Alaska and the priority placed on
family.
MS. JONES relayed that she was one of 1,600 participants who
attended the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA)
annual conference to celebrate 40 years of ICWA. She reflected
on the work that has been done in that long stretch of time.
MS. JONES expressed that she is confident that the committee
appreciates the compact and its potential for success. She
extolled committee members for thinking up ways to move the
compact forward. She remarked that working on the compact has
been a highlight of her career. She praised the creative,
innovative, and cost-effective approach laid out in the compact.
She said it is important to note that the tribes and tribal
organizations involved in the compact survive on ICWA funding,
which has been stagnant for approximately 24 years. She
discussed the small amounts of money doled out to tribes across
the state and noted that the amount is not enough to pay a child
welfare employee. She spoke to the importance of SOA resources
in supporting the compact. She noted that she had a PowerPoint
presentation that is also available as a handout. At the
recommendation of Chair Zulkosky, Ms. Jones forewent the
presentation.
8:20:53 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KOPP asked a question about the timeline of the
Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact.
MS. JONES said the compact was signed in October 2018. She
stated that there is no end date unless it is rescinded or the
administration elects to end it.
CHAIR ZULKOSKY recalled that the compact was signed in December
2017, and, to fully implement it, certain provisions need to be
reconsidered this coming summer.
REPRESENTATIVE KOPP asked what parts of the compact need to be
reconsidered.
CHAIR ZULKOSKY stated that an exact answer will be found and
circulated to members of the committee.
MS. JONES said that Ms. Borromeo, who is general counsel for the
Alaska Federation of Natives, would know the answer. She named
"waiver of sovereign immunity" as one topic that "has come
back." She noted that the tribes and tribal organizations that
signed the compact agreed to "the terms of the limited waiver."
CHAIR ZULKOSKY referred the question to Erin Dougherty Lynch of
the Native American Rights Fund.
8:23:11 AM
ERIN DOUGHERTY LYNCH, Senior Staff Attorney, Native American
Rights Fund, said it is her understanding that nothing in the
compact itself requires renegotiation. She noted that there is
some language in the service support funding agreement (SSFA)
that was revisited last fall. She said it is her understanding
that the language was agreed to and documents were signed. She
stated that SOA and the tribes get together a few times each
year to negotiate and revisit the documents they have created.
She said, "The documents are open in the sense that if something
is not working, both sides can agree to revisit them." She
reiterated her understanding that the items that were revisited
have been agreed to and "everyone is moving forward."
8:24:52 AM
CHAIR ZULKOSKY thanked Ms. Lynch for her clarification. She
referred to a "frequently asked questions document" [hard copy
included in committee packet]. She stated that looking toward
2020, the framework would be to revisit the capacity of tribes
and possibly increasing scopes of work in partnership with the
state."
MS. LYNCH answered, Exactly." She said different scopes of
work were developed during the negotiations between co-signers
and SOA. She stated that every time the two sides come together
to negotiate, there is frequent discussion about new scopes of
work. She said part of that conversation is each co-signer
deciding for itself whether it has the capacity to take on a
scope of work. She clarified that the co-signers are all "in
different places" with their child welfare programs, with
varying capacities to take on responsibilities. She said the
scopes of work are jointly developed and it is up to each co-
signer to decide if it wants to take on the scope of work.
8:26:37 AM
CHAIR ZULKOSKY noted that the timeline for the compact is
contained within the document provided by Ms. Jones. She said
she would ensure each committee member has a copy. She thanked
Ms. Jones for her testimony.
8:27:13 AM
CHAIR ZULKOSKY stated that due to time constraints, the
committee would be unable to hold public testimony on HR 7
today. Testifiers were invited to rejoin the next committee at
a future hearing.
[HR 7 was held over.]
8:27:47 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the
Special Committee on Tribal Affairs meeting was adjourned at
8:28 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| December 2018 Update on AK Tribal Child Welfare Compact.pdf |
HTRB 4/11/2019 8:00:00 AM |
December 2019 AK Tribal Child Welfare Compact Update 4.11.2019 |
| AK Tribal Child Welfare Compact Presentation 4.11.2019.pdf |
HTRB 4/11/2019 8:00:00 AM |
AK Tribal Child Welfare Compact Presentation 4.11.2019 |
| FAQ - Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact 4.11.2019.pdf |
HTRB 4/11/2019 8:00:00 AM |
AK Tribal Child Welfare Compact FAQ 4.11.2019 |
| Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact Sponsor Statement .pdf |
HTRB 4/11/2019 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Geraghty.4.14.2014.pdf |
HTRB 4/11/2019 8:00:00 AM |