05/02/2005 02:30 PM Senate HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB214 | |
| HB53 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 214 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 53 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
May 2, 2005
2:48 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Fred Dyson, Chair
Senator Kim Elton
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Gary Wilken, Vice Chair
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Donny Olson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 214(HES)
"An Act relating to anatomical gifts and the anatomical gift
donor registry program."
HEARD AND HELD
CS FOR SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 53(FIN)
"An Act relating to child-in-need-of-aid proceedings; amending
the construction of statutes pertaining to children in need of
aid; relating to guardianships; relating to the confidentiality
of investigations, court hearings, court records, and public
agency records and information in child-in-need-of-aid matters
and certain child protection matters, to immunity regarding
disclosure of information in child-in-need-of-aid matters and
certain child protection matters, to proceedings regarding
voluntary relinquishment and termination of a parent and child
relationship, to eligibility for permanent fund dividends for
certain children in the custody of the state, and to juvenile
delinquency proceedings and placements; reestablishing and
relating to a state citizens' review panel; amending the
obligation of a public agency to disclose agency information
pertaining to a child in need of aid; relating to disclosure of
confidential or privileged information about children and
families involved with children's services within the Department
of Health and Social Services to officials for review or use in
official capacities; relating to reports of harm and to
adoptions and foster care; relating to consent for the
medication of children in state custody; prescribing the rights
of family members related to child-in- need-of-aid cases and
establishing a familial priority for adoption; modifying
adoption and placement procedures in certain child-in-need-of-
aid cases; amending Rules 9 and 13, Alaska Adoption Rules, Rules
3, 17.2, 18, and 22, Alaska Child in Need of Aid Rules of
Procedure, and Rules 14 and 15, Alaska Rules of Probate
Procedure; and providing for an effective date."
HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 214
SHORT TITLE: ANATOMICAL GIFTS & REGISTRY
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) MCGUIRE
03/09/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/09/05 (H) STA, HES
03/31/05 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/31/05 (H) Moved Out of Committee
03/31/05 (H) MINUTE(STA)
04/01/05 (H) STA RPT 3DP 2AM
04/01/05 (H) DP: RAMRAS, ELKINS, SEATON;
04/01/05 (H) AM: LYNN, GATTO
04/05/05 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
04/05/05 (H) Moved CSHB 214(HES) Out of Committee
04/05/05 (H) MINUTE(HES)
04/07/05 (H) HES RPT CS(HES) 5DP 2NR
04/07/05 (H) DP: ANDERSON, KOHRING, MCGUIRE, SEATON,
WILSON;
04/07/05 (H) NR: CISSNA, GARDNER
04/12/05 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/12/05 (H) VERSION: CSHB 214(HES)
04/13/05 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/13/05 (S) STA, HES
04/21/05 (S) STA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 211
04/21/05 (S) Moved SCS CSHB 214(STA) Out of
Committee
04/21/05 (S) MINUTE(STA)
04/22/05 (S) STA RPT SCS 5DP SAME TITLE
04/22/05 (S) DP: THERRIAULT, ELTON, WAGONER,
HUGGINS, DAVIS
04/29/05 (S) HES AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
04/29/05 (S) Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled
05/02/05 (S) HES AT 2:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: HB 53
SHORT TITLE: CHILDREN IN NEED OF AID/ADOPTION/GUARDIAN
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) COGHILL
01/10/05 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/7/05
01/10/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/10/05 (H) HES, JUD, FIN
03/02/05 (H) SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE INTRODUCED
03/02/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/02/05 (H) HES, JUD, FIN
03/15/05 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/15/05 (H) Heard & Held
03/15/05 (H) MINUTE(HES)
03/22/05 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/22/05 (H) <subcommittee meeting>
03/31/05 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/31/05 (H) Moved CSHB 53(HES) Out of Committee
03/31/05 (H) MINUTE(HES)
04/04/05 (H) HES RPT CS(HES) NT 5DP
04/04/05 (H) DP: ANDERSON, KOHRING, MCGUIRE, SEATON,
WILSON
04/11/05 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
04/11/05 (H) <Bill Hearing Rescheduled to 4/12>
04/12/05 (H) JUD AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 120
04/12/05 (H) Heard & Held
04/12/05 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
04/13/05 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
04/13/05 (H) Moved CSSSHB 53(JUD) Out of Committee
04/13/05 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
04/15/05 (H) JUD RPT CS(JUD) NT 5DP 2NR
04/15/05 (H) DP: KOTT, ANDERSON, DAHLSTROM, COGHILL,
MCGUIRE;
04/15/05 (H) NR: GARA, GRUENBERG
04/21/05 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
04/21/05 (H) <Bill Hearing Postponed to 4/22>
04/22/05 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
04/22/05 (H) Heard & Held
04/22/05 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
04/26/05 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
04/26/05 (H) Heard & Held
04/26/05 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
04/27/05 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
04/27/05 (H) Moved CSSSHB 53(FIN) Out of Committee
04/27/05 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
04/29/05 (H) FIN RPT CS(FIN) NT 4DP 6NR
04/29/05 (H) DP: HAWKER, FOSTER, CROFT, CHENAULT;
04/29/05 (H) NR: JOULE, MOSES, WEYHRAUCH, HOLM,
KELLY, MEYER
04/29/05 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/29/05 (H) VERSION: CSSSHB 53(FIN)
05/01/05 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
05/01/05 (S) HES, JUD, FIN
05/02/05 (S) HES AT 2:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE LESIL MCGUIRE
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced HB 214
RYNNIEVA MOSS
Legislative Aide to Representative John Coghill
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced HB 53
STACIE KRALY, Senior Assistant Attorney General
Department of Law
PO Box 110300
Juneau, AK 99811-0300
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on HB 53
SELINA EVERSON
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 53
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR FRED DYSON called the Senate Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 2:48:33 PM.
Present were Senator Kim Elton and Chair Fred Dyson.
HB 214-ANATOMICAL GIFTS & REGISTRY
2:50:09 PM
CHAIR DYSON announced HB 214 to be up for consideration.
REPRESENTATIVE LESIL MCGUIRE introduced the bill and said it
revises a bill passed the previous year that contained a few
errors. The bill removes some overly onerous burdens for first
responders and emergency medical technicians (EMTs), delegating
some responsibilities to dispatchers.
2:53:21 PM
CHAIR DYSON asked for clarification of the language in the
sponsor statement on page 2.
REPRESENTATIVE MCGUIRE said the language has to do with federal
CFR language.
2:54:52 PM
CHAIR DYSON held HB 214 in committee.
HB 53-CHILDREN IN NEED OF AID/ADOPTION/GUARDIAN
CHAIR DYSON announced HB 53 to be up for consideration.
RYNNIEVA MOSS, legislative aide to Representative John Coghill,
introduced the bill and advised it is a consolidation of four
bills that were previously passed by the House. She described
the bills and the reasons Representative Coghill feels they
should be compiled into a single bill.
2:58:29 PM
MS. MOSS advised another aspect of the bill was to strengthen
families by seeing that extended family members and family
friends are to be first and foremost in the consideration of
preference to adopt children in need of aide (CINA). The bill
gives an affirmative responsibility in rejecting the placement
of children in the homes of their extended family, friends and a
licensed foster home respectively. The bill would disallow the
termination of parental rights on the basis of poverty alone. It
encourages the Office of Children's Services (OCS) to train
foster parents to be mentors.
3:02:13 PM
House Bill 53 deals with psychotropic drugs and would allow
parents to make decisions regarding the administration of the
drugs.
CHAIR DYSON asked Ms. Moss whether she is referring to birth
parents.
MS. MOSS said that is correct.
CHAIR DYSON asked whether parental permission must be secured
for any forms of medical treatment.
MS. MOSS said parental permission must be secured for all major
medical procedures regarding foster children. The bill would
make the process transparent by opening hearings to the public.
The hearing could be closed if it might result in
stigmatization, if it might interfere with a criminal
investigation, or it might violate state law.
3:05:39 PM
SENATOR ELTON asked whether it is reasonable to expect a court
to keep track of people who violate confidentiality.
MS. MOSS replied there would have to be a complaint filed with
the court that the aforementioned person violated
confidentiality.
3:07:30 PM
MS. MOSS continued the bill would establish a grievance process
for parents who feel the case is not being handled properly. The
bill would also allow the OCS to release confidential
information under certain circumstances such as to clear up
public misconceptions.
SENATOR ELTON said the Open Meeting Act was different than
Section 10, which applies to the reasons for closing a court
hearing. He asked the reason for the difference in criteria.
Ms. Moss advised of a provision in the Open Meetings Act that
states, "if a person's reputation could be tarnished by the
information being released during a hearing, it could go into
executive session."
Senator Elton asked whether that would cover stigmatization and
inhibit a child's testimony.
3:11:54 PM
STACIE KRALY, senior assistant attorney general, Department of
Law (DOL), testified the distinction is that a court hearing has
a different process and different rules than a public meeting.
The exceptions under the Open Meetings Act would allow the DOL
to protect the process if there were information of a private
nature that had to be discussed.
3:13:40 PM
CHAIR DYSON asked whether the DOL was substituting the word
"relinquish" for the word "termination."
MS. MOSS responded no. The state does not have statutory
authority to do voluntary relinquishments and so the bill would
establish that statutory authority. It would allow OCS to keep
contact rights with children in cases of voluntary
relinquishment. Another aspect of the bill would encourage audio
and videotaping. The bill also defines 'child advocacy centers',
a definition that the DOL, OCS and the child advocacy centers
all agree on.
CHAIR DYSON advised Ms. Moss of a bill introduced by Senator
French, which proposes to allow greater taping ability on the
part of OCS.
MS. MOSS was unaware of the Senate Bill. HB 53 also establishes
criteria for schools to follow when a child is to be
interviewed. It directs OCS to work with the Department of
Public Safety to set up a procedure for the interview. It would
allow the legislative offices to remain non-party participants
to the case even when the parental rights have been terminated.
3:18:43 PM
SENATOR ELTON asked the reason for the extra step in terms of
legislative access.
MS. MOSS said when a parent signs a disclosure release they are
allowed to ask the Legislature to inquire into a given case.
Once parental rights are terminated, that disclosure release is
no longer valid. Since the budget of the Ombudsman has been cut
so severely, the cases now go to the legislative offices.
SENATOR ELTON asked who would have priority in a case in which
there is an adult family member and the child wants to stay with
someone else.
MS. MOSS responded if the child is 14, the child makes the
decision.
3:22:05 PM
MS. SELINA EVERSON testified she is a grandmother and a great
grandmother and she would like the bill to pass because a lot of
it has to do with Native children and it is an important part of
Tlingit culture to intervene when a mother is not able to
fulfill her parental responsibilities. Native people generally
believe that Native children should be kept in Native homes
unless the child's grandmother is not able to intervene. There
are many cases in which children are removed from their homes
and placed in non-Native homes. There are cases in Alaska where
grandmothers are not given a chance to adopt the children
despite a willingness and ability to do so.
3:24:56 PM
SENTAOR DYSON held HB 53 in committee. There being no further
business to come before the committee, he adjourned the meeting
at 3:25:28 PM.
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