Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
03/07/2008 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
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| Confirmation Hearings | |
| Alaska State Medical Board|| State Board of Education & Early Development|| the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority Board of Directors | |
| Best Beginnings Report and Presentation | |
| Adjourn |
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 7, 2008
1:34 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bettye Davis, Chair
Senator Joe Thomas, Vice Chair
Senator Kim Elton
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator John Cowdery
Senator Fred Dyson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Confirmation Hearings
Alaska State Medical Board
John Stewart Cullin, M.D.
Larry Stinson, M.D.
State Board of Education & Early Development
Geraldine Benshoof
Phillip Schneider
The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority Board of Directors
Larry Norene
Timothy Schuerch
Best Beginnings Report and Presentation
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
JOHN STEWART CULLIN, M.D.
Valdez, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Candidate for the Alaska State Medical
Board.
LARRY STINSON, M.D.
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Candidate for the Alaska State Medical
Board.
GERALDINE BENSHOOF
North Pole, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Candidate for State Board of Education &
Early Development.
PHILLIP SCHNEIDER
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Candidate for State Board of Education &
Early Development.
LARRY NORENE
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Candidate for The Alaska Mental Health Trust
Authority Board of Directors.
TIMOTHY SCHUERCH
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Candidate for The Alaska Mental Health Trust
Authority Board of Directors.
ABBE HENSLEY, Executive Director
Best Beginnings
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information and a proposal for
improvements to child care and early education.
MELINDA MYERS Senior Manager
Best Beginnings
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information about child care and
early education.
MARK LACKEY Executive Director
CCS Early Learning
Chugiak, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information about child care and
early education.
CAROL PRENTICE, Project Manger
System for Early Education Development (SEED)
University of Alaska Southeast (UAS)
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information about child care and
early education.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR BETTYE DAVIS called the Senate Health, Education and
Social Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:34:33
PM. Present at the call to order were Senators Elton, Thomas,
and Davis.
^Confirmation Hearings
1:34:34 PM
^Alaska State Medical Board
^State Board of Education & Early Development
^The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority Board of Directors
CHAIR DAVIS announced the committee would hear from the
governor's appointees to the foregoing boards and commissions
who were up for confirmation.
JOHN STEWART CULLIN M.D. , Valdez Alaska, said he would be
honored to serve on the [medical] board.
SENATOR THOMAS asked Dr. Stewart if there were any particular
concerns that caused him to put his name forward.
He said he was asked to submit his name as a rural voice on the
medical board.
CHAIR DAVIS asked Dr. Stewart to tell the committee a little
more about his background.
He responded that he had been working as a family physician in
Valdez for about 14 years. His practice included delivering
babies and working in the emergency room. He served as President
of the Alaska Academy of Family Physicians for two terms and did
a lot of work with the National Academy of Family Physicians. He
claimed a fairly good knowledge of rural issues and was involved
in the Alaska Rural Health Council as well.
LARRY STINSON, M.D. , said he grew up in Alaska and has an
interest in providing the best care possible for the state.
SENATOR THOMAS asked Dr. Stinson whether any particular
concerns, issues or goals prompted him to serve on the board.
DR. STINSON answered that his main interest was to help advance
medical care in Alaska. He commented that he looked forward to
spending some time with Leslie Gallant, Executive Administrator
of the Alaska State Medical Board, learning how he can help.
1:39:20 PM
SENATOR ELTON said he knew Dr. Stinson was working on another
issue with the legislature and assumed that was separate from
what he wanted to accomplish on the board
DR. STINSON replied that he did not see this as a political
office, that he saw it as being responsible for evaluating and
policing the quality of medical care around the state.
SENATOR ELTON said thanked him for his response.
GERALDINE BENSHOOF said she had been a believer in public
education all of her life and had worked as a public educator
since 1962.
SENATOR THOMAS asked Ms. Benshoof the same question he had asked
of the other candidates; did she have any particular concerns,
issues or goals that prompted her to serve on the board.
MS. BENSHOOF said she had been involved in special education and
knew that funding for special education had been at issue
recently. She was concerned that education be appropriate for
each person's abilities.
CHAIR DAVIS said the names would now be forwarded to the clerk
for confirmation hearings and they would be notified of the
date.
1:42:43 PM
PHILLIP SCHNEIDER said he was sorry he had to testify by phone
but he was unable to get to Juneau today; he offered to answer
any questions the committee might have.
SENATOR ELTON asked why Mr. Schneider was interested in serving.
MR. SCHNEIDER said he had spent about 10 years in public
education both as a teacher and an administrator. He has a
master's degree in leadership and policy, and served in a
national school. He recently had the opportunity to travel
around the world for about 8 months visiting schools in third
world countries and doing some volunteer work. Although he is no
longer teaching in the Anchorage School District, he would like
to remain involved.
SENATOR ELTON asked if he had retired from the district or moved
to another job.
MR. SCHNEIDER said he had retired from the district and has
opened his own business.
1:45:41 PM
LARRY NORENE said the governor's office asked him to apply and,
after looking at the position, he decided he would be interested
in doing so. He was semi-retired and had expertise in real
estate, investments and valuations which he thought would be a
good match with the mental health plan trust board. He said his
family had a history of public service and he was offering his
service within the areas of his expertise.
SENATOR THOMAS asked what Mr. Norene would bring to The Alaska
Mental Health Trust Authority board.
MR. NORENE answered that he thought he could be of help with the
decisions they would likely make in managing their assets as he
has education and personal experience in the real estate field.
He realized that the increasing costs of providing care and the
increasing number of beneficiaries meant the Mental Health Trust
assets would have to provide sufficient income in the future to
help cover those costs and good stewardship would be necessary
to ensure that.
TIMOTHY SCHUERCH came to the board with a background in
healthcare sustainability, having worked for the Alaska Native
Tribal Health Consortium as General Counsel for many years. He
looked forward to finding ways the trust might maximize its
benefits for mental health trustees, and to working closely with
Jeff Jesee and the leadership of the trust to maximize returns
to the benefit of the trust.
1:49:10 PM
SENATOR ELTON asked Mr. Schuerch about his experience with
tribal health.
MR. SCHUERCH said he was General Counsel for the consortium.
When they took over the Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) from
the Indian Health Service in the late 1990's, there were
concerns about how to attract enough money to provide services
to Alaskan Native people. That is what he did, he worked with
them to grow revenues and build the program.
CHAIR DAVIS announced the end of the confirmation hearings.
^ Best Beginnings Report and Presentation
1:51:01 PM
CHAIR DAVIS announced the committee would hear the Report on
Best Beginnings.
ABBE HENSLEY, Executive Director, Best Beginnings, the statewide
initiative formerly known as Ready to Read, Ready to Learn,
thanked the committee for inviting her to speak today. She
explained that Best Beginnings was a public-private partnership
bringing together people and resources to ensure all Alaska
children begin school ready to succeed. She pointed out a packet
of reports and information that was provided to the committee on
the topics she would be presenting.
She continued to say that a large and growing body of research
provided increasing evidence of three related tenants: (1) brain
growth and development occurs at an astonishing pace in very
young children; (2) nurturing and brain stimulation during those
years have a profound impact on how children fare in school; and
(3) a child's readiness for school is a powerful determinant of
how he or she will fare in life.
MS. HENSLEY said that economists cite this linkage between a
child's beginnings and success later in life as evidence that
investments in early childhood development yield extraordinary
returns, and that business leaders across the country have begun
to realize that investments in very young children are vital to
our economic future.
She pointed out that children who have access to quality
learning opportunities at home or in away-from-home programs,
were more likely to graduate from high school, get better paying
jobs, avoid spending time in jail, develop critical thinking
skills, pay higher taxes, raise healthy families and lead more
productive lives.
1:53:34 PM
The commissioners of both the Department of Education and Early
Learning, and the Department of Health and Social Services were
on Best Beginning's Early Learning Council, along with
representatives from the business, non-profit, foundation, and
education communities. In FY07, Best Beginnings received funding
from the Department of Health and Social Services for startup
costs and the development of a plan for a quality rating and
improvement system. Funds from the Early Learning Programs
component in the Department of Education and Early Learning
(EED) served as the state's contribution to the Best Beginnings
public-private partnership in FY08. She was concerned however,
that the appropriation for the prior year was $400,000 but had
been reduced to $307,000 for FY09, which would reduce funding
for the Best Beginnings Initiative, and asked that funding be
provided at least at the previous year's level.
MS. HENSLEY touched on some of Best Beginning's accomplishments
over the past 17 months. They worked with the Governor's Office
to submit a proposal to the National Governor's Association and
were one of only 10 states to receive a $10,000 grant for a
Governor's Summit on Early Learning. In addition, a number of
companies, organizations, and the state made cash and in-kind
contributions. She added that she delivered their
recommendations to the Governor's Office yesterday.
She said Best Beginnings and other partners are conducting a
public engagement campaign on radio, television and the
Internet, that informs Alaskans about crucial brain development
in the early years and what quick, easy and inexpensive things
parents can do to foster this development. A Quality Rating and
Improvement System (QRIS) is an organized method to assess the
quality of a child care, preschool or Head Start program, to
communicate with parents how good the program is through a five
star rating, and to improve the program. Development of a QRIS
is included in the state's early childhood comprehensive systems
plan and in the Ready to Read, Ready to Learn taskforce report,
a copy of which was included in the members' packets.
MS. HENSLEY briefly reviewed the diagrams included with that
report. The first diagram, titled "Alaska's Early Learning
System," covered in-home learning opportunities and out-of-home
learning opportunities.
1:58:36 PM
The second was a diagram of the QRIS, which she explained
provides a framework for all of the early learning programs
provided in away-from-home settings. The focus on a standards-
based early care and education system incorporated child care,
preschools, Head Start, and family child care homes.
She introduced Melinda Myers, Senior Manager, Best Beginnings.
2:00:30 PM
SENATOR ELTON asked who would do the monitoring for consistency
and quality control.
MS. HENSLEY advised that Ms. Myers would address Senator Elton's
question.
2:01:27 PM
MELINDA MYERS Senior Manager, Best Beginnings , said that the
Department of Health and Social Services contracted with Best
Beginnings to develop a plan for a QRIS through state funding
through FY07 and that the plan was being reviewed by the
department at that time.
She explained that the QRIS was an organized method to assess,
improve and communicate the level of quality in early care and
education settings outside the home. It was designed to empower
parents to become informed consumers and to choose high quality
programs for their children, to enable policy makers to
implement policies that have proven to improve quality, promote
accountability to donors, legislators and tax payers so they can
feel confident investing in improvements for quality, and
provide a road-map for quality improvement to providers. Under
the QRIS, programs would be rated on a five star scale
including: staff qualifications and professional development;
environment; curriculum and learning; leadership and management;
family engagement.
She stressed that the QRIS was important because Alaska did not
currently have any system to coordinate the many facets of its
early care and education system or to support programs such as
Head Start, certified preschools, licensed or military child
care centers or homes, and school district preschools.
MS. MYERS conceded that the state would have to provide
oversight and would have ultimate responsibility for its
success, but suggested that pieces of the system could be
contracted out.
She continued that 14 other states had a QRIS and more than 30
states were planning or implementing one at that time. North
Carolina, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania had shown overall quality
improvement and better child outcomes, and three states had
shown that their QRIS's accurately measure quality with
meaningful distinctions between the levels of their star
program. In addition, Pennsylvania reversed the trend of
declining quality with their QRIS in only three years.
A two-year field test was proposed to keep the momentum going
after development of this plan. It would cost approximately $1.1
million, would include 18 center-based programs and 23 home
child care programs, and would impact approximately 800
children.
2:05:39 PM
SENATOR ELTON expanded on his earlier question to enquire what
kind of structure would be needed for pre-school care and
education. He pointed out that attendance in elementary and
secondary school was compulsory and suspected the families that
most need the type of opportunities these programs present might
be less likely to participate.
MS. HENSLEY suggested that they would like to discuss Senator
Elton's questions in another conversation, as he had brought up
a variety of very important issues that were not specifically
covered in this presentation.
She added that Best Beginnings was working very hard to ensure
that all children would have good quality learning environments.
SENATOR THOMAS asked what the state's responsibility would be
after FY10 and what additional resources Department of Early
Education and Department of Health and Social Services would
need.
MS. HENSLEY affirmed that more resources would be needed for
implementation. She deferred to Ms. Myers to provide information
on how long it was taking for programs in other states to become
part of this voluntary system.
MS. MYERS said it is dependant on each state, but some states
are showing 75 to 100 percent participation 3 years after
implementation.
2:09:19 PM
SENATOR THOMAS wondered what the state's anticipated costs might
be to maintain the program once it was up and running.
MS. MYER responded that most states do have significant
financial involvement, although some are public-private
partnerships where dollars come from multiple sources. Alaska's
cost would depend on whether the departments existing staff able
could absorb this additional responsibility or not.
MS. HENSLEY offered a cost estimate for full implementation
incorporating 352 programs plus family child care programs, at
$16 million.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if the school districts were included in the
number of programs used in the estimate.
MS. HENSLEY replied that it would include child care, school
district preschools, certified preschools, Head Start programs,
military based child care, and all of the programs that they
anticipate would participate in the QRIS.
SENATOR THOMAS questioned whether this would be a voluntary
program controlled through parent education and information.
MS. HENSLEY confirmed that it would.
CHAIR DAVIS brought the discussion back to the budget. She asked
Ms. Hensley if there was any funding for this in the Department
of Health and Social Services (DHSS) budget.
MS. HENSLEY answered that there was not.
CHAIR DAVIS asked what the money they were requesting here would
be used for.
MS. HENSLEY replied that the $425,000 they've asked be included
in the budget would be used for the first year of the two-year
field test. The $307,000 in the Department of Education and
Early Development's budget for the current year would pay for
Best Beginning's infrastructure and contribute toward the public
engagement campaign.
CHAIR DAVIS asked where they would get the 800 children she
mentioned for field testing.
MS. HENSLEY said they would recruit programs from all of the
types of programs listed.
2:15:10 PM
She introduced Sue Hull.
SUE HULL, Chair, Fairbanks Early Childhood Development
Commission, member of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School
Board, and Best Beginnings Early Learning Council, provided an
overview of the Child Care Assistance Program. It was designed
to help low-income families afford child care so they could
remain in the work force. The amount of the benefit is
determined on a sliding scale based on income, less co-pay. If
there is a gap between what the market charges for care and the
cost approved by the program, a family would also have to pay
the difference, so in Fairbanks, a family receiving the maximum
benefit might pay $200 or $300.
2:16:40 PM
The 2008 budget proposal included a rate increase that would put
th
rates in the 50 percentile and close that gap somewhat; but the
th
national standard at the same time was in the 75 percentile.
She emphasized that, while they could debate what the state's
role might be in assisting with child care expenses for middle
class families, there could be little debate regarding state
child care assistance to low income families.
MS. Hill went on to discuss the dilemma that low child care
assistance rates posed for providers. She pointed again to
Fairbanks, where over 350 child care spaces were lost during the
prior year. Play and Learn, which was synonymous with child care
in Fairbanks, closed both of their centers because the actual
cost of care was so much higher than the amount they received
per child. She summarized by saying that, although there was no
quick fix, a part of the answer was adequate child care
assistance rates.
She announced that Early Childhood Development and the Chamber
of Commerce were sponsoring a child care summit at the Tuesday
[March 11, 2008] chamber meeting where they would be discussing
how employers could assist to make child care a viable industry.
2:23:45 PM
MARK LACKEY Executive Director, CCS Early Learning , a Head
Start and child care provider in the Matsu Valley, Chugiak and
Eagle River, said they provide Head Start services for 240
children and child care for about 40 children. CCS had the same
experience as Play and Learn. They went from 160 to 180 child
care spots down to 40 for the same reasons; child care rates had
not gone up and they could not break even, so they were phasing
out child care services.
He was hopeful and excited by the current emphasis on early
childhood. A lot of collaborative partnerships were springing up
and people seemed to be realizing the value of early learning.
He spoke also on behalf of the Alaska Head Start Association.
They had 17 grantees throughout the state providing Head Start
services and were very supportive of their partners in providing
those services. All of their efforts contributed to the goal of
giving children a quality place to spend their time when their
parents needed to be at work. Particularly important were their
partnerships and collaboration in the area of professional
development. He stressed that everybody wins when they create a
more qualified child care workforce.
His agency had been providing Head Start services in the Alaska
for 37 years. He addressed the fact that there was not a lot of
state oversight of the program, pointing out that it is
primarily a federally funded program, and he offered to answer
any questions about the level of oversight or the state's
program.
2:28:02 PM
MR. LACKEY was proud of Head Start's strong commitment to
quality. He explained that it is a comprehensive, individualized
program dedicated to removing obstacles to success in a child's
school years. They mandate degrees for their staff, provide
mental health services, dental and health screenings. He
directed attention to the "Alaska Head Start Association Fact
Sheet 2008" provided to the committee, which showed the number
of children served in each community and their actual outcomes.
It also included data on the unique challenges of providing Head
Start services in Alaska, where much of the population is very
rural and very remote.
He referenced HB 310, which contained an increase of $600,000
for Head Start and said that, while he was grateful that they
recognized the importance of Head Start, the association had
concerns about some of the language. Most concerning was a
requirement that Head Start match those funds dollar for dollar.
The Head Start directors he had spoken to did not believe they
would be able to do it. They were required to match federal
funds at the 20 percent level, which was challenging and an
additional match for state funds would be problematic. He asked
them to keep that in mind when the bill came before them.
AK's challenges: rural and remote; professional standards a
challenge; increase for Headstart in budget; concerns about
language w that money; most ominous is need for matching funds;
they have to provide 20% for fed $$, so having it from state
also is problematic
CHAIR DAVIS asked Mr. Lackey about HB 310.
MR. LACKEY said the $600,000 was first removed from HB 310, then
replaced with the intent language that begins on page 11, which
states that the money is to be used to serve additional children
and that it would be matched dollar for dollar.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if there was any other money in the budget for
early childhood education.
MS. HENSLEY said there was $307,000 in the EED budget and Best
Beginnings would get about $125,000.
CHAIR DAVIS asked where the money for the pilot program was
supposed to come from.
MS. HENSLEY said they were asking that the money be inserted
into the FY09 budget.
2:33:36 PM
SENATOR ELTON noted that one of the largest components of the
two year request is financial incentives. He asked what that
means.
MS. HENSLEY replied that financial incentives were designed to
provide additional incentives for programs to improve quality.
So for one program it might be more children's books; for
another it might be a subsidy to provide higher salaries for
more qualified teachers.
SENATOR ELTON asked for confirmation that the financial
incentives would be available only to those organizations chosen
to take part in the field test, and that Ms. Henley explain how
participating organizations would be chosen.
MS. HENSLEY responded that they had not worked out the specifics
of the design yet.
SENATOR THOMAS said the state generally seemed to be more
reactive than proactive. He felt that providing this information
on the economic benefits that accrue to early education and
quality child care is money well spent, and he encouraged them
to continue to emphasize that kind of information.
2:37:42 PM
CAROL PRENTICE, Project Manger, System for Early Education
Development (SEED), University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) ,
shared a success story to illustrate that, working together,
they can make verifiable progress toward better early education.
In 1998 the federal Head Start reauthorization mandated that
Head Starts bring at least 50 percent of their staff to an
Associate Degree level of education; SEED was instigated through
UAS to help Alaska meet those standards. The project ended
January 31, 2008 and they put together a summary of their
achievements, which was provided to committee members.
The program started in 2003, at which time 15.4 percent of Head
Start classroom staff had Associate degrees or higher. By the
2006-2007 academic years the figure had risen to 42.6 percent.
The new federal mandate calls for 100 percent of classroom staff
to be at the Associate level or higher by 2011, and by 2015 50
percent nationwide would have their Baccalaureate degree. There
is a definite correlation between quality care and the level of
educational attainment for teachers, and Head Start is a leader
in that area.
For spring 2008, the Department of Education had $30,000 that
they were able to set aside to help students pay tuition for
higher education. Within about a week, 60 people had applied to
take 6 credits each; we could fund only 15 of them at $2000
each.
2:42:19 PM
SENATOR ELTON wondered whether, as they create a better educated
workforce, Head Start would suffer due to increased competition
for those better educated teachers.
MS. PRENTICE conceded that was true. Historically, people start
in day care then, as they attain more education the move to Head
Start, and from there they go into the public school system. She
would like to be able to pay people commensurate with their
education so they could retain good employees. She pointed out
that another very strong indicator of quality is staff
retention, because young children need that consistency in their
care provider.
SENATOR THOMAS expressed appreciation for their presentation.
MS. HENSLEY thanked the committee for their support and
encouraged them to continue to support their efforts to improve
early care and education.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Davis adjourned the meeting 2:46:19 PM.
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