Legislature(2019 - 2020)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/12/2020 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Presentation by the Alaska Children's Justice Act Task Force | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
February 12, 2020
1:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator John Coghill, Chair
Senator Peter Micciche, Vice Chair
Senator Shelley Hughes
Senator Lora Reinbold
Senator Jesse Kiehl
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION BY THE ALASKA CHILDREN'S JUSTICE ACT TASK FORCE
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
CATHY BALDWIN-JOHNSON, MD
Co-Medical Director, Alaska Cares
Medical Director, The Children's Place
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in a PowerPoint on the Alaska
Children's Justice Act Task Force.
JOSH LOUWERSE, Senior Program Officer
Covenant House Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in a PowerPoint on the Alaska
Children's Justice Act Task Force.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:30:38 PM
CHAIR JOHN COGHILL called the Senate Judiciary Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Kiehl, Hughes and Chair Coghill. Senators
Reinbold and Micciche arrived shortly thereafter.
^Presentation by the Alaska Children's Justice Act Task Force
Presentation by the Alaska Children's Justice Act Task Force
1:31:35 PM
CHAIR COGHILL announced that the only order of business would be
a presentation by the Alaska Children's Justice Act Task Force.
He commented this will lay out the status of children in the
state and help the legislature decide how to proceed.
1:34:33 PM
CATHY BALDWIN-JOHNSON, MD, Co-Medical Director, Alaska Cares;
Medical Director, The Children's Place, Anchorage, Alaska,
introduced herself and advised that these organizations are
child advocacy centers in Anchorage and Wasilla.
1:34:48 PM
JOSH LOUWERSE, Senior Program Officer, Covenant House Alaska,
Anchorage, Alaska, introduced himself and advised that Covenant
House serves runaway, homeless youth ages 13-24 and also serve
trafficked youth. He turned to slide 2 of the PowerPoint, Data
credits:
• Jared W. Parrish PhD Senior Epidemiologist, MCH-
Epi Alaska Division of Public Health
jared.parrish@alaska.gov (907)269-8068
• Adverse Childhood Experiences Studies
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandne
glect/acestudy
• http://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/wcfh/Documents/mchepi/
CSA%20Final%20Draft. pdf
• http://dhss.alaska.gov/abada/ace-
ak/Pages/default.aspx
1:35:00 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 3, Introduction to the Alaska
CJATF:
• Federally mandated and funded
• Mission: Identify areas where improvement is
needed in the statewide response to child
maltreatment, particularly child sexual abuse, make
recommendations and take action to improve the system
• Statewide, multidisciplinary membership
• Legislation to improve protection & justice for
children (starvation, serious physical abuse, privacy)
• Focus on education: child abuse in Alaska,
mandatory reporting, & best practices for the
multidisciplinary response to child abuse
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON said the Alaska Children's Justice Act Task
Force is in the process of updating its statewide mandatory
reporting training and guidelines for the multidisciplinary
team's (MTD) response to child abuse. She identified staff
members in the audience, including, Pam Karalunas, Coordinator
Alaska Children's Alliance, Chugiak; Marsha Tandeske, CJA Chair,
guardian ad litem, Office of Public Advocacy, Anchorage; Mike
Hopper, Child Psychologist, Fairbanks; Kim Guay, CJA Vice-Chair,
Social Services Program Administrator, Anchorage; and Carla
Erickson, Alaska Department of Law.
CHAIR COGHILL thanked the task force for their work. He said the
children's advocacy centers are in statute because of their
work, which has been helpful for the police and victims to keep
them from being revictimized.
1:37:06 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 4, Overview of our
presentation:
• Newest research on child abuse and neglect in
Alaska
• Including impact on state
• Opportunities for earlier intervention: Mandated
reporting
• Commercial sexual exploitation of children in
Alaska
• Specific requests for legislative changes
She said she would highlight legislative issues after the
presentation. Mr. Louwerse will talk about what is happening
with commercial sex exploitation of children in Alaska and the
need for the proposed legislation, and she will cover specific
requests.
1:37:50 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 5, Adverse Childhood
Experiences (ACEs):
Collaborative study between CDC researchers and Kaiser
Permanente
>17,000 participants of an HMO asked about events
before age 18
75% white (54% female, 46% male), mean age 57, 75% at
least some college.
She said the ACEs was a collaborative study between the Centers
for Disease Control in Atlanta and Kaiser Permanente, which is a
health maintenance organization (HMO) in San Diego. Everyone
enrolled receives all their care from the same system. The study
asked participants to complete a questionnaire about abuse and
household dysfunction. She explained that physical neglect
refers to not getting one's needs met and emotional neglect
means getting belittled and not having supportive caregivers in
one's life. The questions included five different categories of
household dysfunction, including mental illness in a parent or
caregiver, a family member who was jailed or imprisoned, seeing
his or her mom getting beat up, substance abuse in the family,
or losing a parent through divorce or separation. The
participants were identified as low risk, an average age of 57,
and mostly Caucasian. The majority had at least some college
education.
One thing that was surprised the researchers was that only one-
third of the people reported no abuse or family dysfunction. She
reviewed the findings [a new slide not in the online slide
presentation], which showed over a quarter of these low-risk
adults had been physically abused, over 20 percent had been
sexually abused, over 25 percent experienced substance abuse in
their families, and nearly 25 percent had lost a family member
through separation or divorce. If the participant had
experienced one of these things, there was an 87 percent chance
that they had experienced more than one, and a fifty percent
chance that they had experienced three or more ACEs.
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed an additional slide that showed
that the higher the ACE score, the greater likelihood that the
person would have an increased risk of disease and death.
1:41:07 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE joined the hearing.
1:41:21 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON said the ACE score was a better predictor
for risk of heart disease than all the traditional things such
as smoking and diet. The researchers also found that higher ACE
scores led to a host of social problems, including depression
and suicide attempts and greater likelihood of sexual assault in
adults.
1:41:52 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 6, Child Abuse in Alaska and
slide 7, Alaska ACEs snapshot. She reviewed statistics from the
2013 Alaska Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Analysis
by the Alaska Mental Health Board and Advisory Board on
Alcoholism and Drug Abuse staff. She said only about one-third
of Alaskans report that they have not experienced abuse or
neglect and over two-thirds report having experienced at least
one of these categories of adverse childhood experiences.
Similar to the San Diego report, people who had high ACE scores
of 4 or greater were much more likely to be unemployed, unable
to work, to live in poverty, and have poor physical and mental
health.
1:42:37 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 8, "And it's not just one bad
thing ?" and slide 9, a chart that showed the prevalence of risk
for additional abuse to occur if the victim had one type of
abuse.
1:43:19 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 10, Maltreatment burden in
Alaska. She said at least 10 percent of Alaskan children receive
a report to the Office of Children's Services each year. Over
one-third of Alaskan adults report experiencing physical or
sexual abuse, physical neglect, or emotional neglect as a child.
Research shows that children accumulate these ACEs, beginning in
early childhood, with 37 percent of Alaskan children reported to
OCS by the time they are nine years of age.
1:44:28 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 11, Impacts Start Prior
to Birth:
• Prenatal exposures and experiences can impact both
vulnerability AND resiliency
• Impacts on brain development AND genetics
• Examples:
• FASD
• Asthma hospitalization risk - epigenetics
She said prenatal exposure to alcohol results in impacts to the
brain, cognitive abilities, and behavior problems potentially
throughout life. Researchers found that mothers who lost a
spouse or child while pregnant had babies who were more likely
hospitalized for asthma. Epigenetics provides an explanation for
why that happens, she said.
1:45:45 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 12, Epigenetics. Genes:
• How our gene expression is influenced by our
environment
• Genes are the blueprints that tell our body's
cells what to do
• Genes can be turned on or off
• Trauma & stress affects gene expression
She reviewed slide 13, Development influenced by both negative
and positive factors.
She explained that genes that are turned on or off can pass on
to the next generation, which helps us understand the
intergenerational transmission of trauma.
1:46:54 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON turned to slide 14, New emerging data
resources:
Moving beyond describing the issue from an adult
perspective to documenting the health and development
over the life course
She said ACEs is about adults looking back at what happened in
childhood. Alaska is being very innovative in its Maternal Child
Health [MCH] Epidemiology unit in the [Division of Public
Health] in actually looking at kids and going forward. The MCH
uses information gathered from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment
Monitoring System (PRAMS) to provide a baseline and opportunity
to follow a cohort of 33,000 children born in Alaska between
2009 and 2011. The unit uses a number of data sources that have
been linked [using the Alaska Longitudinal Child Abuse and
Neglect Linkage Project (ALCANLink)] to see what happens to
these children.
1:47:51 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slides 15-16, with illustrations
that highlight pre-birth household dysfunction to predict ACE
Score. She said the MCH Unit is finding that the risk factors
that are identified for moms, the household dysfunction, which
is similar to the ACEs research but it also considers financial
stress and poverty to help predict the children who will be at
the highest risk for developing their own ACEs by the time they
are three years old. Not only is it important to identify
children exposed to household dysfunction, it is important to
identify the ones likely to suffer abuse or neglect. The more
stressors the mother experienced during pregnancy, the higher
likelihood the child will accumulate ACEs and receive a report
of concern to OCS, she said.
1:48:27 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON turned to slide 17, PRAMS questions used to
measure pre-birth household dysfunction ACEs [This slide
depicted a graph showing the cumulative risk increases with the
number of dysfunctions]:
The risk of contact with child welfare systematically
increases with the increased number of pre-birth
household dysfunctions
She said many of these things come to the attention of OCS
because someone is concerned about abuse or neglect and reports
it. The more preexisting prenatal household dysfunctions
present, the more likely these children will accumulate their
own ACEs and be reported to OCS. Adjusting for maternal race,
education, and age did not change the outcome and the curve
remained the same, she said.
1:49:30 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON turned to slide 17, [which illustrates the
synaptic density between birth and six years of age] titled,
Impacts continue after birth. She said as infants and through
the first few years of life children's brains are filled with an
explosion of connections between neurons, called synapses. When
kids hit their teenage years, their brains go through a pruning
process, which makes the teenage brain really vulnerable to
alcohol or drugs. Some of the new pruning is actually in the top
part of the brain, which is responsible for making decisions.
She remarked that for those parents who have felt that their
teenagers have half a brain, it is because of this pruning
process.
CHAIR COGHILL commented that that explains a lot.
1:51:59 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON turned to slide 19, Cumulative incidence of
contact with OCS among children born in Alaska. This slide
depicts a chart showing the OCS contact between birth and nine
years of age. She said both positive and negative things
influence brain development. She reiterated that it is important
to limit ACEs in children since it impacts brain development and
their genetics and leads to a full host of social ills and
physical and mental problems.
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON turned to slide 19, Cumulative incidence of
contact with OCS among children born in Alaska. The study shows
that as the cohort of 33,417 children get older their risk of
accumulating their own ACEs continues to climb before their
ninth birthday.
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 20, ALCANLink Study (N =
33,417) Accumulation of ACEs Among children born in Alaska
during 2009:2011, [depicting an illustration that shows the type
of OCS actions for the cohort before their ninth birthday].
She said this study will provide data on this cohort as these
children hit their teen years. She said by the time children in
Alaska are nine, one in three will have a report made to the
OCS, one of four will have a screened in report, one of eight
will have a substantiated report, and one in 16 will be removed
from the home and placed into the foster care system. By then,
some of these children will have 16-20 reports to the OCS.
1:53:52 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 21, Types of
maltreatment:
• Screened in by OCS in 2019:
• Neglect: most common type 59.4%
• Most common cause of child deaths
• Most commonly linked to parental substance
abuse
• Mental injury 22.5%
• Example: Exposure to DV
• Physical abuse 11.4%
• Sexual abuse 6.6%
She related examples of death by neglect, such as when a parent
was under the influence and rolled over on her baby or the child
wanders to a slough and drowns.
1:55:25 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 22, Different life
trajectories: Two roads to travel:
Safe and Nurturing
• Have a stable foundation from which to explore their
world
• Child feels calm and safe
• Spend more time in the upper brain: bonding, talking,
interpersonal relationships, learning
• Fewer risk factors for adult health & well being
Trauma and Chaos
• When a child is unsafe/threatened, they spend more
time in the lower brain,
• Focus is on survival
• Fight, Flight or Freeze neural pathways may become
"hardwired"
• Genetic expression may change
• More risk for adult health & well being
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 23, Adverse Childhood
Experiences (ACEs):
The more ACEs documented, the higher ones risk for
developing later health and social problems.
1:56:46 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 24, Disproportionality:
why?
• Alaska Native/American Indian children & families
disproportionately represented in child maltreatment
reports and deaths
• >3X as likely to be reported to OCS
• 1223 out of 2548 (48%) of children seen at
Alaskan CACs
• (Compared with 14% of total population)
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 25, Disproportionality:
why?
• New research in Alaska:
• NO BIOLOGICAL OR CULTURAL LINK between AN/AI
people and abuse
• In a background of
• historical trauma & racism
• Risk is instead related to:
• Social determinants of health including poverty,
intimate partner violence, substance use & poor mental
health
1:58:11 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON turned to slides 26-27, What Does Child
Maltreatment Cost and Alaska estimates, Alaska estimates:
• Between $631 million to $10.7 billion ANNUALLY
• Alaska research suggests:
• Costs for SUBSTANTIATED reports: $82 million
for childhood health care, child welfare, special
education
• 40.6% adult Medicaid enrollment linked to
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
• Decreasing ACEs and improving our response
to child maltreatment could save our state ~$92
million annually in costs related just to:
Medicaid, smoking, diabetes, binge drinking,
arthritis, obesity
1:59:48 PM
CHAIR COGHILL commented that she covered a lot of information
and noted that the legislature had often seen these issues come
before it.
SENATOR REINBOLD referenced slide 20 related to the AlcanLink
study of 33,417 kids and asked how many of every 100,000 kids
are removed from their homes by OCS.
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON answered she did not have the numbers per
100,000. She explained that these figures are cumulative, so it
compares to the total children in the state prior to their ninth
birthday. She reported that one in three children in the state
were reported to OCS, one in four children were screened in, one
in eight cases were substantiated, and one in 16 children were
removed from their homes by OCS. In further response she agreed
that the study shows that one in 16 children were removed from
their homes by OCS.
CHAIR COGHILL said he thinks that economic strata is one of the
conditions.
2:01:56 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE said he would like to see these figures
compared to other states.
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON said it is often difficult to compare but
when comparisons are done, Alaska often is in the top five
states for reported rates of maltreatment. One thing that makes
comparison difficult is that different states use different
definitions and ways of screening reports, or substantiating
cases. Regardless, Alaska ranks "way up there."
2:02:58 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if researchers ranked ACEs from soul
crushing to less horrific since not all abuse is equal.
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON said some people are considering weighting
ACEs. Some impacts are not just with the specific category or
ACEs but how old the child was, how often the behavior occurred,
if the child had a caring supportive adult, if the child
received any therapy or treatment. This makes it challenging to
weight ACEs.
CHAIR COGHILL said those members who also serve on the Senate
Education Committee often hear about ACES trauma, but it does
not give it any scope. It can range from light to extreme. This
meeting today can help quantify and help members to understand
that the trauma can continue once children are involved in the
OCS or foster care. The legislature is trying to help, but it
struggles to balance because sometimes dysfunction is better
than placing children. However, sometimes the family situation
is in dire need.
2:06:15 PM
SENATOR HUGHES, referring to slide 20, calculated the total
number of children removed from the home based on the statistics
that reported 1 in 16 children removed from their homes between
2009 and 2011. Extrapolating that to 100,000 would mean 6,250 of
100,000 children or 6 in 100, which is astonishingly high, she
said.
2:06:39 PM
MR. LOUWERSE continued the PowerPoint on slide 28. He referred
to bills requested by the governor, HB 225 and SB 165, related
to human trafficking.
He reviewed slide 29, Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
(CSEC) is:
• Sexual activity involving a child in exchange for
something of value, or promise thereof, to the child
or another person or persons
• Treating a child as a commercial and sexual
object
• A form of violence against children
• Words matter: not child prostitution
MR. LOUWERSE said he has worked for Covenant House Alaska for
eight years and has has traveled the state training people, such
as law enforcement officers in identifying victims, so he was
surprised when the FBI said their clientele was highly
vulnerable to being trafficked. He characterized the commercial
exploitation of children as the broad umbrella. For many years,
Alaska has had perception issues and it's only now that child
prostitution is recognized as an issue. The first federally
prosecuted sex trafficking was in Alaska in the early 2000s,
when dancers came to Alaska from Russia. Viewing it as sexual
exploitation helps people understand this is child abuse. The
common ages to recruit prostitutes is from 14 to 16 years of
age. These children may look older or people might think the
prostitutes chose that lifestyle but these are children who
cannot legally consent to sex.
He said that when he trains, he asks what stereotypes come to
mind with "teen prostitute." The answers range from scantily
clad, drug addicts, to teens making bad choices. He next asks
what comes to mind when people think of "sexually exploited
children" and the response is different. These children get
services and help. If people view them as "teen prostitutes" law
enforcement criminalizes them. There is not child prostitution,
only sexual exploitation of children, he said.
2:10:30 PM
MR. LOUWERSE reviewed slide 30, Sex Trafficking:
• CSEC victims are victims of sex trafficking when
there is a third party exploiter who profits from the
exploitation
• Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is
induced by force, fraud, or coercion,
• or in which the person induced to perform such an
act has not attained 18 years of age (20 in Alaska)
He said the benefits could be that the person is trading for
something, like drugs. If someone is older than age 20, it is
necessary to prove force, fraud, or coercion.
2:11:29 PM
MR. LOUWERSE reviewed slide 31, Intersections of Abuse. This
slide depicted child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of
children, commercial sexual exploitation of children, and sex
trafficking of minors.
2:11:53 PM
MR. LOUWERSE reviewed slide 32, Pathways to Entry: Ways
recruitment can happen:
• Parents selling children
• Violence and force
• Kidnapping
• Seduction
• Fear, coercion, blackmail
• False advertising for "modeling," "acting," or
"dancing" opportunities
• Peer recruitment
• Internet enticement through social media, gaming,
or profile-sharing sites
• Survival
He related that parents sell children for sex in urban and rural
Alaska. Currently there are fewer incidents of child kidnapping
but in many situations, perpetrators are grooming children.
These children are often homeless and someone who meets their
basic needs can also begin to recruit them. It might be through
a seductive relationship, which often can turn violent. He
related an example of techniques an Anchorage man used to
intimidate girls and women. He said this population is very
vulnerable. He has seen an increase in internet blackmail. The
perpetrator will convince youth to send explicit photos or
entice them with offers of modeling, acting, and singing. He
related an example of a hotel clerk who noticed something was
amiss and intervened, preventing trafficking. He emphasized the
need for training. He pointed out that some peer recruitment
happens. For example, sometimes perpetrators send in youth to
Covenant House to try to recruit other youth. In addition, rural
to urban or urban to rural recruitment happens, where
traffickers entice youth to encourage their friends to move, and
then exploit them.
2:16:14 PM
MR. LOUWERSE reviewed slide 33, What you need to know:
• Within 48 hours of becoming homeless, one in three
children will be approached by a trafficker.
• In Alaska, common age of recruitment is 14- 16 years
• Average lifespan once recruited is 7 years
2:17:08 PM
MR. LOUWERSE reviewed slide 34, Alaskan Risk Factor:
• Population with high amounts of historical trauma
and trauma exposure
• Transient male-dominated industries
• Transient male-dominated industries placed in rural
areas next to communities with high amounts of
historical trauma Rural and Urban
• Celebrated history of prostitution
He said national expert Victoria Sweet came to Alaska a few
years ago and three things in her presentation stood out. She
talked about risk factors for creating a market, supply and
demand for trafficking in populations with high amounts of
historical trauma and trauma exposure. Second, Alaska has
transient male populations, such as North Slope workers,
military, fisheries, and other transient workers, who are
willing to buy sex. Third, when these industries are located in
rural Alaska, the women with historical trauma are more
vulnerable.
MR. LOUWERSE pointed out that this country has a history of
glamorizing its portrayal of prostitution. This is evident in
Alaska in Gold Rush Day celebrations.
2:19:20 PM
MR. LOUWERSE turned to slide 35, Current Status of CSEC in
Alaska.
• Loyola University/Covenant House Study 2016
• 65 youth surveyed locally (641 Nationally)
• 1 in 5 Identified as trafficking victims Nationally
• 1 in 4 Identified as trafficking (labor/sex) victims
locally
• 1 in 4 females as sex trafficking locally
• 200 victims served in last two years between 5
Anchorage providers
• 10 current minor child cases FBI
• Law enforcement report an increase of online
recruitment
• More cases of traffickers creating explicit
images/videos of minors
MR. LOUWERSE related that in 2016, ten cities participated in a
labor study conducted by Dr. Laura Murphy, Loyola University. He
read the statistics for Alaska from the slide. Dr. Murphy
traveled to a number of cities and shared that she found the
stories she heard in Alaska on sex trafficking the most
disturbing. In addition, Covenant House has worked with
organizations such as STAR [Standing Together Against Rape] and
the Alaska Native Justice Center using grant funding to
collectively serve 200 victims in the last two and one-half
years in Alaska. He said this data will help people understand
that this is really an issue.
2:21:29 PM
CHAIR COGHILL asked what he does to make people more aware of
sex trafficking and exploitation issues.
MR. LOUWERSE replied that when he first visits a community he
talks about how recruiting and coercive brainwashing occurs. He
said it's a red flag if a youth has been in foster care, has
substance abuse or mental health issues, or has been in
treatment. They are the most vulnerable. Other indicators
include stolen identification or keys, cash that appears for no
reason, or girls that have substantially older boyfriends. He
said Covenant House is starting to look at identifying the
factors that make children vulnerable to avoid trafficking.
These youths' support systems are not working so it puts them at
risk for manipulation.
CHAIR COGHILL said he has also heard that kitchen help or maids
in the hospitality industry, who are often international, are
also under duress. He acknowledged that these vulnerable groups
are not children but they are vulnerable and subject to sex
trafficking.
MR. LOUWERSE agreed. He pointed out that there is a place where
labor trafficking and sex trafficking meet so it's important to
consider this as a whole problem. He said his expertise is in
sex trafficking but his experience is that most of the young
people who are labor trafficked were forced to run drugs for a
gang.
CHAIR COGHILL said the term "mule" comes to mind, with youth
trying to get through checkpoints with drugs. The ACEs will be
the focus as the committee looks into legislation.
2:25:01 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE cited adult prostitutes by choice, pimps of
prostitutes, and people who sexually exploit children as
different categories of prostitution. He asked how to find the
people who hurt children and emphasized that the law should show
them no mercy.
MR. LOUWERSE answered that to get the bad guys, it is important
to find young people willing to share what is happening to them.
He said nonprofits and law enforcement are working on this and
Covenant House has proposed a safe harbor bill using a
collaborative effort by the Office of Children's Services (OCS)
and the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to support youth. He
emphasized the importance of having a specific track for minors
afraid to testify against their traffickers. These minors often
don't make good witnesses because of criminal records.
CHAIR COGHILL agreed.
2:28:19 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE said he has worked with service organizations
and his experience with children with ACEs is that it takes a
while just to turn their lights back on due to the trauma.
CHAIR COGHILL said the committee members are parents and
grandparents. He has a 14-year-old granddaughter, so he is on
guard.
2:29:04 PM
SENATOR KIEHL asked if he could talk about why victims stay in
these adverse situations.
MR. LOUWERSE referred to the Stockholm syndrome. As the result
of a bank robbery, the captives trauma-bonded with their
perpetrators and misinterpreted the police as the bad guys when
police tried to free the hostages. This process of grooming is
not much different than what domestic violence victims encounter
with a cycle of violence. These youth have experienced bad
relationships, so even when someone hurts them they may not
interpret it that way. They lack a frame of reference. He said
perpetrators brainwash victims using coercion, violence, gifts,
a little love, fear, and drugs.
CHAIR COGHILL commented that the perpetrators use everything
from basic needs to naivety.
2:31:12 PM
SENATOR REINBOLD related that she did not vote for a former
commissioner because he minimized the fact that just one percent
of rapists in Alaska go to jail. He didn't seem to take it
seriously when it is of critical concern. She advocated for zero
tolerance laws like some other countries impose.
CHAIR COGHILL expressed interest in allowing the presenters
ample time to finish their presentation.
2:33:23 PM
SENATOR HUGHES asked for information on the slide that showed
Alaska's problem is worse than in Los Angeles. She found it
horrific to learn that parents commercially exploit their
children and said she can't imagine that this is happening in
Alaska.
MR. LOUWERSE offered to cover this in his presentation.
2:34:26 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON referred to slide 37, How do we create the
best future for our children's lives? This slide consists of a
graph that illustrated the development from infant to preschool
and shows the trajectory of health development for ACEs
children.
She said things like poverty, lack of health services, and toxic
stress cause the health trajectory to go down, whereas reading
to children, providing health services, and preschool help raise
their health trajectory. Alaska has reasons for hope because it
has clearly dedicated people interested in helping children.
MR. LOUWERSE displayed slide 38, What can we do? Reasons for
hope:
• Healing is possible
• Our brains can always learn
• We can all help build resilience in children
• We can all help protect children
2:35:08 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON turned to slide 39, Earlier recognition &
intervention: Mandatory Reporting. This slide showed the cover
of a report titled, Report Child Abuse in Alaska.
2:35:25 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 40, Mandatory reporting gaps:
• EMS & paramedics (trainings)
• Clergy (multiple cases involving clergy as
perpetrators & protectors of perpetrators)
• Animal control & veterinarians (research links between
animal cruelty & child abuse)
• Guardians Ad Litem (GALs) (CASA volunteers are
required already)
• Judges (recent case reporting not required, no
immediate notification)
She suggested adding EMS and paramedics ad to the list of
mandatory reporters and expressed concern that the clergy was
not included in the mandatory reporting gaps.
2:38:46 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 41, Early & effective
intervention:
• Child Advocacy Centers
• Multidisciplinary response
• Child focused
• Forensic interview
• Medical exam
• Mental health service
• Support & advocacy
• Information sharing
• Nearly 33,000 children & their families served since
1996
She said the FBI has signed a memorandum of agreement with the
National Children's Alliance so that child advocacy centers are
working to provide optimal services to child victims of sex
trafficking.
CHAIR COGHILL said that in Alaska, state and federal dollars
have gone to help the child advocacy centers, which is a great
partnership.
2:39:42 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 42, Protective Factors:
Focus on adults:
• Supportive, nurturing, stable family
• Supportive social networks
• Caring adults outside family
• Household rules, monitoring of child
• Parental employment
• Adequate housing
• Access to health care, other services
• Community safety
• Community involvement
• Cultural connectedness
2:40:12 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 43, What can you do?
• Realize this affects ALL of us in Alaska
• Make your decisions using a trauma informed lens "It's
not what's wrong with you, it's what happened to you"
• Support community-based & systemwide approaches to
strengthen children and families
She asked members to support these approaches. She said a number
of communities have coalitions that are performing this type of
work. These organization are ones geared towards primary and
secondary prevention.
2:41:01 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 44, Alaska data indicates
that:
• Many Alaskan adults bear the burden of a lifetime
accumulation of family violence and dysfunction
• Alaskan children start accumulating these adverse
events early in life
• Our economy and our society bear the costs
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON reviewed slide 45-46, To reduce this burden
we need:
• Prevention
• Early recognition
• Early, effective, timely intervention
• Effective treatment
• Effective legislation to protect children & hold
offenders accountable
2:41:48 PM
MR. LOUWERSE turned to Specific legislative "asks" SB165/HB225:
"An Act relating to sex trafficking?"
• CJA supports the proposed legislation
• Support prosecution of patrons (Johns) including
requirement to register as a sex offender
• Support vacating prostitution convictions
• Recommendations for Amendment
• Expand vacating convictions
• Drug possession and theft
• Safe Harbor
• Special protections and system of service for minors
• Mandatory training for law enforcement, prosecutors,
judges
MR. LOUWERSE referenced an earlier question by Senator Hughes
and related experiences with parents selling their children to
sex traffickers. He explained that these are typically people
who were exploited as children but grew up and had children.
These parents are still in that lifestyle. In other instances,
parents are trading sex with their daughter to obtain drugs for
their substance abuse habit. For example, these parents might
have a house party and their 14-year-old daughter is present and
someone offers the parents drugs if the seller can have sex with
their daughter.
He said the bill would provide a penalty provision for those
buying sex, the people exploiting and trafficking sex, and the
service piece. He said this would result in fewer people buying
sex, and the youth receiving support can also help them.
Covenant House supports prosecuting buyers and vacating
prostitution convictions. He said another barrier for young
people is that during the time of coercion, these youth commit
crimes, such as theft or possession of drugs. He suggested that
in addition to vacating the prostitution conviction, to also
vacate the lower level crimes. These low-level crimes serve as
barriers to victims for housing and jobs. He has seen youth
ready to leave that lifestyle or their exploiters, but they met
with so much resistance that it was just easier to go back. He
said he previously touched on safe harbors but elaborated that
it would create a specific set of protections for minors and a
system of response. He emphasized the need to have pathways
built into the statutes. He said these recommendations in the
2012 report are still valid.
2:45:38 PM
CHAIR COGHILL commented on the importance of providing support
services for some of the younger people. He has observed people
wanting to get out of their circumstances but they couldn't earn
enough money and returned to their exploited lifestyle. The
money was just too easy, he said.
MR. LOUWERSE agreed that some people are vulnerable to re-
trafficking. He offered his view that internet safety training
for law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, and even the
Department of Education and Early Development is important.
2:46:57 PM
MR. LOUWERSE reviewed slide 48, SB168/HB228 for Sex
Offender Registries:
• CJA supports:
• Victim notification & ability to testify
• Clear criteria
• Continue registration from other states
• Additional registerable crimes
He said the Alaska Children's Justice Act Task Force supports SB
168 and HB 228. In particular, the task force supports the
victim notification and ability to testify, the clear criteria,
he said. Further, the task force supports accepting registration
from other states, the reach back provisions, and the additional
registerable crimes for sex offender registries.
CHAIR COGHILL said it is important to hear the task force's
perspective.
2:47:39 PM
SENATOR HUGHES said he answered part of her question related to
the situation with parents exploiting their children. She asked
if the task force has identified reasons for Alaska's higher
rates.
MR. LOUWERSE answered that Alaska tops the nation with bad
statistics. He said all that exposure to trauma and violence has
created the problem. He said one in three children by the age of
nine are reported to OCS. The task force has not talked about
whether the youth who are reported to OCS have the same amount
of accumulated ACEs. This means that one third of Alaska's youth
have really high ACE loads. It comes down to supply and demand,
he said. He concluded that a large number of traumatized youth
translates into the likelihood that someone will take advantage
of them.
He remarked that sex traffickers can make two to three times the
amount for a sex act in Alaska than in other places. This means
people are bringing in victims during the summer, blocking out
rooms in hotels, and selling sex. He stated that people come up
from Las Vegas and other parts of the West Coast to do that.
CHAIR COGHILL thanked him for his work with the FBI. He said the
type of activity he is describing is traceable.
2:49:44 PM
SENATOR HUGHES asked why the number of ACEs are higher in
Alaska.
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON replied there is a lot of historical and
intergenerational transmission of trauma in Alaska. The state
has historically had a significant transient population, and
families often lack support of other family members, such as
aunts or grandparents. Alaska also has a lot of substance abuse,
she said.
2:50:56 PM
CHAIR COGHILL said he is a lifelong Alaskan who has seen alcohol
problems rise, with drug abuse on top of it. Each type of abuse
brings different sets of problems, but each one is a dramatic
problem. He wondered why Alaskans buy these drugs. He offered
his view that there is not only a health aspect and a family
dynamic, but a spiritual dynamic. Many people want to bring in
spiritual aspects to emphasize the value of their lives, which
many people question. People should treat themselves better than
they do. People are rightfully angered, but that anger can help
them solve their problems. As the committee considers the bills,
he will be looking for ways to solve these thorny problems.
There is a system of help, prosecution, and other systems.
Sometimes people are perpetrators but also victims and need
help. He said the presenters have provided the deep seated
reasons to not give an inch but to forge a way forward.
2:53:30 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if the task force was working with law
enforcement because most people wouldn't recognize these types
of problems. He suggested that the public needs training to
become more aware of these situations and expressed a
willingness to support additional state funding for sting
operations. He offered his view that the committee would agree.
He said, "Business wise, you have to make this be the worst
state in the union in which to do business, because the risk is
too high of getting caught. And, I think that's a gap that we
have."
MR. LOUWERSE said the bill would raise the penalties but he
didn't know if it would make Alaska the most punitive state. The
law enforcement team is a small team, consisting of one
Anchorage Police Officer, a few FBI officers, and some troopers.
He suggested strengthening law enforcement funding to give them
the ability to dive into these cases. He explained that law
enforcement personnel are often pulled off prostitution cases to
work on other cases. In fact, some public members complain about
spending money on prostitution since they perceive it as a
victimless crime.
CHAIR COGHILL reviewed upcoming committee announcements. He said
the Department of Law will present the bill. The attorney
general and assistant attorney general are committed and
motivated and want to prosecute the bad guys and provide support
for victims. He said the committee will ask questions, bring in
law enforcement to present, and then discuss the resources
necessary.
2:57:02 PM
SENATOR REINBOLD said the statistics are horrifying. She asked
if any rural or Native community has addressed the problem, such
as setting zero tolerance for these crimes. If so, it could be
used as a model, she said. The adverse experiences are horrible,
but the statistics for murder of indigenous women is
intolerable, she said.
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON said she was unsure if a specific community
could be identified as a model community. As Mr. Louwerse
indicated, the sexual exploitation of children has been under
the radar. She said Covenant House, a small group of law
enforcement, and the Loyola University study are bringing this
issue to light.
CHAIR COGHILL said there will be more on the topic and the
committee will look for communities.
SENATOR KIEHL asked where legislators should focus first. The
committee has discussed the severity of punishment, and it could
address the certainty of punishment. He pointed out that the
legislature can change laws, but if victims won't testify, there
won't be any punishment. He asked if he could suggest where the
legislature could initially focus its efforts, such as victim
safety, resources for prosecution, or severity of offense.
2:59:42 PM
MR. LOUWERSE responded that Covenant House works with ACES
victims and its staff understands that victims are operating in
a survival mode, so staff must meet victims' needs for at least
30 days, or the victims cannot get to forward thought. He
suggested the first step is to help youth achieve stability. It
might mean creating spaces for them. Covenant House is applying
for federal funding to bring housing specific to trafficking
victims. Once victims are stable, it allows them to go through a
supportive process and make good choices.
CHAIR COGHILL related that the committee's goal will be to help
achieve a healthy, stable society. He offered to work with the
task force to address the issues highlighted today.
3:01:40 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Coghill adjourned the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting at 3:01 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| CJA Brochure 2016 Update Feb 12 2020.pdf |
SJUD 2/12/2020 1:30:00 PM |
no |
| CJATF2020Leg Feb 12 2020.pdf |
SJUD 2/12/2020 1:30:00 PM |
no |