Legislature(2017 - 2018)SENATE FINANCE 532
05/01/2018 01:30 PM Senate FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB56 | |
| HB150 | |
| HB217 | |
| HB299 | |
| HB219 | |
| HB151 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 56 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 150 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 217 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 219 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 299 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 151 | TELECONFERENCED | |
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 151(FIN)
"An Act relating to the duties of the Department of
Health and Social Services; relating to training and
workload standards for employees of the Department of
Health and Social Services and providing immunity from
damages related to those standards; relating to foster
care home licensing; relating to civil and criminal
history background checks for foster care licensing
and payments; relating to placement of a child in need
of aid; relating to the rights and responsibilities of
foster parents; requiring the Department of Health and
Social Services to provide information to a child or
person released from the department's custody; and
providing for an effective date."
2:45:05 PM
Vice-Chair Bishop MOVED to ADOPT the committee substitute
for CSHB 151(FIN), Work Draft 30-LS0451\P (Laffen, 5/1/18).
Co-Chair MacKinnon OBJECTED for discussion.
2:45:24 PM
JULI LUCKY, STAFF, SENATOR ANNA MACKINNON, explained the
committee substitute (CS). She indicated that the committee
had expressed concerns and wanted to hold the Department of
Health and Social Services (DHSS) accountable to ensure
that the provisions in the bill would improve the system.
The changes in the CS were advanced to address the
concerns. She read from the document titled "Explanation of
Changes SCS for CS for HB 151 version: 30-LS0451\P" (copy
on file) and the intent language:
Adds Section 2, which requires an audit to begin
within one year and requires the Office of Children's
Services to cooperate in completing the audit as a
condition of accepting additional funding provided for
in this bill. See page 2, lines 4-9.
LEGISLATIVE INTENT. It is the intent of the
legislature that the division of the Department
of Health and Social Services with responsibility
over the custody of children, in accepting the
additional resources made available to the
division under this Act, be subject to and agree
to cooperate with a special audit conducted under
AS 24.20.281, as approved by the Legislative
Budget and Audit Committee, to begin within one
year after the effective date of secs. 1 - 22
and 24 of this Act.
Adds additional content to be provided if a staffing
report is needed under AS 47.14.112(b), which is added
by this bill. See page 12, line 22 through page 13,
line 5.
Adds additional content to be provided in the existing
annual report required under AS 18.05.020. See page
13, line 18 though page 14, line 9.
Ms. Lucky elaborated that the second provision added
additional items to the staffing report that was required
if case limits were not met. She read the following
additional items from the CS as noted above:
(1) the number of employees who vacated positions
during the 28 reporting period;
(2) the number of funded positions that are vacant;
(3) a description of efforts made to recruit and
retain employees;
(4) if the department determines additional employee
positions are necessary to meet the standards, the
number and cost of the additional positions;
(5) if the department determines additional funding is
necessary to meet the standards, the amount and
purpose of the additional funding; and
(6) the effects on a child and the child's family of
the department's inability to meet the standards.
Ms. Lucky commented on the third change that required
additional content to the annual report. She read the
additional items from the CS:
(1) the number of frontline social workers employed by
the division, the annual average turnover rate of the
workers, and the average caseload of the workers on
January 1 and July 1 of that year;
(2) the number of children removed from their homes;
(3) the achievement of success measured by the
following:
(A) rate of family reunification;
(B) average length of time children spent in
custody of the department;
(C) rate of placement with an adult family
member or family friend;
(D) number of children placed in a permanent
living arrangement with a guardian or
biological or adoptive parent;
(E) number of children released from the
department's custody;
(4) if the department has met or exceeded the
caseload standards under this chapter and, if the
standards were exceeded, the number of caseworker
positions in the division that could be eliminated and
the amount of funding that could be reduced while
continuing to meet but not routinely exceed the
caseload standards;
(5) the performance of the department on federal
benchmarks focused
on the safety, well-being, and permanent placements of
foster children compared with the previous five years.
2:49:47 PM
Senator Olson queried how the sponsor of the bill felt
about the changes in the CS. Co-Chair MacKinnon stated that
the sponsor would be available to speak to the changes.
Ms. Lucky remarked that she had been working closely with
the sponsor, committee members, the Legislative Budget and
Audit Committee (LBA), and DHSS to ensure the changes were
acceptable, enforceable, and did not impact the fiscal
note.
Senator Olson asked whether Representative Gara favored the
changes in the bill.
2:50:50 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LES GARA, SPONSOR, replied in the
affirmative. He believed the new provisions made the bill
stronger.
Co-Chair MacKinnon WITHDREW the OBJECTION. There being NO
further OBJECTION, the proposed committee substitute was
adopted.
2:51:20 PM
Co-Chair MacKinnon asked Representative Gara to describe
what the bill accomplished and how the bill improved
outcomes for foster children. She shared that she and
Senator von Imhof met with Kris Curtis, Legislative
Auditor, Alaska Division of Legislative Audit to figure out
how to structure an audit "to understand the dynamic
situation that children in foster care were facing," how
the state was responding to their needs, and how
efficiently DHSS was functioning. In addition, she met with
Senator Steadman, Chair of LBA to determine if the funding
source was available. The bill was held in committee until
the members could ascertain whether the department was able
to accomplish the goals of the bill.
Representative Gara communicated that the state had the
worst rates of child abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse in
the country. The state had numerous youths in the foster
care system. He delineated that evidence supported
establishing rational caseload limits for workers who
provided support for the children and families in the
system. A direct link existed between caseworker turnover
and failure within the system for children and families.
The goal of the bill was not to put the foster care system
out of business but to get children out of foster care.
When crafting the legislation, he followed the best model
in the country, which was from the state of New Jersey. He
noted that New Jersey had been court ordered to fix its
foster care system and the Alaska legislature was acting on
its own accord. He recounted that the bill established
nationally recognized case limits that reduced turnover.
Reduced staff turnover ensured that caseworkers had a
relationship with the families and children they worked
with. In addition, new case workers would receive a minimum
of six weeks of training and would carry no more than six
cases/families in the first three months, and 12 families
in the first six months. For other case workers, the bill
established a statewide average caseload of no more than 13
families per worker. He furthered that the bill remedied
internal practices within the Office of Children Services
(OCS) and adopted the "Prudent Parent Standard" that was
adopted by 13 other states. He explained that the standard
allowed foster parents to travel with the foster child
without special permission. He offered that OCS would work
with families on issues like variances for building codes
to help families obtain a foster care license quickly.
Another provision empowered foster youth, beginning at age
14, to participate in their case plan, which strengthened
the ability for siblings to stay together or in contact.
The bill recognized that youth without family connections
needed to maintain contact with positive prior foster
families and required OCS to help sustain the
relationships. The bill also strengthened the requirement
to search for relatives before placing a child with foster
parents, recognizing that placements with family are often
the best and most loving option for youth and could become
permanent. He pointed out that some minor provisions like
guaranteeing that foster children left foster care with all
their basic documents necessary in life such as birth
certificates, were included in the bill.
2:57:39 PM
Co-Chair MacKinnon asked whether Representative Gara wanted
to add further comments regarding reductions in the
caseworker turnover rate as a goal of the training
standards. Representative Gara reported that the evidence
in New Jersey showed that reduced turnover rate decreased
the time children spent in foster care. The caseworkers had
more time to find family members, get children back in the
custody of their parents when appropriate, or find
permanent homes. The overall limits, training, and
decreased caseload in the first three months largely
contributed to treating children with dignity and minimized
trauma. He pointed out that lowered caseloads within the
first three months was recognized as a gold standard and
the federal government paid 75 percent of the costs under
the standard.
Senator Stevens thought that the legislation was important.
He referenced OCS's failure to find foster children's
family members and wondered how the bill ensured that the
provision would be followed. Representative Gara answered
that the decreased case loads would enable the caseworker
more time to identify family members. He elucidated that
the process was difficult and required working with the ex-
custodial parents. The bill provided a supervisor check
list that ensured the search was thoroughly undertaken.
3:00:50 PM
Co-Chair MacKinnon related that one of the challenges the
committee explored was how to distinguish between goals and
standards versus limits. She understood limits differently
than Representative Gara. She noted that the bill contained
limits on new hires during training, but also established
standards for caseloads, training, prudent parent
standards, etc., and thought that standards offered DHSS
flexibility in implementation versus limits. She determined
that standards were easier to report about and evaluate.
She observed that the bill was adopting standards and not
limits. She asked whether the sponsor agreed with her
interpretation. Representative Gara was in complete
agreement with Co-Chair MacKinnon's statements and offered
that the 13 caseload limit was an average and not a limit.
3:02:32 PM
Co-Chair MacKinnon cited the Legal Memo dated May 1, 2018
regarding DHSS workload standards (copy on file) related to
the new committee substitute. She reported that the bill
would need a title change. She read from the legal opinion
regarding workload standards:
? The report must explain the reasons the department
was unable to meet the standards and include specified
information. The draft includes no other consequences
or penalties for failure to meet the workload
standards.
Co-Chair MacKinnon emphasized that she wanted the opinion
on the record to point out that the legislature was
responsible for providing the resources and tools for youth
placed in foster care and ensure they get the best possible
care.
3:04:06 PM
Vice-Chair Bishop reviewed the DHSS fiscal impact note, FN
12 (DHS), allocated to Children's Services Training. He
noted that the total expenditure was $145.6 thousand; $62.6
thousand from federal receipts and $83 thousand in
Undesignated General Funds (UGF).
Co-Chair MacKinnon indicated that the other fiscal impact
note, FN11 (DHS), was for DHSS, allocated to Front Line
Social Workers.
3:05:25 PM
CHRISTY LAWTON, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES,
ANCHORAGE (via teleconference), spoke to the fiscal note.
She reported that the fiscal note was allocated to Front
Line Social Workers in the amount of $1.970 million for FY
2019 was funded at 75 percent. The amount increased to
$2.35 million in FY 2020 and the outyears. Federal Receipts
covered $799 thousand and the remaining $1.551 million was
GF. She elucidated that the department worked diligently to
develop a methodology for the fiscal note numbers. The
department relied on prior reports on workloads from the
contracted experts, Hornby Zeller Associates, Inc. The
reports contained staffing formulas for best case scenarios
based on the "national lens of child welfare." Without any
national agreed upon data available, the department used
the reports to help build the fiscal notes. In addition,
the department recognized the 31 new positions received in
FY 2018 that reduced the HB 151 fiscal note.
3:07:20 PM
Co-Chair MacKinnon related that there was concern over the
21 new positions requested in the fiscal note. She shared
that she had met with DHSS regarding the fiscal note. She
had requested information regarding the department's
vacancy rate and asked for the current figure. Ms. Lawton
replied that a current vacancy rate estimate was 48
positions. Co-Chair MacKinnon voiced that often money was
not appropriated for new positions due to a vacancy factor.
She asked how many positions within the vacancy factor did
not have funding attached to them.
3:09:21 PM
SHAWNDA O'BRIEN, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, FINANCE AND
MANAGEMENT SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL
SERVICES, stated that DHSS had performed assessments or
"true up" over the last several years on the budget numbers
and positions and eliminated or reduced the positions that
were not funded. She delineated that funding positions and
the vacancy factor created confusion. The vacancy factor
was applied to the cost of the positions and "the number
was reflective of how the positions were funded." Often the
position costs exceeded the funding appropriated. The
vacancy factor was a "tool imposed by OMB to account for
things like turnover." Therefore, positions were never
fully funded under the assumption that turnover and
vacancies will happen. She furthered that the department
did not hold most positions vacant, especially in the case
of front line social workers and continued to recruit the
positions because historically, the vacancy exceeded the
vacancy factor.
3:10:59 PM
Senator von Imhof relayed that every department had vacancy
factors and a mechanism had not been developed other than
undertaking a payroll analysis that measured payroll
against the budget appropriated for a fiscal year. She
surmised that OCS currently had 219 positions and the
department typically had between 48 to 65 positions vacant.
She deduced that not all the OCS positions were filled
during a fiscal year. She asked whether all the 219
positions were fully funded and if extra funding for
positions was discovered during the true up. She thought
the excess might be spent on other things within the
department, "which was not necessarily a bad thing but it's
just important to know" the details. Ms. O'Brien provided a
real example. She explained that in FY 2017 the 219
positions for front line social workers cost $50 million.
The positions were funded using federal funds and GF. The
amount approved was $47.9 million. She emphasized that the
department rarely received the total amount for the
positions. She indicated that for larger budgetary
components like the front line social workers DHSS never
received the total amount necessary to keep the total
amount of positions fully staffed throughout the year.
Throughout the FY 17 fiscal year she discovered that the
department was collecting more federal funds than spending
GF. The department requested increased federal spending
authority by $6.5 million to continue to collect the
federal receipts the department claimed to expend. The
department expended the excess GF to offset foster care
special needs and the base rate because the expenditures
for the components increased due to increased caseloads.
Rather than increase the supplemental request for FY 2017
the department used the excess general funds in the front
line social worker component to offset the need.
3:15:26 PM
Co-Chair MacKinnon asked that if the committee reduced the
vacancy factor would the department need the 21 new
positions. Ms. O'Brien surmised that Co-Chair MacKinnon was
asking if all the positions were filled "rather than have
the vacancies." She recounted that Ms. Lawton believed that
the division "would have adequate staffing if the positions
did not turnover and was able to retain staff."
Co-Chair MacKinnon relayed that Senator von Imhof's staff
explained the vacancy factor to her in context of the
fiscal note. She characterized the situation as a "surge
program." She provided the example of a department vacancy
rate of 49 percent and the division's 219 caseworkers with
a 49 percent turnover rate. She stated that the three
factors together meant the department could never "catch
up." The division was losing too many employees; therefore,
the fiscal note represented a "surge" in spending to raise
the number of social workers in order to implement the best
practice provisions in the bill. The result would reduce
the turnover rate in the long term decreasing the need for
personnel if the caseloads were managed at a lower level.
Vice-Chair Bishop appreciated the clarity Co-Chair
MacKinnon provided. He believed that the state could not
afford a 50 percent increase in OCS cases in the next 4
years. The current increase of social workers was necessary
to "stem the tide" of future cases.
Co-Chair MacKinnon relayed that she received the
information regarding the vacancy rate: 46 caseworkers and
two supervisory positions were currently vacant.
3:18:54 PM
Vice-Chair Bishop MOVED to REPORT SCS CSHB 151(FIN) from
committee with individual recommendations and accompanying
fiscal notes. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
SCS CSHB 151(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and with two fiscal impact notes: FN
11 (DHS) and FN 12(DHS).
3:19:22 PM
AT EASE
3:21:48 PM
RECONVENED
Co-Chair MacKinnon discussed committee business.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB219 CSSD Letter to S FIN.pdf |
SFIN 5/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 219 |
| HB 299 Additional Backup - Legal Services.pdf |
SFIN 5/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 299 |
| HB151 SCS FIN work draft version P.pdf |
SFIN 5/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 151 |
| HB151 SCS FIN v. P Explanation.pdf |
SFIN 5/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 151 |
| HB 299 Amendment 1 Stevens.pdf |
SFIN 5/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 299 |
| HB 151 Legal Services Memo HB 151 v.P.pdf |
SFIN 5/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 151 |