Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 106
03/23/2006 03:00 PM House HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB356 | |
| HJR33 | |
| HB430 | |
| SB255 | |
| HB436 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HJR 33 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 430 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 255 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 436 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 356 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 436-SOCIAL WORKER CASELOADS & WORKLOADS 4:35:08 PM CHAIR WILSON announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 436, "An Act requiring the Department of Health and Social Services to employ a sufficient number of social workers; relating to the protection of children in need of aid by reducing the caseloads and supervisory duties to comply with certain national standards; and providing for an effective date." 4:35:50 PM REPRESENTATIVE LES GARA, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, explained that the main intent of HB 436 is to require that the state have enough staff to manage the case loads such that foster children and those children who are victims of abusive situations are protected. The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), a national organization, has adopted a national standard that specifies that there should be 1 case worker, of those working in child protective service roles, for every 12-15 children. The reasons for the aforementioned standard are multiple. Representative Gara informed the committee that in Alaska's foster care and child-in-need-of-aid systems, the case worker, once he/she receives a report of harm, investigates the case, assess the child's educational and counseling needs when the child is placed in the foster care system. The case worker is charged with finding services for the child and moving the child out of foster care as quickly as possible and back into the home or an adoptive home. However, the state doesn't have the staff to do such in an effective manner. 4:38:16 PM REPRESENTATIVE GARA then informed the committee that since the introduction of HB 436, the [Office of Children's Services] has decided to have an outside consulting agency review the agency's workload rather than the caseload because 12 cases in Anchorage is different than 12 cases on the Kuskokwim River. There have been problems with the study and thus the report won't be available in time for this session. Therefore, the hope is to utilize the legislation to educate everyone that Alaska largely can't meet the federal goal of reuniting children in foster care with their parents within 12 months or placing those foster children who can't be reunified with their family up for adoption and permanent placement within 24 months. The most concerning, perhaps, is that when a report of harm that a child may be subject to abuse at home is received, staff limitations don't allow the detailed investigation required to make a proper decision to occur. The aforementioned might result in removing a child from a home too quickly or not removing a child when he/she should be removed. Therefore, he expressed the need for the legislature to adopt the guidelines from OCS's workload study. REPRESENTATIVE GARA related that the caseload for social workers in Anchorage was close to 30 children. As of last year, one social worker in Dillingham had 52 cases, which meant that those children were not being protected. However, he mentioned that the situation in Dillingham may have been corrected by this year. He went on to say that although the state has done a decent job of adding social workers over the last few years, it seems that the state is at least 15 case workers short statewide. Representative Gara acknowledged the notion that since the state began adding positions to OCS things must be okay. However, he opined that although things have improved, the situation isn't okay. In many regions in this state, it is a crisis base service system rather than a system that provides what the children need to prosper. Without enough staff, the children can't be provided what they need to prosper, he opined. He related that anecdotally he has been told that Alaska probably sends more foster children to jail than to college. Representative Gara related that HB 436 is a discussion point until the workload study is complete, the recommendations of which could possibly spawn a committee bill. 4:45:00 PM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER said that Representative Gara did a good job relating the tasks of the social worker's job as they relate to the child's needs. However, that's only a small part of the larger job because the social worker's job is to identify the problems in the household and work on reunification. Therefore, the social worker has to meet with the parents, arrange for the parents to have assessments and receive services, monitor compliance, write court reports, attend court, et cetera. The study should be very helpful, she said. If social workers can do things thoroughly at the front end children can return home faster if the social worker has confidence that he/she can visit and monitor the child. Furthermore, doing things right at the beginning saves money over the long term. 4:46:49 PM REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA characterized this [legislation] as one part of what needs to be done. She opined that when the state takes custody of a child, the state is essentially saying that the it can do a better job than the parents. However, if an appropriate permanent placement is not found quickly, the psychological processes such as bonding are disturbed. Representative Cissna suggested that HB 436 may help retain foster parents, which would be a step in the right direction. 4:48:44 PM CHAIR WILSON said HB 436 is important in the way of prevention. 4:49:40 PM TAMMY SANDOVAL, Deputy Commissioner, Office of Children's Services, Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), relayed that while [OCS] has mostly met the goals of the federal government's performance improvement plan. Since the goals have been set low, there is room to get better if the desire is to work on prevention. If there were lower caseloads, she opined that the goals could be met. 4:51:14 PM CHAIR WILSON inquired as to the number of social workers required to protect and actually help the children without burning out social workers or foster parents. 4:51:33 PM MS. SANDOVAL agreed that's the key. She explained that the data from the workload study is being cleaned up so that the study can be released. She highlighted that the department entered a fiscal note for 18 staff, which she estimated may actually be more or less by a few. The data cleanup will run through the end of March and the contractors are willing to "re-put" the formula. Therefore, the study may be available by the end of session, but she did note that the contractors are willing to speak with any legislator with questions. 4:54:13 PM CHAIR WILSON said that once the study is released, the matter could come before the committee again. 4:54:56 PM REPRESENTATIVE GARA suggested that if the study relates the staff shortage, perhaps a memorandum from the committee to the co-chairs of the House Finance Committee and the House leadership expressing the need to add [funding for staff] would be the quickest way to address the situation. CHAIR WILSON said, "We'll work on something ... because there's nothing more important than our kids." 4:55:30 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON pointed out that the legislation proposes a certain ratio of social workers per children without providing any funding. He asked if the department is willing to support such even if the funding has to be taken from elsewhere in the department's budget. MS. SANDOVAL said that the department doesn't believe it can put in an increment for a staff increase this year because the results of the workload study weren't available. The department's plan is to work with the commissioner and the governor with regard to the 2008 increment. Ms. Sandoval opined that there aren't the resources to hire 15 new staff. 4:58:03 PM CHAIR WILSON inquired as to whether the funding would come through the supplemental budget. MS. SANDOVAL said she didn't know. 4:58:32 PM REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA suggested that there would probably be a substantial savings when reviewing the cost of keeping the child in the system for a long duration [versus the cost of funding the proposed positions]. She asked if the committee would be interested in making a plea to the House Finance Committee for supplementals that would address this specific issue. 4:59:27 PM CHAIR WILSON suggested that the committee should wait and see what [the study reveals]. She again indicated that the committee would "work on something." 4:59:51 PM REPRESENTATIVE GARA remarked that the preferred route would be to come up with the funding when it's known what is needed rather than having a mandate with inflexible standards. The reason for the legislation, he reminded the committee, is to push the discussion. If the problem is solved through the workload study and the budget, the legislation won't be necessary. However, if the necessary progress isn't made, he opined that he would like to see legislation pass in order to act as a "hammer." 5:00:48 PM [HB 436 was held over.]
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