Legislature(2009 - 2010)CAPITOL 106
04/01/2010 03:00 PM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
Audio | Topic |
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Start | |
SCR13 | |
SB238 | |
HB282 | |
HB126 | |
Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ | SCR 13 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | SB 238 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | HB 282 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | TELECONFERENCED | ||
+= | HB 126 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 126-FOSTER CARE/CINA/EDUCATION OF HOMELESS 4:52:30 PM CO-CHAIR HERRON announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 126, "An Act relating to continuing the secondary public education of a homeless student; relating to the purpose of certain laws as they relate to children; relating to tuition waivers, loans, and medical assistance for a child placed in out-of-home care by the state; relating to foster care; relating to children in need of aid; relating to foster care transition to independent living; and relating to juvenile programs and institutions." [In front of the committee was the proposed Committee Substitute (CS) for HB 126, 26-LS0309\C, Mischel, 4/9/09, adopted as the working draft on 4/14/09.] CO-CHAIR KELLER pointed out that there were proposed changes to the bill. He asked to refrain from having a side by side comparison. 4:53:03 PM CO-CHAIR KELLER moved to adopt the proposed Committee Substitute (CS) for HB 126, 26-LS0309\O, Mischel, 3/30/10 as the working document. [There being no objection, Version O was adopted as the working draft.] 4:53:36 PM REPRESENTATIVE LES GARA, Alaska State Legislature, explained that Version O was a pared down version of the foster care bill presented earlier. He noted that there were two sections. He referred to page 1, lines 11-13, and relayed that foster care could now be extended to 21 years of age. He reported that this had resulted in higher academic achievement and outcomes for the youth. He pointed to page 2, line 3, and explained that youth could now re-enter foster care. He explained the re-entry parameters to include: "in the best interest of the child" and that Office of Children's Services (OCS) could ask the court for conditions to reentry. He explained that Sections 2 and 3 would be amended or removed. He referred to a proposed amendment to re-write the reentry provision so that OCS had the discretion to present the court with reasonable conditions for reentry. 4:58:31 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to adopt Amendment 1, 26-LS0309\O.3, Mischel, 4/1/10, which read: Page 2, line 12: Delete "and" Insert "in this sub-subparagraph, "parent" means a biological or adoptive parent or a legal guardian of the person;" Page 2, lines 14 - 17: Delete ", homelessness, or economic hardship, or to enhance the person's ability to continue the person's education or training or otherwise improve the person's successful transition to independent living;" Insert "or homelessness or for any other reason identified by the court that is in the person's best interest; and (iv) if requested by the department, agrees to reasonable terms for resuming state custody that may include matters relating to the person's education, attainment of a job or life skills, or other terms found by the court to be reasonable and in the person's best interest;" CO-CHAIR KELLER objected for discussion. 4:59:12 PM CO-CHAIR KELLER referred to proposed Amendment 1, lines 6-11, and he asked the reason for the deletion of the phrase describing the successful transition to independent living. He opined that this narrowed the focus. 5:00:44 PM MIKE LESMANN, Program Coordinator, Office of Children's Services (OCS), Department of Health and Social Services, said that OCS tried to make the requirements more specific to the steps toward successful, independent living. 5:01:30 PM CO-CHAIR HERRON asked if the amendment was what OCS needed. MR. LESMANN replied that ultimately the court would make the decision whether the youth could extend or reenter foster care. 5:02:24 PM CO-CHAIR KELLER said that he was just trying to understand the amendment. 5:02:45 PM CO-CHAIR HERRON asked that any questions be brought forward now. He asked Representative Gara if Amendment 1 addressed both his and OCS concerns. 5:03:39 PM REPRESENTATIVE GARA clarified that there was not a controversy between himself and OCS. He stated that Amendment 1 attempted to allow re-entry where it was in the best interest of the child. He explained that the definition of "best interest" included homelessness, economic hardship, and enhancement of the child's ability to succeed. He pointed to line 12 of Amendment 1, which allowed OCS discretion to request conditions on the reentry plan. 5:05:54 PM CO-CHAIR HERRON asked to clarify that this was language that was not found anywhere else in the statutes. REPRESENTATIVE GARA agreed, and explained that currently reentry was not allowable. CO-CHAIR HERRON asked if there was currently an opportunity for a dialogue with the courts, if OCS requested it. 5:06:45 PM REPRESENTATIVE GARA pointed to Amendment 1, line 15, which stated that the court would decide what was in the best interest of the child. 5:07:12 PM REPRESENTATIVE T. WILSON asked about a plan for transitioning the kids out of foster care. She asked for an explanation to the fiscal note of $508,000 for transitioning out of state custody. She asked for an explanation of the fiscal note for $93,600 for special needs costs which included extraordinary clothing, family vacations, and biological family visitations. 5:08:37 PM REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA opined that if the policy issues were made on existing data, it would be easier to quantify dollar amounts in the fiscal notes. She expressed a need to compare the fiscal notes with the reasons why the costs were rising. 5:10:43 PM [HB 126 was held over.]
Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
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CS HB 282 support letter - Tom Laing 03.30.2010.doc |
HHSS 4/1/2010 3:00:00 PM |
HB 282 |
CS HB 282 support letter - Center for Natural Medicine 03.23.2010.pdf |
HHSS 4/1/2010 3:00:00 PM |
HB 282 |
CS HB 282 - 26-LS1208.W - for intro into (H) HSS.pdf |
HHSS 4/1/2010 3:00:00 PM |
HB 282 |
SCR 13 support letter - K. Turkington 03.15.2010.pdf |
HHSS 4/1/2010 3:00:00 PM |
|
DCCED fiscal note for CS HB 282 - 26-LS1208.W.pdf |
HHSS 4/1/2010 3:00:00 PM |
HB 282 |