Legislature(2005 - 2006)HOUSE FINANCE 519
01/27/2005 01:30 PM House FINANCE
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
January 27, 2005
1:42 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Chenault called the House Finance Committee meeting
to order at 1:42:23 PM.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Mike Chenault, Co-Chair
Representative Kevin Meyer, Co-Chair
Representative Bill Stoltze, Vice-Chair
Representative Mike Hawker
Representative Jim Holm
Representative Reggie Joule
Representative Mike Kelly
Representative Bruce Weyhrauch
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Eric Croft
Representative Richard Foster
Representative Carl Moses
ALSO PRESENT
Marcie Kennai, Deputy Director, Office of Children's
Services, Department of Health and Social Services, Joel
Gilbertson, Commissioner, Department of Health & Social
Services; Joanne Gibbens, Program Administrator, Office of
Children's Services, Department of Health and Social
Services
GENERAL SUBJECT(S):
OVERVIEW - OFFICE OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES
The following overview was taken in log note format. Tapes
and handouts will be on file with the House Finance
Committee through the 24th Legislative Session, contact 465-
6814. After the 24th Legislative Session they will be
available through the Legislative Library at 465-3808.
TIME SPEAKER DISCUSSION
1:42:30 PM Co-Chair Introduced the committee members and
Chenault Ms. Kennai from the Department of
Health and Social Services.
1:43:33 PM MARCIE KENNAI, Referenced a handout from the Alaska
DEPUTY Department of Health and Social
DIRECTOR, Services entitled "Office of Children's
OFFICE OF Services" (copy on file). She reviewed
CHILDREN'S prevention and well-being services
SERVICES, provided, as shown on pages 2 and 3 of
DEPARTMENT OF the handout.
HEALTH AND
SOCIAL
SERVICES
1:45:46 PM Ms. Kennai Identified the clientele of the Office
of Children's Services (OCS) in FY04,
page 4, and reviewed the Child
Protection Program on page 5. She
pointed out the components of the Child
and Family Services Review (CFSR) and
the final report received in September
2002.
1:48:24 PM Ms. Kennai Continued to explain the program
improvement plan on page 6 and covered
the highlights of the program shown on
pages 7-9. She emphasized that the
maltreatment of children in foster
homes needed to be reduced. Areas of
improvements needed are in safety,
permanency, and wellbeing.
1:51:59 PM Ms. Kennai Referenced page 10 and highlighted
components of Online Resources for the
Children of Alaska (ORCA) as a method
to improve accountability and
performance.
1:53:38 PM Ms. Kennai Shared National Data Indicators for
Safety and Permanency (copy on file.)
In response to a question from Co-Chair
Chenault, provided data for the
national standard of incidence of child
maltreatment in foster care.
1:55:59 PM Vice-Chair Asked if there are any problems with
Stoltze the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
regarding achievement of targeted
percentages. He asked if the dual
system is a factor. Ms. Kennai said
that ICWA has not been a barrier. She
stated that of the 2000 children in
care, 63 percent are Alaska Native.
She maintained that working with tribal
partners has been a positive
experience.
1:58:19 PM Ms. Kennai Spoke of the investments made last year
by the legislature and their effects on
the program, as found on page 13 of the
handout. She noted that 26 new
positions were added, which helped to
implement various plans of service and
to respond in a much more timely way to
investigate cases, especially high
priority cases. A vigorous Quality
Assurance Program has also been
developed, she added.
2:02:40 PM Ms. Kennai Continued to explain the results of
investment in the system as portrayed
on page 14. She spoke of the new
resources used to develop an automated
case management and financial payments
system for OCS.
2:04:21 PM Representative Asked if the field workers have a lot
Joule of paperwork and if they have any
assistance. Ms. Kennai replied that
there is a lot of paperwork that goes
along with the job, and ORCA will help
accommodate that by streamlining the
process. She noted that at first ORCA
was more work, but now is saving time.
She suggested that a workload study be
done.
2:07:53 PM Ms. Kennai Outlined funding source comparisons for
FY03 to FY06. She referred to page 15
and 16 to explain investments in the
system such as the Rasmusson
Foundation, tribal partnerships, and
Casey Family Programs. She pointed out
the high proportion of Alaska Native
children coming into the system.
2:12:46 PM Representative Asked if tribes are involved in the OCS
Joule process. Ms. Kennai replied that they
are. Representative Joule asked if
there is any effect from the attorney
general decision. She clarified that
there was a recent attorney general
decision regarding child investigation,
but it does not affect social services.
2:16:31 PM Ms. Kennai Elaborated on ongoing challenges to
OCS, as found on page 17 of the
handout. She reviewed budget requests
for 2006 on page 18. She explained the
need for 34 new positions, increased
funding for training, and licensure
fees. She requested funds to pay for
foster home recruitment expenses and to
expand voluntary post adoption services
as well as restore Family Preservation
funding.
2:20:16 PM Representative Asked if there is a citizens' review
Holm panel and who is on it. Ms. Kennai
replied that it is made up of citizens
who would review policies and
procedures, but they could also review
cases. She related that town hall
meetings are being held to obtain
citizen input. Representative Holm
pointed out that federal requirements
require such a panel. He asked if it
is currently functioning. Ms. Kennai
replied that the panel is just getting
started.
2:22:57 PM Representative Expressed concern about the incidence
Holm of maltreatment in foster care. He
asked when the 26 new positions would
be hired. Ms. Kennai clarified that
all 26 new positions have been hired.
Of 321 positions, 18 are currently
vacant. In response to a question
about the breakdown of the new
positions, Ms. Kennai replied that 8
positions are to support ORCA, 12
positions are to address foster parent
issues, and 14 are "on the street".
Representative Holm commented that it
is troubling that so few of the new
hires are directly related to reducing
high maltreatment numbers, and he
wondered if it is a band-aid approach.
Ms. Kennai clarified that it is not
just about positions, and emphasized
that a workload study is needed for a
variety of reasons. Ms. Kennai
explained the home study process for
foster care and proposed that a
stricter screening process be used.
2:29:05 PM Ms. Kennai Spoke about the need for more support
and training for foster care parents.
Representative Holm repeated his
concern about the treatment of foster
care children. He related a story
about the existence of children's homes
in an earlier era, and suggested that
there might be other solutions. He
emphasized that the state has a
responsibility to assure that these
children are not at risk.
2:31:31 PM Co-Chair Meyer Referred to the goal to have 24 percent
of children adopted in less than 24
months, and pointed out that 81 percent
are in the system for 2 years before
they are placed. He termed that
troubling and asked why it takes so
long. Ms. Kennai agreed that this
statistic is going in the wrong
direction and is troubling. She
related that there are a variety of
reasons for this; not enough judges to
hear all of the cases, not enough
attorneys to take the cases, too much
substance abuse by parents, and
emphasized that better training is
needed. She reflected that there are
also a lot of pieces outside of OCS
that are barriers, such as hearings not
scheduled in a timely matter and the
lack of services.
2:34:09 PM Co-Chair Meyer Asked if there is a shortage of parents
who want to adopt children. Ms. Kennai
referenced Wednesday's Child, a new
program. She pointed out that parents
want to adopt young, healthy babies,
which are not typical foster children
clientele. Representative Meyer
inquired about improved services from
frontline workers, and whether 5-to-1
is the correct ratio of workers to
administrators. Ms. Kennai replied
that supervisors don't always have time
to supervise and more are needed. She
clarified that a major retention factor
is lack of supervision or poor
supervision. Workload is also an
issue, she added.
2:39:07 PM Co-Chair Meyer Wondered if high turnover rate is a
factor in the current 18 vacancies.
Ms. Kennai reported that they are not
long-term vacancies and are due to
retirement or promotion.
2:40:18 PM Co-Chair Meyer Inquired if turnover rate in Alaska is
higher than in other states. Ms.
Kennai replied that turnover rate in
Alaska is currently at 20.2 percent,
and it varies widely from state to
state.
2:41:28 PM Representative Wondered if the state is too quick to
Joule terminate parental rights. Ms. Kennai
responded that sometimes it is too
quick and sometimes it is too slow.
She acknowledged that there are often
not enough services around the state
and more training is needed.
2:44:02 PM Representative Asked if there is cross-cultural
Joule training, given the high rate of Alaska
Native. Ms. Kennai acknowledged the
need for more training, although there
has been some in Juneau recently.
2:45:36 PM Representative Suggested that tribes needed to be
Joule involved in the adoption process. Ms.
Kennai said that tribes are being used
as a resource.
2:46:50 PM Vice-Chair Asked how many foster parents are
Stoltze related to the foster children in their
care. Ms. Kennai reported that there
are two types of relative homes,
licensed foster homes and public
assistance homes. As of September
2004, 600 children, or 31 percent, were
in a relative's home. She pointed out
that almost 59 percent of foster
children are released back to their
parents.
2:49:15 PM Representative Asked what percent of foster children
Weyhrauch have fetal alcohol syndrome. Ms.
Kennai said she did not know, but that
most children are tested and may then
be tracked for services.
2:50:59 PM Co-Chair Asked when ORCA was started. Ms.
Chenault Kennai replied Sept. 7, 2004.
2:51:17 PM Representative Inquired if OCS is doing anything that
Kelly leans in the direction of recognizing
tribal government or sovereignty. Ms.
Ms. Kennai replied that Barrow and
Chevak, the two tribes that have
petitioned the federal government for
jurisdiction over child welfare cases,
have both asked OCS to partner with
them in concurrent jurisdiction.
2:54:49 PM JOANNE Related that sovereignty is not an area
GIBBENS, that much thought has been given to.
PROGRAM She acknowledged that tribal court
ADMINISTRATOR, jurisdiction could happen, based on a
OFFICE OF petition by the tribe to the courts.
CHILDREN'S She stated that she did not know how
SERVICES, that situation would fit into the big
DEPARTMENT OF picture. Representative Kelly
HEALTH AND requested more information.
SOCIAL
SERVICES
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 2:57 PM
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