Legislature(1995 - 1996)
03/06/1996 09:10 AM House HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
JOINT HOUSE & SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND
SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEES
March 6, 1996
9:10 a.m.
HOUSE MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Cynthia Toohey, Co-Chair
Representative Con Bunde, Co-Chair
Representative Al Vezey
Representative Gary Davis
Representative Tom Brice
Representative Caren Robinson
HOUSE MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Norman Rokeberg
SENATE MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Lyda Green, Chairman
Senator Loren Leman, Vice-Chairman
Senator Mike Miller
SENATE MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Johnny Ellis
Senator Judy Salo
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Presentation by "Building Bridges"
WITNESS REGISTER
The following offered testimony:
Jeanne Peschier, Rose Brown, Dorothy Richel, Mary Hunter, Cheryl
Herringshaw, Jeanette Grasto, Kate Cross-Das, Claire Hurt, Jaymie
Murphy, Donna Hart, Andrea Richey, Dr. Karen Jackman, Rebecca
Fiaro, Gary Constantine, Shirley Boyer, Robin Bennett, Mary Poore,
Tricia Edwards, Jared Zitwer, Jeanne Hall, Buz Daney, Jan McGilvary
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 96-15, SIDE A
Presentation by "Building Bridges"
Number 001
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY called the Joint House & Senate Health, Education
and Social Services (HESS) Committee to order at 9:10 a.m. and
invited the first presenters to come forward and begin.
JEANNE PESCHIER told the committee that the support and help she
received from her counselor, case manager, and staff at Seward Life
Action Council helps make her life as complete as possible; she
would be lost without the council. Ms. Peschier informed the
committee that she has Anxiety Disorder and Depression which
require ongoing treatment. Receiving services locally allows Ms.
Peschier to stay in the community with her husband and her friends.
Community mental health centers provide effective, efficient, and
vital mental health care. Ms. Peschier mentioned that she had
married two and a half years ago and she looks forward to having a
family some day as well as entering the work force again. Ms.
Peschier asked that the support she needs to accomplish those goals
not be taken away.
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE inquired as to where Ms. Peschier's accent was
from. JEANNE PESCHIER said her accent was from Boston.
Number 124
ROSE BROWN, from the Kenai Peninsula, informed the committee that
she had her first breakdown her last year in college along with two
suicide attempts. After being homeless, in women's shelters, and
on skidrow, Ms. Brown was finally diagnosed 10 years ago. The
medication helped, but she continued to move around and attempt
suicide at least once a year. After finding the Community Outreach
Center on the Kenai Peninsula, she has lived in one place for five
years and is buying her own home. Ms. Brown is a Consumer
Specialist with advocacy, empowerment and peer counseling. She
informed the committee that she is also a member of Alaska's Mental
Health Consumer Board and Secretary of the I Can Group of Consumers
in the Community Outreach Program which is a national model
program. Ms. Brown felt that without this program she would be
institutionalized or dead. In conclusion, Ms. Brown thanked the
legislature for its support in the past.
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE asked what a Consumer Specialist is. ROSE
BROWN explained that a consumer specialist advocates for consumer's
across a wide range of areas.
REPRESENTATIVE ROBINSON inquired as to what portion of the program
Ms. Brown felt was the most helpful for her. ROSE BROWN noted that
working with a psychiatrist to determine the correct combination of
medication to remain stable as well as the employment the program
offered her after several years of volunteering were both helpful.
Number 160
DOROTHY RICHEL, member of the Kenai Alliance, discussed her
mentally impaired twin sister who since moving to Alaska 10 years
ago has been able to maintain her own apartment for over 10 years.
The Community Outreach Program dignifies the consumer's life with
appropriate activities and direction. In the last 10 years, her
sister has only had one hospitalization in API. Without the
caseworkers, her sister would not have had support through that
crisis.
Ms. Richel informed the committee that the programs and activities
are geared toward social involvement, growth, living skills, and
medication management. Ms. Richel emphasized the importance of
these clients fitting in the community. Currently, there are
negotiations for hospital beds in the community hospital in order
to avoid housing mental clients in jails while they wait to go to
Anchorage. The Soldotna group has made it possible for mentally
impaired individuals, like her twin sister, to survive their
lifetime of treatment. Ms. Richel hoped that the ongoing programs
would continue to receive support. All of those programs are
needed.
Number 201
MARY HUNTER, a single mother of two boys, informed the committee
that she had been going to the Community Outreach Program (COP)
which is affiliated with the Central Peninsula Counseling Service
Center (CPCS) for one year and three months. Ms. Hunter has severe
anxiety attacks and Depression which lead to her drinking. Now she
is on medication and seeing a psychiatrist one a month, a
psychologist twice a month and her case manager whenever she needs.
Ms. Hunter noted that she was attending Double Trouble which points
out how mental disorders lead to addictions such as alcohol and
drugs. She also attends Women's Self-esteem Groups. Ms. Hunter
feels that all this support has made her functional. COP has
taught her how to cope with life crises without alcohol or drugs.
Ms. Hunter pointed out that staying on her medication and sobriety
is not only reflected within herself, but also her children.
Without COP and the I Can Group, Ms. Hunter felt that the recent
crises she experienced would have left her suicidal, drinking, in
jail, or APH. With these support groups Ms. Hunter was able to
work through her crises in a healthy and productive way. She only
wished that she had found COP earlier.
REPRESENTATIVE ROBINSON inquired as to the services offered to Ms.
Hunter's children. MARY HUNTER said that CPCS offers about
anything for her children. CPCS has a large amount of resources
and information on a wide variety of areas.
Number 263
CHERYL HERRINGSHAW informed the committee that she is a Consumer
and Family Advocate for her 13-year-old son who is diagnosed with
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Manic Depressant, and
Oppositional Behavior Syndrome. Ms. Herringshaw is with AYI, a
division of Family-Centered Services of Alaska. AYI, a wrap around
service, provides numerous services which are available for both
she and her son. Ms. Herringshaw's son receives services such as
one-on-one counseling with a psychiatrist once a week, an aid in
the classroom with him in public school and someone to help her son
work on his social skills three nights a week. The family also
receives services such as counseling and 24 hour crisis
intervention. Without all the services that AYI provides, Ms.
Herringshaw believed that she and her son would not be together.
Ms. Herringshaw emphasized that with these services, her son would
become a productive adult. AYI are a preventive measure for
problems later in adulthood. In conclusion, Ms. Herringshaw asked
that her son continue to be given the support to be a productive
adult like everyone else.
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE asked how Ms. Herringshaw gained access to the
services she is using. CHERYL HERRINGSHAW said that she began with
the Fahrenkamp Center. In order to receive AYI services, the child
must be hospitalized at least three times. AYI is the last resort
before the child is sent out-of-state for long-term institutional
or residential care. She found out about this through the school
district.
Number 317
JEANETTE GRASTO, President of the Fairbanks Alliance for the
Mentally Ill and Vice-President of the Alaska Alliance for the
Mentally Ill, discussed her family's history of mental illness.
Her brother's illness kept him from having a life and it was
devastating to see that happening to her 16-year-old daughter. A
mixture of private services and the Children's Advocates from the
Fahrenkamp Center proved successful for her daughter. Currently,
her daughter is a successful college sophomore and on her way to
becoming a productive citizen. She informed the committee that in
November her 17-year-old son, who has Attention Deficit Disorder,
had his first manic attack and was eventually unable to attend
school. He was sent to the Youth Day Treatment Program which is a
special school ran by Family Centered Services for Mentally Ill
Children in the Fahrenkamp Center. Youth Day was exactly what her
son needed because the teachers understand his mental illness and
her son is learning to understand it as well. Her son has been
mainstreamed back into public school except for one hour a day
group sessions and activities. She explained that parent advocates
want their special children to receive the help they need in their
communities. It is cost effective to meet mental health needs
within the community. With the correct support, the more costly
programs such as jail and hospitalization could be avoided. She
believed that suicide was the cost of inadequate mental health
services. What would you choose if it were your child? She
thanked the committee for the opportunity to speak.
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE asked if Ms. Grasto's child had to go to
Anchorage. JEANETTE GRASTO said that her son had not been
hospitalized because Fairbanks offered what her son needs.
Number 365
KATE GROSS-DAS, Fairbanks Alliance for the Mentally Ill, informed
the committee that she was Manic Depressant. This illness affected
her in her last year of graduate school at the University of Rhode
Island. She was hospitalized many times and prescribed many
different medications. She completed her Masters in English
Literature in 1986, although her illness had not yet been
diagnosed. The next eight years involved many more
hospitalizations. In the last two years, the Fairbanks Community
Mental Health Center has provided treatment, counseling, and
vocational training as well as the correct combination of
medication. Currently, Ms. Gross-Das is on the verge of teaching
and working at the university. She discussed how her life has
become meaningful.
Ms. Gross-Das emphasized that mental illness affects all people in
all walks of life. Imagine all those lost, homeless, and not yet
capable of understanding their mental illness; the numbers are
shocking. She pointed out that good mental health guarantees a
strong society. Denial of a mental illness prolongs and aggravates
the illness. Ms. Gross-Das urged the committee not to cut the
already reduced financial aid to Alaska's mental health program.
Number 398
CLAIRE HURT, from Kodiak, said that her family has a history of
mental illness. The Kodiak Mental Health Center, Kodiak Alliance
for the Mentally Ill, and the Disability Law Center in Anchorage
have given her needed support. She hoped that support of these
programs would be continued. She indicated that those programs
have made her life better.
JAYMIE MURPHY informed the committee that she is a Wasilla mother
of one. She emphasized that the services she receives are very
important. Without the support of the community services' network,
many of her goals such as employment would not have been reached.
She explained that she works with Temporary Solutions which
contracts with local businesses in the Mat-Su community to provide
community services. Ms. Murphy also works with Daybreak which is
a facility for the mentally ill where she is training to become a
Certified Occupant Specialist Assistant. Without the network of
services she receives, Ms. Murphy did not believe her employment
would have been possible.
Ms. Murphy stressed that the co-payment program for medication is
very necessary. Without medication, more people would be
hospitalized which costs more than community services. Community
mental health services are necessary and provide critical
intervention in order to avoid hospitalization in many cases. In
conclusion, Ms. Murphy asked the committee to remember the mentally
ill while in session.
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY announced that House HESS would hear HB 318, which
is the advanced mental health directives, tomorrow. She invited
any interested persons to attend.
Number 444
DONNA HART, from Wasilla, discussed the time after her parents'
death when her brothers and sisters wanted to place her in a group
home in the lower 48. She decided to move to Alaska, where three
of her children live, because she did not want to be in a group
home. Ms. Hart has major Depression and a Learning Disability.
Currently, Ms. Hart helps with the Foodbank and is a member of
Alaska's Mental Health Board. She urged the committee not to cut
the funds to the mental health programs.
ANDREA RICHEY, from Willow, discussed her long family history in
Alaska. She informed the committee that she was the mother of six
daughters of which her 12-year-old has a mental illness. She
discussed how her daughter's mental illness has been a story of
pain, faith, and hope. The legislature plays the biggest part in
the role of hope by providing home and community based mental
health services. She said that her daughter is making great
progress, but it is not without cost. The cost is mental,
emotional, physical, spiritual as well as financial. Ms. Richey
explained that, although she works, she also depends on Medicaid to
access mental health treatment.
As a mother of a family of eight, Ms. Richey understood fiscal
constraints. Community based services not only provide hope, but
they also make sense financially. Without community based
services, Ms. Richey said that her daughter would require, the more
expensive route of repeated hospitalization and eventually
institutionalization. Her daughter would become a lost community
resource. Lets not lose our resources; do not cut the programs
that are working.
Number 514
DR. KAREN JACKMAN, a Psychiatrist and Medical Director of Norton
Sound Health Corporation's Community Mental Health Center in Nome,
stated that a lot of new services have been provided including a
new village-based counseling program. Still, there are important
needs that are unmet in this area. Services are needed for the
elderly, the chronically mentally ill, the children and their
families. Dr. Jackman pointed out that the mentally ill are a
diverse group of people. Mental illness does not discriminate on
any basis, everyone is susceptible to mental illness. Dr. Jackman
emphasized that the legislators and their families may someday be
effected by decisions the legislature makes concerning the care and
lives of the mentally ill.
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY believed that very few of the people present had
not been touched by mental illness.
REBECCA FIARO, member of the Juneau Alliance for the Mentally Ill
(JAMI), said that she had been diagnosed with Chronic Depression
and Addiction by Juneau Mental Health. During 1994-1995, Ms. Fiaro
was hospitalized about 10 times. She discussed how outreach
services had helped her through her crisis. Due to the support
from these agencies, Ms. Fiaro said that she was no longer
depressed and for the first time she is drug-free. Her thoughts
have turned to college and she feels happy to be alive. Currently,
Ms. Fiaro is living in JAMI housing which provides round-the-clock
support. A lot of people need the services that JAMI provides in
order to be healthy.
Number 567
GARY CONSTANTINE, member of the Juneau Iris Alliance for the
Mentally Ill, explained that Iris is a family based organization
which advocates for mental health consumers and family members.
Mr. Constantine informed the committee that a large portion of the
mental health community is currently not receiving services in
Juneau. Juneau mental health services are not providing services
to the high-functioning, or rather at-risk, group suffering from
mental illness. Many mentally ill people appear to be fine to the
general public while a closer look at their private lives reveals
fractured families, a poor or nonexistent employment history, no
occupational focus, and consistent stories of a lack of resources
for assistance. Mr. Constantine emphasized that assistance for
these people could be empowered to rebuild their lives.
This segment of mental health consumers are not eligible to be
clients at Juneau's local provider organizations. This group is
also not eligible for medical, psychiatric, or medication
assistance because they are not eligible for Medicaid. All these
expenses must be paid by the consumer, but since they often live at
or below the poverty level they do not receive the necessary care
to remain stable. Furthermore, these people are not eligible for
job training through DVR. Mr. Constantine pointed out that
historically, provider information organizations' hiring of such
individuals is practically nonexistent in Juneau. Job placements
are most often made in the "Three Fs": filth, food, and filing.
The consumer does not have the adequate education or experience
which can consistently be attributed to problems with their
disorders.
TAPE 96-15, SIDE B
Number 561
Mr. Constantine said that often such people are very intelligent
and would do well in other jobs outside the "Three Fs," but
prejudice and lack of any support severely limits their employment
opportunities. There is a tremendous need of funding for this
population. Mental health organizations need to learn to dedicate
resources in order to assist this at-risk population. Assistance
to this at-risk population could allow these people to learn and
develop cognitive employment and living skills to succeed and
become independent. If this at-risk group is not served, society
will surely be left with a large population of elderly, destitute,
unemployable, chronically depressed people who were once high-
functioning individuals.
SHIRLEY BOYER, from Anchorage, said that she and her four children
are all mental health consumers. She informed the committee that
she became a citizen of Alaska five and a half years ago because of
the beauty of the state, the people and the culture, and the
efforts of Alaska to produce a comprehensive mental health system.
People with mental illness need family and community support as
well as community based programs. She appreciated the efforts for
the funding of those programs; however, many programs are not yet
funded, especially for children. One of the programs not available
in Alaska is long-term residential treatment for children. She
discussed her 15-year-old son's placement in a long-term
residential treatment center in Texas. Ms. Boyer is devastated by
this situation; she wants to comfort her child as would any parent.
Number 553
ROBIN BENNETT, one of Ms. Boyer's children, asked if any of the
legislators had children. When a baby cries, the parent wants to
comfort the baby and give it a bottle. The children in Alaska are
crying, but the parents cannot give them the bottle because it is
not available in Alaska. These children are sent to another state.
These children do not understand why, especially if the child is
mentally unstable. Mr. Bennett indicated that such children could
become resentful of their parents for sending them away which does
not help the child. Long-term treatment in Alaska would be more
beneficial for the child than being sent away merely for the fact
that the family would be near. Furthermore, what about those who
do not speak English and are sent outside of Alaska for treatment?
Mr. Bennett did not believe the treatment would be very beneficial.
In conclusion, Mr. Bennett stressed that Alaska needs the bottle;
Alaska needs a long-term treatment center.
MARY POORE, a COM-Peer Coordinator at the South Central Counseling
Center in Anchorage and a Certified Health Education Specialist,
said that she was representing some 680 chronically or severely
mentally ill people who either have Schizophrenia or Bipolar
Disease. She related the following story of Lloyd Peck, a mental
health consumer who has returned to the community to help provide
services for the mentally ill. Mr. Peck discussed his life in
Alaska and how after high school he worked in the summers to pay
for college. Mr. Peck served as a Forestry Technician in fire
control for four summers. He attended college at UAF and UAA,
seeking a degree in geology. In 1977, the stress of college and
his summer job broke his health. Since then, Mr Peck has received
outpatient services for Chronic Schizophrenia from the South
Central Counseling Center. About two years ago, Mr. Peck decide to
become a volunteer for the COM-Peer Program as well as a member of
the Anchorage Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Mr. Peck urged
Alaska's legislators to support the South Central Counseling
Center's safety network for the treatment of the mentally disabled.
Furthermore, he encouraged public education so that the social
stigma of mental illness could be erased and the tension eased on
patients in order that their treatment would be more effective.
Number 488
Ms. Poore reiterated that mental illness touches everyone. For
instance, Ms. Poore graduated at the top of her class at the
University of Kentucky. Within one year, she was homeless and
diagnosed with Bipolar Disease and Anxiety Disorder. Ms. Poore
emphasized that without the community mental health services and
the people she works with, she would not be here today. Ms. Poore
hoped that the legislators would remember the mentally ill when
making budget cuts.
TRICIA EDWARDS, from Anchorage, informed the committee that after
moving into the Brother Francis Shelter, she had a nervous
breakdown and became mentally ill with Schizophrenia. She also
received counseling at the shelter through Crossover House, an
outreach extension of South Central Counseling. She discussed how
she has come to live and work with her mental illness with help
from these groups. Ms. Edwards was sure that without these
programs she would be dead.
Number 465
JARED ZITWER, from Anchorage, thanked the committee for their time
in listening to all the mental health consumers. Mr. Zitwer said
that he had been fortunate to have used the services funded by
Alaska. He indicated that he is doing quite well. The community
based mental health system has been very beneficial. Mr. Zitwer
has been serving as a member of the Assets Mental Health Advisory
Board for almost a year. He discussed the prospects of being a
member of the COM Peer Program. Mr. Zitwer emphasized that
community based mental health services have benefitted him in a
tangible way and he attributes much of his professional and
personal growth to those services. He urged the continued funding
of those services.
JEANNE HALL, from Barrow, discussed the help she has received from
South Central Foundation's Quanta House. Ms. Hall identified the
following as solutions for the program: jobs, transportation,
funding for housing, and funding for education. She thanked the
committee for their attention.
Number 401
BUZ DANEY, Quanta House, explained that he worked with Ms. Hall at
Quanta House where they built a club to provide training for jobs
and jobs in the community. South Central Foundation is a tribal
health corporation. The club intends to teach responsibility
through meaningful work within the club and the community. Members
and staff help to make this possible. Although the club's primary
focus is Alaska Natives and American Indians, the club is open to
anyone with a chronic mental illness. In the past year, a program
for their people coming out of the jail system has begun. Mental
illness care is needed as well as social and cultural needs.
Housing and some transportation has been provided, but the need is
greater. Mr. Daney thanked the committee for the assistance that
they have received, it has made the difference.
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY thanked Mr. Daney and noted that he had an active
Mental Health Board that has done a beautiful job. She asked if
anyone else would like to testify.
Number 370
JAN MCGILVARY, Coordinator for the "Building Bridges Campaign",
thanked all of the legislators for this opportunity today. Ms.
McGilvary indicated that the energy surrounding this campaign has
grown; the network continues to grow. Ms. McGilvary said that the
ultimate goal is to provide opportunities to teach people how to
advocate for themselves which leads to empowerment. She thanked
the committee again.
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY thanked everyone for their testimony.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the meeting
was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
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