Legislature(2023 - 2024)DAVIS 106
03/07/2024 03:30 PM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Alaska Citizen Review Panel and Office of Children's Services | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
HOUSE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 7, 2024
3:33 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
HOUSE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Mike Prax, Chair
Representative Justin Ruffridge, Vice Chair
Representative Jesse Sumner
Representative Zack Fields
Representative Genevieve Mina
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator David Wilson, Chair
Senator James Kaufman, Vice Chair
Senator Cathy Giessel
MEMBERS ABSENT
HOUSE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative CJ McCormick
Representative Dan Saddler
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Löki Tobin
Senator Forrest Dunbar
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): ALASKA CITIZEN REVIEW PANEL AND OFFICE OF
CHILDREN'S SERVICES
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
RETCHENDA GEORGE-BETTISWORTH, DSW, MSW, Chair
Alaska Citizens Review Panel
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave a PowerPoint presentation on the
Alaska Citizen Review Panel.
KIM GUAY, Director
Office of Children's Services
Department of Family & Community Services
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave a PowerPoint presentation on the
Office of Children's Services.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:33:39 PM
CHAIR DAVID WILSON called the joint meeting of the House and
Senate Health and Social Services Standing Committees to order
at 3:33 p.m. He announced the Senators present, then passed the
gavel to Chair Prax. Representatives Mina and Prax and Senators
Giesel, Kaufman, and Wilson were present at the call to order.
Representatives Fields, Sumner, and Ruffridge arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
^PRESENTATION(S): Alaska Citizen Review Panel and Office of
Children's Services
PRESENTATION(S): Alaska Citizen Review Panel and Offices of
Children's Services
3:35:15 PM
CHAIR PRAX announced that the only order of business would be
presentations on the Alaska Citizen Review Panel and the Office
of Children's Services.
3:35:38 PM
RETCHENDA GEORGE-BETTISWORTH, DSW, MSW, Chair, Alaska Citizens
Review Panel, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Alaska
Citizen Review Panel [hard copy included in the committee
packet]. Congress created the Citizen Review Panels (CRPs) as
part of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to
help child protection systems be more responsive to community
needs. A CRP is a mechanism for public participation in child
protection. Federal mandates direct CRPs to examine policies,
procedures, and practices of state and local child protection
agencies and conduct public outreach and recommendations. The
state mandate, AS 47.14.205, directs the state panel to evaluate
the extent to which the department is effectively carrying out
its responsibilities. Alaska CRP (ACRP) was formed in 2002.
Membership is voluntary and is expected to reflect the diversity
of the state. The ACRP has three primary functions: evaluating
policies and procedures for consistency and compliance with
state and federal laws; public outreach to gather feedback; and
advocacy. ACRP is independent of the Office of Children's
Services (OCS), but both entities work collaboratively to target
specific goals in relation to system challenges in Alaska's
child welfare system. ACRP's long range plan encapsulates the
following enduring priorities: reciprocal engagement; public
outreach; collaborative relationship with OCS; CRP education
development; and healthy CPS system. The 2022-2023 CRP round
table found that frontline workers do not feel valued; wellness
time was not given; workers must work outside their scope; there
is a need for increased access to mental health services; and
there is a perceived lack of follow-through on promised changes.
Supervisors and managers report a lack of staff as their biggest
challenge; HR delays prevent them from hiring qualified
applicants; they need to be considered in worker wellness and
retention; and unreliable technology and a lack of resources
adds to the workload. The 2022-2023 annual report
recommendations for a healthy CPS system include the following:
dedicated agency improvement team and workplace culture
assessment; improved communication; increased transparency;
integration of culturally relevant practices; employee advocacy
groups; assessed benefits and bonuses structure; technology
improvements; and management training. In Fiscal Year 2024 (FY
24), ACRP plans to utilize OCS staff surveys to identify
advocacy opportunities around retention, recruitment, and staff
well-being; assess OCS intake policies and procedures, and the
practices around referrals to support services; and assess PCS
hiring practices.
3:52:37 PM
GEORGE-BETTISWORTH, PhD, in response to a series of committee
questions, stated that money should be put towards technology to
improve those systems within OCS; OCS is working toward meeting
some of the recommendations identified in the annual report;
2022-2023 recommendations focused on technology and the
integration of culturally relevant practices to create a more
holistic assessment; the inability to access behavioral health
services impacts the overall wellbeing of children; Alaska lacks
an adequate workforce to meet the state's behavioral health
needs; the negative impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic, such as
higher rates of anxiety and depression, continue to be seen; a
healthy workforce, or lack thereof, negatively impacts children
and their safety; better training practices, preparation,
incentivization and recognition through better pay may help with
OCS turnover.
4:12:02 PM
KIM GUAY, Director, Office of Children's Services (OCS),
Department of Family & Community Services (DFCS), gave a
PowerPoint presentation on OCS's response to the 2022-2023 ACRP
report [hard copy included in the committee packet]. The rate
of turnover in OCS has continued to increase since 2020, which
is costly, creates instability for children in care and their
families, and impacts agency morale. Last year, OCS adopted the
U.S. Surgeon General's framework for workplace mental health and
wellbeing. Centered on worker voice and equity, the framework
has five essential branches that are grounded in human needs:
protection from harm, opportunity for growth, mattering at work,
work-life harmony, and connection/community. In response to
committee questions, she said OCS is actively trying to listen
to its workforce with fireside chats and job shadowing; positive
reinforcement is critical for "mattering at work," however,
sometimes its not enough to balance the overwhelm from the
workload and the difficulty of the work itself; the workforce
has changed dramatically in recent years, as fewer applicants
have college degrees and fewer are applying overall; OCS is
trying to figure out how much training to invest, given that the
average length of stay of a welfare worker in the U.S. is 18
months; if workers make it to two years, they usually stay with
the organization; OCS identified certain competencies related to
human connection that are screened for when hiring; two years
ago, OCS shifted its tribal compact funding towards prevention
activities with the ultimate goal of keeping Alaska Native
children out of the system.
4:45:19 PM
MS. GUAY resumed the presentation and addressed the 2023 OCS
annual staff survey. Staff are requesting the following: pay
increases; technology improvements; focus on mental health; a
streamlined Online Resource for the Children of Alaska (ORCA)
process; onboarding support; investing in training; adjusted on-
call hours; retention bonuses; and more communication from
supervisors. The ORCA system was launched in 2004 and
encompasses the division's fiscal system, case management, and
foster parent payments. The system is antiquated and will
require an estimated $50 million update, of which 50 percent
would be funded by the federal government. OCS is actively
working on workplace communication by implementing its "fireside
chats," a return to in-office work, a newsletter, regional staff
meetings, and a leadership summit on trainings. In response to
a series of committee questions, she acknowledged that OCS is
inherently reactionary. The answer, she said, is not child
protection, its prevention. OCS struggles with child placement
and a lack of available foster homes, in addition to
insufficient mental health providers. She further highlighted
the disproportionate number of Alaska Native children in state
care and emphasized the importance of OCS's work with tribes.
5:03:30 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health and Social Services Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 5:03 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-2023 Alaska Citizen Review Panel Annual Report.pdf |
HHSS 3/7/2024 3:30:00 PM |
AK Citizens Review Panel |
| 2024 Alaska Citizen Review Panel HSS Presentation .pdf |
HHSS 3/7/2024 3:30:00 PM |
AK Citizens Review Panel |
| 2022-2023 Alaska Citizen Review Panel Combined Round Table Reports.pdf |
HHSS 3/7/2024 3:30:00 PM |
AK Citizens Review Panel |
| 2023-2024-Alaska Citizen Review Panel Work-Plan.pdf |
HHSS 3/7/2024 3:30:00 PM |
AK Citizens Review Panel |
| OCS-CRP Response (3-6-24) final.pdf |
HHSS 3/7/2024 3:30:00 PM |
AK Citizens Review Panel |