Legislature(2025 - 2026)BARNES 124
01/30/2025 03:15 PM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Department of Family and Community Services | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
January 30, 2025
3:17 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Genevieve Mina, Chair
Representative Andrew Gray
Representative Zack Fields
Representative Donna Mears
Representative Mike Prax
Representative Justin Ruffridge
Representative Rebecca Schwanke
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
KIM KOVOL, Commissioner
Department of Family & Community Services
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered the Department of Family and
Community Services overview.
CLINTON LASLEY, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Family & Community Services
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered the Department of Family and
Community Services overview.
KIM GUAY, Director
Office of Children's Services
Department of Family & Community Services
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the Department of
Family and Community Services overview.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:17:02 PM
CHAIR GENEVIEVE MINA called the House Health and Social Services
Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:17 p.m.
Representatives Schwanke, Mears, Gray, Prax, Fields, and Mina
were present at the call to order. Representative Ruffridge
arrived as the meeting was in progress.
^OVERVIEW: Department of Family and Community Services
OVERVIEW: Department of Family and Community Services
3:17:49 PM
CHAIR MINA announced that the only order of business would be
the Department of Family and Community Services overview.
3:18:34 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 3:18 p.m. to 3:19 p.m.
3:19:27 PM
KIM KOVOL, Commissioner, Department of Family & Community
Services, as co-presenter, began a PowerPoint [hard copy
included in the committee file] on slide 1, an introduction to
the Department of Family and Community Services (DFCS). She
said DFCS was founded on July 1, 2022, by Executive Order 121
and spoke to the care that DFCS provides to Alaskans. She
highlighted Alaska Pioneer Homes and its mission as a state
entity. She also discussed the Alaska Psychiatric Institute
(API) and its goals as an institute.
3:23:17 PM
CLINTON LASLEY, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Family &
Community Services, as co-presenter of the Department of Family
and Community Services overview, described the work of the
Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), slide 7. He emphasized the
vast scope of communities that DJJ serves. In response to
Representative Prax, he noted that information regarding the
"restorative justice model" can be found on the DFCS website.
3:25:53 PM
COMMISSIONER KOVOL, in response to Representative Schwanke,
spoke about the capacity of both API and the Pioneer Homes. To
Representative Gray's observation of the high budget for the
Pioneer Homes, she explained that the Pioneer Homes deals with
elders who need immediate care and assistance, which is
associated with an increased level of staffing and more
equipment. She also shared those categories that influence the
wait list for the Pioneer Homes: the number of people seeking
to use each home, the location of each home, and the capacity of
each home.
3:31:22 PM
MR. LASLEY, in response to Representative Gray, acknowledged
that the Fairbanks Pioneer Home does not meet the needs of the
elders who utilize it and said that DFCS has considered models
for a veterans' home.
3:33:10 PM
MR. LASLEY resumed the overview. He highlighted the Coordinated
Health and Complex Care Unit, slide 9, that was developed within
DFCS. He explained that the unit works across all four
divisions of the department, allowing focus toward improving
healthcare systems. He responded to questions from Chair Mina
and Representative Gray. He noted that the department has a
complex care committee that works with the Department of Health
(DOH), with the goal of making system-level improvements, and
the committee must bring in more community providers. He
suggested that the building of a complex residential home would
be a step in the right direction toward addressing foster
children experiencing chronic behavioral health issues after
being moved multiple times. He emphasized that homes are needed
that address specific needs.
COMMISSIONER KOVAL added that DFCS has had many conversations
with partners around Alaska in looking to address the need for
behavioral health care in Alaska. She emphasized that these
services require much collaboration with community partners.
3:40:06 PM
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER LASLEY resumed the overview. He displayed a
graphic on slide 10 that highlighted the various needs of
someone seeking services from DFCS.
3:41:11 PM
COMMISSIONER KOVAL discussed the fundamental guiding principles
of DFCS, slide 11. She emphasized the work that the department
does to improve the lives of those who utilize the services that
it offers, in addition to the important partnerships DFCS
fosters with other community and local agencies. She
highlighted the department's ability to provide safe, person-
centered, social-emotional care.
3:44:22 PM
MR. LASLEY covered the next few slides and highlighted the
various ways that DFCS has worked to improve its work culture
and his desire to take care of the employees in his department.
He said DFCS has implemented town hall gatherings to find out
how it can better serve staff and discover the unique challenges
that arise. He emphasized that he is working to increase
training, to reduce turnover rates, and to improve recruitment
of staff. In response to Representative Gray, he related that
all 10 beds at API are occupied daily, and there is a waitlist
for API's services. He continued to slide 16 to list a series
of ongoing improvement initiatives currently underway at DFCS.
3:52:12 PM
COMMISSIONER KOVAL listed a series of future improvement
opportunities across Alaska that the DFCS is looking to
undertake in the coming years, slide 17. She said she hopes to
increase foster home recruitment. In response to Representative
Gray, she gave some statistics related to providers and foster
family homes.
3:55:36 PM
KIM GUAY, Director, Office of Children's Services, Department of
Family & Community Services, in response to a question from
Representative Gray regarding an emergency placement stipend for
temporary placements, stated there are currently emergency homes
being paid at the current rate, but there may be some regulation
change in the future.
3:56:29 PM
COMMISSIONER KOVAL, in response to a line of questions from
Representative Prax, said DFCS would like to have foster
families available from different cultures and backgrounds, and
a larger number of families should bring more variety. She
emphasized the many pieces to this puzzle and specified there is
a difference between treatment foster homes and regular foster
homes. She commended Representative Prax for his willingness to
help.
4:00:49 PM
COMMISSIONER KOVAL responded to questions from Representative
Ruffridge. Regarding the effect of the base rate for foster
parents on recruitment and retention, she said that the number
of foster parents has increased but DFCS will have a better
understanding of the reasons for this increase at the end of the
year through its annual report. She noted there are multiple
pilot programs occurring for transitional youths at different
points in their foster care experience.
4:03:42 PM
COMMISSIONER KOVAL responded to questions from Representative
Fields. Regarding recommendations from a December ombudsman
report, she stated that DFCS met with the Ombudsman in
September, where the department explained the improvements that
it was already implementing. She explained that these
improvements were then included in the report as further
recommendations. Regarding Medicaid waiver services, she noted
there are different teams that work with youth and partner with
DOH to ensure enrollment is occurring.
MR. LASLEY, regarding the issue of security, acknowledged that
there have been many instances where DFCS has been threatened by
community members. He said the department is providing
contracted security guards to protect the safety of DFCS staff.
He said DFCS has not yet considered hiring security guards from
within the department, but emphasized the extra security that
comes from hiring outside the department.
4:09:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE thanked the members from DFCS and asked
the department to consider where there may be opportunities for
the Alaska State Legislature to help connect DFCS to tribal
entities and leverage some of the resources available through
tribal health partners.
4:10:06 PM
MR. LASLEY responded to Representative Gray. Regarding capacity
within Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) facilities, he noted
that the McLaughlin Youth Center in Representative Gray's
district remains at full capacity at nearly all times. He
discussed how DFCS has attempted to move funds to better assist
youth facilities. He added that most youth facilities are also
near full capacity. He stated that the department is trying to
serve as many youths as they can in the least restrictive
environments possible.
4:13:28 PM
COMMISSIONER KOVAL commented regarding the future opportunities
DFCS recognizes to expand foster care, transform youth services,
expand services at API, and centralize data. In response to
Representative Prax, she suggested that the Alaska State
Legislature could put DFCS "out of business" by improving
"upstream services." She highlighted that the best support for
families results from asking what is best for them rather than
assuming what is best for them.
4:16:34 PM
CHAIR MINA thanked the presenters for the overview.
4:16:55 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health and Social Services Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 4:16 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| DFCS Legislative Overview 1.30.2025.pdf |
HHSS 1/30/2025 3:15:00 PM |