Legislature(1999 - 2000)
01/26/2000 09:05 AM Senate FIN
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SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE LOG NOTES 01/26/00 GENERAL SUBJECT(S): Review of Department's Accomplishments For FY'99 and FY'00 Department of Public Safety Department of Corrections The following overview was taken in log note format. Tapes and handouts will be on file with the Senate Finance Committee through the 21st Legislative Session, contact 465-4935. After the 21st Legislative session they will be available through the Legislative Library at 465-3808. Time Meeting Convened: 9:05 AM Tape(s): SFC-00 # 12 Side A and Side B PRESENT: Senator Adams Senator Parnell Senator P. Kelly Senator Torgerson Senator Green Senator Donley Senator Phillips Senator Leman Senator Wilken ALSO PRESENT: DEL SMITH, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY; COLONEL GLENN GODFREY, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ALASKA STATE TROOPERS, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY; COLONEL JOHN GLASS, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY; MARARET PUGH, COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS LOG SPEAKER DISCUSSION 000 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Introduction I had asked the departments to review their existing missions and measures and t heir accomplishments in achieving those missions and measures. Hopefully the departments will direct us to their constitutional reasons for being as well as their statutory reasons. Last year SB 169 was adopted and signed into law. It contains missions for all departments and most of the divisions of state government. It is not my intent to have full committee discussion on next year's missions and measures or next year's budget. Those discussions are currently taking place at the subcommittee level and will be before the Committee with the missions and measures bill. Note the commissioner of Department of Public Safety could not be present due to personal reasons. 35 DEL SMITH, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY Introduce other members of the department present. 48 Focus on results and benefits of the program over the past year. This is in contrast to budget discussions in past years. We are encouraged that the discussion is being elevated to a programmatic focus. We recognize the legislature's attempt to improve accountability of state spending. There appears to be two primary questions, "What have we gotten for the investment in the last year?" and "How has Alaska changed because of the money appropriated?" The primary theme across all Department of Public Safety programs is the protection of live, property and resources. The core functions of every program are largely the same from year to year. Police work continues to be police work and is the primary reason public safety exists. The Department of Public Safety continues to do good job with the resources we are given. We try to take advantages to improve ourselves when opportunities are available. Because of the Department of Public Safety, the state is a much safer place based on efforts of the past year. Following are some examples of what has been done to make this a safer and better place to live. Sex offender registration has been in effect several years and currently enhanced with legislation. The sex offender site on the Internet receives about 800,000 "hits" annually. We are able to access national records and other states can access Alaska's records about sex offenders. The Alaska State Troopers (AST) have taken over 620 compliance actions, where someone has been charged with failure to comply with the registration requirements, over the past year. There are currently approximately 3900 sex offenders in the registry. 103 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Were those 620 sex offender compliance actions taken in FY 00 or the last calendar year? 106 MR. SMITH Since July of last year. CO-CHAIR PARNELL How many actions were initiated in FY 99? 113 MR. SMITH Looking at data. 120 CO-CHAIR PARNELL How many were year to date in FY00? 123 MR. SMITH Will have to get that number. CO-CHAIR PARNELL Do you have any sense on whether you are on track? MR. SMITH I believe we are ahead. CO-CHAIR PARNELL You don't project that you will have fewer sex offender compliance actions this year? MR. SMITH No, I do not. We are aggressively pursuing the process. The legislature has recently given us authority to comply with federal law requiring a 90-day verification of lifetime registrants to verify their addresses. We send someone to actually knock on the door of a sample of registrants, see them face-to-face to verify they actually live where they claim. Local police work very aggressively with us especially in Anchorage. There are still about 299 sex offenders who we have not located. A substantial amount of sex offenders are out of state and we have been able to verify that. The website is useful at verifying information because the public gives input on actual locations of registrants. CO-CHAIR PARNELL 152 MR. SMITH The department is also working on near real-time notification to the Division of Family and Youth Services when a foster parent licensee gets in trouble with law enforcement. Using funding appropriated by the legislature, we have joined the Western State Identification Network, which is an automatic fingerprint identification. We went from having access to 200,000 records to several millions of fingerprints for comparisons. Based on this, we have made 662 identifications through other state records in the first year of operation. 175 The department has been working with the Anchorage Police Department on integration software. When Anchorage police enter an arrest record in-house, our system is updated automatically. This makes information available to other law enforcement agencies and ensures the accuracy of criminal history. There will be a financial benefit to Anchorage. Fairbanks has expressed interest in participating as well. 189 The Alaska State Crime Lab is one of first crime labs in the country to be accredited by the American Society of Crime Lab Directors. Recently we were able to renew accreditation. This speaks highly of the quality of our efforts and is helpful in pursuing federal funds for DNA hardware and positions. 201 Here is an example where DNA has played an important role in law enforcement. There was a homicide in North Carolina and the police learned that the suspect arrested had once been in Alaska. AST were contacted and were able to solve an 1995 Anchorage homicide, in which there was no other evidence using DNA testing on blood obtained from the North Carolina suspect. We can anticipate more of this as DNA cataloging progresses. A few years ago, the legislature authorized participation in the Combined Online DNA Information System and Alaska was the seventh 7 state to qualify. We enter information from out sex offender registry or unsolved crimes into this system where it is automatically checked against information from other states. 222 The AST over the past year have answered about 85,000 calls for service, although statistics show that crime is on a downward trend. There have been over 1300 visits by the AST to villages as part of the Village Protection Safety Officer (VPSO) program. AST had a record number of 26 homicides, in the past year. 233 SENATOR PHILLIPS Which month had the highest number of homicides? COLONEL GLENN GODFREY, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ALASKA STATE TROOPERS, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY The information is not broken down by month. Twenty-six was the highest number ever of homicides in a calendar year for the AST. SENATOR PHILLIPS I would like to see that information. CO-CHAIR PARNELL Does that number include Anchorage? COL. GODFREY No, it only includes those that the troopers are responsible for investigating. This is also the highest statewide number in four years. Note, these statistic are actual murders and do not include negligent homicide, motor vehicle homicides, justified homicides, etc. CO-CHAIR PARNELL Do they include school shootings? 255 MR. SMITH Yes. Another day to day aspect of the AST is search and rescue. The AST participated in 207 search and rescue events in which a total of 284 people were saved. Some of those searches were related to avalanches in which a total of 14 citizens lost their lives. As more Alaskans venture further into the wilderness, there is an increase need for search and rescue services. It is surprising to learn that AST were involved in 581 death cases, whether an untimely search and rescue or a reported death under suspicious circumstances. That is a staggering number considering the size of the AST and the size of the state. The department has been very active in drug investigations. Investigators seized more than 35 kilos of cocaine with a street value of more than $3.5 million. 278 SENATOR PHILLIPS Were the 581 deaths investigated in the past calendar year? COL. GODFREY Those incidents include any support given to a police department, such as a body sent from Juneau for autopsy and attended by a trooper. These are not necessarily all our cases, just those that we are involved in. The department put in over 28,600 man hours in death related investigations. 289 SENATOR PHILLIPS Could you please classify which month these deaths occurred? COL. GODFREY No, because it is difficult to classify since we don't do all the actual investigations. 298 MR. SMITH There were about 15,000 marijuana plants with a street value of about $30 million seized. [Various comments by Committee members] 302 MR. SMITH Alcohol continues to be a problem for society. Out of the 85,000 incidents the AST handled during calendar year 1999, nearly 9000 had alcohol involved. Statewide the AST handled 447 bootlegging and importation offenses. 308 SENATOR PHILLIPS Do you have that information broken down by month? COL. GODFREY Yes. We will get that information to you. SENATOR PHILLIPS I will want the statistics of all incidents broken down by month. 313 SENATOR WILKEN Are you seeing increases in the number of villages going "wet", "dry" or "damp"? 315 COL. GODFREY Whenever a village votes to change status to dry or damp, we would see a drastic decrease in the number calls of a violent nature. Those villages that are diligent in enforcement have done a remarkable job in keeping the crime statistics down. SENATOR WILKEN Are the number of villages increasing or decreasing in becoming dry? COL. GODFREY More villages are becoming dry. SENATOR WILKEN Increasing? COL. GODFREY Yes. Village could change from wet to dry and wet again several times over a few years depending on the council. 329 SENATOR LEMAN I received an e-mail message from a trooper suggesting that more resources are needed to pursue drug investigations with adequate diligence. The message also voiced disappointment that the Department of Law didn't follow up on and "open and shut case" of an abuse of medical marijuana case. The trooper suggested that a political decision was made to avoid repercussions to the state. Is this a problem you see or are you getting good support from the Department of Law? 342 MR. SMITH I looked into this matter. A person was caught with marijuana and claimed he had a medical marijuana card, but not with him at the time of his arrest. The case was not pursued by the Department of Law because of the low likelihood of conviction. This was due to changes in the law and the uncertainty of the allowable amount in possession since the Department of Health and Social Services had not yet instituted regulations. I think Department of Law made a wise decision in not taking up this case and having appeals on this shaky case that could cloud the issue. The Department of Law is aggressive in supporting us. 365 SENATOR LEMAN Is there anything the legislature can do to make your job easier in these drug investigations? I understand it takes considerable time and resources to process marijuana to determine a street value and there is a way to streamline that process. 371 MR. SMITH There are national guard personnel who, through the drug intervention program, spend time drying and storing marijuana. The Federal Drug Enforcement Agency recommends keeping a sizable amount on hand for comparison. Streamlining would be beneficial but I don't know the legal ramifications. It is laborious to dry and process marijuana. 384 SENATOR P. KELLY Last fall we spoke to national guard personnel on that issue trying to change the law to streamline the process. However, the Administration told them to not talk to us. I don't know about the Department of Law or the Administration's desire to deal with marijuana in the state, but I think the national guard and the AST are hampered by the Administration's failure to take it seriously. 392 MR. SMITH Another high profile program administered by the AST is the concealed handgun program. There are 11,200 permitees with the first permits issued five years ago and are coming up for renewal. Received a letter from Mr. Nava (no spelling given) who thought the department was doing a good job with this program. Only 74 applications were denied during the five years of the program and only 47 permits have been revoked. To my knowledge, no one has used weapon they carried as a permittee in any crime. There was one instance of abuse by an angry man in movie theater. There are far fewer problems than I would have predicted many years ago. 406 SENATOR P. KELLY How many holders of National Firearms Act weapons have had trouble? MR. SMITH None that I'm aware of. 409 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Regarding the AST's response to traffic accidents and rates of accidents, how safe are the roads? 412 COL. GODFREY Repeat the question. CO-CHAIR PARNELL One of your measures is to decrease the total number of traffic accidents that occur in AST jurisdiction. Can we get a sense of that? COL. GODFREY That is a difficult question because I don't know what the future will hold. This year during the holiday season we stack up our overtime and put a maximum number of troopers on the road and supported them with our helicopters. During the last year we have increased our public relations encouraging safe driving, wearing seatbelts, etc. We are able to receive federal funding to support that effort. With only 237 troopers in the whole state, there are not as many troopers on the road as we'd like. 428 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Are the accident rates going up or down or remaining static. COL. GODFREY There has been a slight increase of accidents. I believe that our high profile during peak times helps as well as focusing on drunk driving. CO-CHAIR PARNELL Do you know how much of that is attributable to the increased speed limits versus trooper enforcement? COL. GODFREY No. CO-CHAIR PARNELL What time period do you figures cover? COL. GODFREY Calendar year through December 31, 1999. 441 SENATOR WILKEN This year in Interior Alaska there was a federal grant program that allowed some cross-jurisdiction for troopers and police for highway safety. Was that a statewide project and was it successful? COL. GODFREY The project only covered the Fairbanks area. The attachment commander felt it was very successful. SENATOR WILKEN Thank you. 452 SENATOR DONLEY Included in the intent language of the FY00 operating budget were goals for the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program. One of those goals was to limit administration costs to 15 percent. Have you reached that goal? 457 COL. GODFREY We have decreased overhead statewide but we are not down to 15 percent yet. The program is contracted out to local nonprofit organizations in each community and we are working with them to bring the costs down. When we receive additional funding, we put that money directly to personal services. 464 SENATOR DONLEY Request a complete list of the current percentages. COL. GODFREY We will supply that for you. 466 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Since the legislature adjourned last year has the department negotiated and signed any new VPSO contracts? COL. GODFREY That is done each summer in the month of July CO-CHAIR PARNELL COL. GODFREY SENATOR DONLEY The second criteria of the intent language covering the VPSO program did stipulate that no new contracts would be signed that had administrative costs over 15 percent. Did you meet that goal? COL. GODFREY You are correct. 473 SENATOR DONLEY The third criterion was to retain in the department, 100 percent of the decision to place or relocate VPSOs in communities. Is this retained in the new contracts? 477 COL. GODFREY No. My understanding of what we are trying to accomplish to put VPSOs in only those communities that do not have other Alaska Police Standards Council certified police officers. There are three communities, Yakutat, Togiak and King Cove, that currently have both. We are changing this through attrition and will relocate the positions as they turnover. What attributes to the success of the program is having villages and nonprofit organizations involved in the decision making process. 488 SENATOR DONLEY What you just described is Criteria #4. I think it is great that the communities are involved in the process, but the legislature made it clear last year that the Department of Public Safety has the final say as to the placement of officers. Are you saying you did not fulfill Criteria COL. GODFREY Correct we have not done that. 492 SENATOR DONLEY Did you move any positions out of communities this year through attrition or other means? COL. GODFREY The position transfers that were made this year were already in the process when the legislature adopted the intent language. 498 SENATOR DONLEY It is good that the overhead costs are coming down. Has the department looked at the option of assuming control of paying officers themselves? 403 COL. GODFREY That has been discussed at all levels, although there has not been an in depth study. 509 SENATOR DONLEY [Conversation held off mike with legislative aide] How do you intend to insure that the missions and goals are aligned with those the legislature adopts? 518 MR. SMITH SB 169, which specifically details each mission and measure, has been the commissioner's and my bible. We have ignored all other suggestions. 524 CO-CHAIR PARNELL That is an issue that other departments are either dealing with or are choosing not to deal with. I Appreciate you distinguishing between was has been officially adopted and all other information. 530 SENATOR DONLEY Is the department responsible for highway safety regulations? MR. SMITH From time to time, yes. Most recent regulations dealt with headlights. 534 SENATOR PHILLIPS Does the Division of Fire Prevention include the fire marshal? MR. SMITH Yes. SENATOR PHILLIPS How many fire marshals are in the state? MR. SMITH There is only one, who is stationed in Anchorage with 16 deputies stationed across the state. 542 SENATOR PHILLIPS What is their jurisdiction? MR. SMITH Outside of the communities that have taken over the responsibility themselves, such as Anchorage and Sitka. 548 SENATOR PHILLIPS Shouldn't the Division of Fish and Wildlife be in the Department of Fish and Game? 550 MR. SMITH Originally, the division was located in the Department of Fish and Game but was moved to the Department of Public Safety in the 1970's. 557 SENATOR PHILLIPS I had a constituent complaint about the sludge in Valdez and Haines. The Department of Environmental Conservation is supposed to be watching for this but as the sludge gets deeper it becomes a fire hazard. Department of Fish and Game adopts the regulations and another agency, Department of Public Safety enforces them. 565 MR. SMITH Explain the Valdez situation where there is an attempt to return jurisdiction to the fire marshal. COLONEL JOHN GLASS, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY The Division of Fish and Wildlife Protection moved to the Department of Public Safety in 1972. The Department of Fish and Game and the Department of Public Safety have separate missions. We do submit proposals to the Board of Fisheries and the Board of Game. There is a national trend to put combine all law enforcement agencies. 585 SENATOR PHILLIPS Don't you lose efficiencies between the two departments to enforce the law? 589 Side B 9:53 AM SENATOR PHILLIPS Problems have been going on for 22 years. CO-CHAIR PARNELL We are looking at missions today. SENATOR PHILLIPS Can't we change them? CO-CHAIR PARNELL Senator Phillips is raising a much bigger issue that should be raised in the budget subcommittees or separate legislation. 583 SENATOR PHILLIPS Do you like the way it is now? 581 MR. SMITH Larger question than I can answer here. Programs implemented by the Division of Fish & Wildlife Protection are valuable for the state of Alaska. We are enforcement oriented whereas the Department of Fish and Game's primary area is biology. 567 SENATOR PHILLIPS The Department of Labor and Workforce Development performs functions outside of its general area of expertise. 565 SENATOR GREEN I can see two reasons for keeping the enforcement as is. There could be a conflict of interest when the same department that adopts regulations is also charged with enforcing them. The other advantage to keeping the Division of Fish and Wildlife protection in the Department of Public Safety is the ability of officers to be cross-trained with the AST and reinforce each other. On the matter of the administration of the VPSO, what would happen if when reissuing contracts, you simply said we couldn't pay more than 15 percent? Would you loose contractors? 554 COL. GODFREY Smaller contractors would not be able to afford to limit their administrative costs. 548 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Was there anything you wanted to point out regarding the Division of Fish and Wildlife? 543 COLONEL JOHN GLASS, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY We did not have specific measures in place this last year. We have prepared some now and will be going forth with them. CO-CHAIR PARNELL Were can I get statistics for crimes other than homicide. COL. GODFREY We will provide that to you. CO-CHAIR PARNELL MR. SMITH Conclusion. 531 SENATOR WILKEN There were complaints about social security numbers being called in from vehicles back to the office over the radio. Anyone with a police scanner could listen to that confidential information. How is that now handled? 527 COL. GODFREY The officers instead transmit driver's license information unless more information is needed. SENATOR WILKEN Is there a policy on broadcasting social security numbers? COL. GODFREY I don't know. SENATOR WILKEN Request for that information. What is the relationship between the department and students in K-12 grades? 516 COL. GODFREY We have taken the lead role in the DARE program and we tailor that program to the specific needs of each community. 505 SENATOR WILKEN There has been an increase in the outreach in Interior Alaska, which I am glad to see. MR. SMITH That is happening in Western Alaska as well. 502 SENATOR GREEN Is the department paying for an officer to go into schools? 499 COL. GODFREY The department acquired federal funding to cover the personal costs of the program. There is a lot of non-state funded financial support for this program. 494 SENATOR WILKEN The Privatization Committee recommended that the Department of Transportation and Public Utilities be removed as the administrator of state-owned vehicles. The Department of Public Safety utilizes many vehicles. 489 MR. SMITH Working previously with the Anchorage Police Department, I am familiar with the Anchorage "homecar" program and can see potential savings for the state to adopt a similar program. The Privatization Committee claimed that a vehicle is paid for twice. I don't necessarily agree the amount is that high but do agree that a vehicle is purchased and then the agency is required to continue to make monthly payments to the Department of Transportation and Public Utilities for maintenance. I don't know the purchasing power and administration abilities of having multiple agencies overseeing their own vehicles. 473 CO-CHAIR PARNELL 470 AT EASE 10:06 AM / 10:16 AM CO-CHAIR PARNELL We will not be hearing from the Council of Domestic Violence as planned. 466 MARARET PUGH, COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS Handouts: Department of Corrections, Missions and Measures, Chapter 77 /DLS 1999 (CSSB (FIN) am H), Article 4. Department of Corrections And Department of Corrections, Review of Department Accomplishments The cover page sets out the department's missions as established in SB 169. It also covers the two boards that fall under the Department of Corrections. Page 1 lays out three goals and performance measures within those goals. 452 Page 4 begins further discussion of those measures. 451 Page 7 is a list of three performance measures we had set for FY00. This process fits well with the department's "workplan". 442 Review the three major goals. Everything that the department does is in some way related to one of the goals 1. Manage offenders in a way that protects public safety. 2. Provide services and programs that effect positive change, structure offender time, and facilitate successful reintegration of offenders into society. 3. Provide effective correctional administration through strategic planning, training, quality assurance and the use of automation and new technologies. 434 The first goal is the first charge of the department as stated in the constitution and is our primary commitment to Alaskans. Everything we do is tied to that commitment. I appreciate the Committee providing resources to attend to this core government service. We've made considerable and important progress but have a great distance to go. The department is responsible for those inmates housed in the twelve facilities in the state plus those inmates housed in the private facility in Arizona. The department is also responsible for those housed in halfway houses, on the electronic monitoring program and all who are on probation or parole. We handled 30,500 offenders in FY99 with daily average count of 4250. The daily average number of offenders on probation and parole was about 4388. Incarcerated offenders are a mix of felons and misdemeanants sentenced and un-sentenced. Those on probation and parole are all felons. We touch the lives of many Alaskans. Many offenders have families as well as victims. 403 I previously testified that facilities were overcrowded. This affected our ability to protect the public and we were in violation of a court order. 397 Today I can tell you that as of this summer, we accomplished one of our performance measures to maintain instate prison population at less than emergency capacity. We developed and submitted to the court our institutional long-range plan for population management, and in November we met that measure for the first time in several years. This required a combination of strategies including sending inmates to the prison in Arizona, expanding halfway houses, developing new alternatives to incarcerations such as electronic monitoring and home furloughs. 380 We have 859 felons at the facility in Arizona Last summers we opened a new forty-bed, culturally relevant halfway house in Nome. This brought the total number of beds to 718 in the state. We started the electronic monitoring program in May and cycled 111 offenders through the program to date. The home furlough program started in March and cycled 169 offenders through. We met our other performance measure of minimizing the number of major incidents through population management. We've had no major incidents of escapes from a secure setting, murders or riots. Those are hallmark measures for any correctional system. We are not free from incidents. We did have an attempted escape from Spring Creek, all systems worked and the escape was stopped. Last year there was an escape from the Palmer Correctional Center and there were 12 attempted escapes from the facility in Arizona, but all offenders were returned. 340 CO-CHAIR PARNELL To what do you attribute your ability to maintain inmate population within capacity? 334 MS. PUGH I had previously testified to my three-part plan and we took that framework to develop a long-range plan. If those inmates currently housed in Arizona were in Alaska and if we did not have the additional halfway house beds, I could not say we were keeping our capacities down. Electronic monitoring and furlough programs are less expensive. 314 We are constantly classifying prisoners and moving them to the facility best suited for their security custody and program needs. Every day we have a population management meeting where we look at pressure points and make logistical decisions. It funnels down to a lot of hard work every day. On a side note, by housing many offenders with long sentences in Arizona the in-state facilities have a larger percentage of short-term residents. 294 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Did you reduce the number of correction officers? 289 MS. PUGH We have the same number of officers but have less overtime utilization. CO-CHAIR PARNELL 285 MS. PUGH Another aspect of protecting the public addresses casework monitoring surveillance and supervision of offenders on parole or probation. Every felon in the system has a period of probation or parole. Last year saw an increased caseload to 255 statewide and our officers conducted about 1500 pre- sentence investigations for the court. CO-CHAIR PARNELL Is this amount up or down? MS. PUGH It is about the same. One performance measure was to increase probation and parole supervision through increased monitoring and accountability programs. We were given authorization to hire two new probation officers to handle sex offender cases. Those officers are at the academy receiving training. These officers will deal with sex offenders who need more structured monitoring and surveillance than other offenders will. 252 We are moving towards neighborhood-based community parole supervision. This is modeled after community policing. CO-CHAIR PARNELL What does that mean? MS. PUGH In Muldoon and Spenard, we are assigning officer caseload based on geography. They will have more interaction with communities by attending council meetings, working with police substations. They are getting to know the neighborhood and the victims as well as allowing the community to get to know them more. Some areas of the state are so small that the programs are already community based. Officers are moving out of their offices and spending more time on the streets. 228 SENATOR PHILLIPS Are you working with community patrols? MS. PUGH I suspect so but will check. The focus is on community councils. SENATOR PHILLIPS If you are not doing so, I suggest you do since that is a citizen organization that works very closely with the Anchorage Police Department. MS. PUGH A concern for the department is to meet performance measures statewide not just in larger populated areas. We started a pilot program for rural areas that is now operational in Hoonah and almost operational in Hooper Bay. We've installed video equipment in the probation office of nearest hub community of Juneau and in the police station in Hoonah. The probationer can go to local police office and meet with the parole officer via video. This doesn't replace on-site visits but gives an extra tool. It also shows local police who is on probation since the offenders come into the police station for their appointments. To meet performance measures we need to think statewide. 187 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Please talk about the juvenile offenders overseen by Department of Health and Social Services but housed by the Department of Corrections. 178 MS. PUGH A performance measure directed us to establish a program to address violent juvenile offenders in the adult correctional system. However, it is too soon to tell how successful that program is. We were able to get technical assistance from the National Institute of Corrections for training on how to deal with violent juvenile offenders housed in an adult facility. CO-CHAIR PARNELL How does that look? MS. PUGH We haven't' established the unit yet. We are in the planning stage and the first step is to train staff to deal with non- adult emotional and behavioral levels. These offenders are still adolences even if they committed violent crime. They tend to fall into two groups, those who are victims of older inmates, and those with out of control behavior because they haven't developed a cause and effect mentality. 145 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Do they receive education services through the Department of Corrections? MS. PUGH There is no organized program because there was never an issue before. However, there are more juvenile violent offenders today and we must do something. A teenager serving a ten-year sentence for armed robbery will be released while still young and in the "major violent crime category". We must recognize that we have an obligation. There is no across the board assessment for educational needs and juvenile offenders are treated the same as adult offenders. 119 CO-CHAIR PARNELL So there is no organized educational effort for the under twenty-one population? MS. PUGH If an offender were interested in getting a GED, they would work with their probation officer. The offender may instead choose to get a job within the institution to help support their family. However the offender may be ordered into certain treatment programs. CO-CHAIR PARNELL We don't force them, but it is available. MS. PUGH We are beginning to understand that with kids we may miss the boat. CO-CHAIR PARNELL Please speak about substance abuse counseling. MS. PUGH We have a spectrum of services available. I'll qualify that not everyone requires the same type of treatment. We were lacking an intensive treatment program; until the legislature along with the Mental Health Trust Authority, funded an intensive treatment program for female offenders with an effective after-care component. We need a program for males. Every facility has contracted-out treatment programs. In Alaska, alcohol represents a major health issue as well as a major role in the criminal justice system. We need to do more. CO-CHAIR PARNELL Have parole releases from incarceration been delayed as a result of budget reductions? This was stated as a potential problem in your budget impact statement. 53 MS. PUGH No. CO-CHAIR PARNELL Not a real problem MS. PUGH The parole board is hard at work and although it is appointed as part-time, they work almost full-time. They overspend their budget in order to meet our needs. That is a problem, but they are committed and we are trying to work with them to reduce cost. The board is effective in our state. 29 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Appreciate the work you've done. Last year your impact statements showed potential problems such as the need to reduce officers, which didn't happen. We've reduced a proposal for funding the juvenile unit and you predicted that would adversely affect public safety. You asked for tools necessary to allow offenders to participate in a variety of educational and substance abuse programs. However, it sounds like there is availability to many of these programs. 000 SFC-00 #13 Side A 10:50 AM MS. PUGH I'm not done arguing for the needs of kids. You will continue to hear about the needs of kids. 5 CO-CHAIR PARNELL Understand. The impact statement was a guess and I appreciate your management. I look forward to talking about where we're going in next several years. 18 Adjourn 10:51 AM SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE LOG NOTES01/26/00 Page 18
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