Legislature(1997 - 1998)
02/27/1998 09:02 AM Senate HES
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SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
February 27, 1998
9:02 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Wilken, Chairman
Senator Loren Leman, Vice-Chairman
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Jerry Ward
Senator Johnny Ellis
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 246
"An Act amending the definition of correctional facility to include
a therapeutic treatment center; providing for the conveyance of the
Harborview Developmental Center and appurtenant land to the City of
Valdez for the purpose of conversion and lease of a part of the
center for a therapeutic treatment center for the Department of
Corrections; providing that such a land conveyance counts toward
the general grant land entitlement of the City of Valdez; and
providing for an effective date."
HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 246 - See Senate Community & Regional Affairs minutes dated
2/2/98.
WITNESS REGISTER
Betsy Robson, Assistant Director
Division of Institutions
Department of Corrections
4500 Diplomacy Dr., Suite 207
Anchorage, Alaska 99508-5918
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 246
Dugan Petty, Director
Division of General Services
Department of Administration
P.O. Box 110210
Juneau, Alaska 00911-0210
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 246
Larry Streiber, Director
Division of Administrative Services
Department of Health & Social Services
P.O. Box 110607
Juneau, Alaska 99811-0607
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 246
David Dengel
City Manager
P.O. Box 307
Valdez, Alaska 99686
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 246
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 98-18, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN WILKEN called the Senate Health, Education and Social
Services (HESS) Committee to order at 9:02 a.m. Present were
Senators Ward, Wilken, and Green. CHAIRMAN WILKEN announced the
Valdez and Fairbanks teleconference sites were on line and that SB
246 was the only item on the agenda.
SB 246 - HARBORVIEW DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER
REPRESENTATIVE GENE KUBINA, Valdez, joined committee members at the
table.
BETSY ROBSON, Assistant Director of the Division of Institutions,
Department of Corrections (DOC), gave the following testimony. DOC
is very excited about the implications of SB 246. The first
section of SB 246 allows DOC's Commissioner the authority to
establish a therapeutic community for incarcerated offenders,
specifically those offenders with serious drug problems. DOC
currently provides substance abuse counseling in the form of
education classes, pretreatment sessions and an outpatient mode of
treatment. The addition of this 60 bed therapeutic community will
allow DOC to provide a full continuum of treatment to offenders.
Similar programs in other states have shown that this type of
counseling can interrupt the criminal cycle of participants, and
can impact recidivism rates.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN noted committee members received a copy of the
Research Summary by Research Roundup, as well as other information
from Ms. Robson.
MS. ROBSON stated the first page of Research Summary provides a
graphic picture of how therapy can impact offenders and recidivism.
The following two pages contain four bar charts that demonstrate
the effectiveness of treatment. She stated when she last testified
on this bill before a legislative committee, concern was expressed
about the limited amount of research this project was based on, so
she has provided three studies conducted over longer periods of
time; an 11 year study, a five year study, and a three year study.
All three studies show positive results. One of the things that
will make this therapeutic community unique is the fact that DOC
will be exploring the addition of cultural relevancy to this type
of treatment. Cultural relevancy has been applied in substance
abuse counseling on a limited basis and has been very effective.
DOC received $50,000 last year to address this issue and plans to
use those funds to begin training substance abuse counselors
working with the prison population. MS. ROBSON informed committee
members Dugan Petty could speak to the issues surrounding the
conveyance of the state facility.
Number 099
DUGAN PETTY, Director of the Division of General Services,
Department of Administration (DOA), made the following comments.
DOA, DHSS and DOC have been negotiating with the City of Valdez
about the transfer of the Harborview Developmental Center. DOA
screened other state agencies to find out if any have a further use
for the facility and none do. The facility is currently housing
the Valdez hospital. The Harborview Developmental Center is the
first state facility of its size to be decommissioned so DOA has
taken a careful approach. DOC is in the process of negotiating
architectural and engineering work, as well as modifications that
will be completed with funds appropriated by the Legislature last
year. DOA supports SB 246 and believes it is important to
responsibly decommission the facility, otherwise it will have to
manage a "mothballed" facility and eventually dispose of the
property.
LARRY STREIBER, Division of Administrative Services, Department of
Health and Social Services (DHSS), explained three years ago the
decision was made to close Harborview, a state institution for the
developmentally disabled. Residents were moved out into community
settings. The Harborview facility is an asset so to protect it,
DHSS implemented an asset protection plan. DHSS divided the
operation of the building up into logical units, reduced the energy
requirements necessary to keep the building functioning but not
operating at full capacity, and retained one maintenance person.
Additionally, the Valdez Community Hospital continues to occupy a
portion of that facility. If the facility is not transferred to
the City of Valdez, the building will remain a state responsibility
that DHSS estimates will cost $260,000 per year to maintain in the
asset protection mode. DHSS strongly supports SB 246.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN noted Senator Leman joined the committee.
Number 186
DAVE DENGEL, manager of the City of Valdez, made the following
statements via teleconference. Approximately three years ago when
it became evident that Harborview Development Center was going to
close, the City of Valdez formed a task force to look for
alternative uses of the facility. The community hospital is an
integral part of the Harborview facility therefore it was very
important that alternative uses of the facility be found so the
hospital could continue to operate. The task force identified
several potential uses and through the process of elimination
decided the best use to be a drug and alcohol treatment center.
The City of Valdez has been working with DOC for the last year to
fine tune this project and is very supportive of DOC's efforts to
develop its therapeutic treatment program. The therapeutic
treatment center concept provides the best fit for the facility,
community, and the state. The treatment facility will create
approximately 40 new jobs and will enable the community hospital to
continue to operate. It will also provide additional revenue
sources for the hospital. The Valdez City Council recently
approved an interim agreement with the state to begin the transfer
of the facility to the City. The City will lease a portion of the
facility back to DOC for the space it needs to operate the
treatment center. The City will also work indirectly to provide
dietary, medical, and other needs for the inmates. He thanked
Commissioner Pugh and her staff, as well as other state agency
staff, who worked with the City to identify alternative uses for
this facility. He stated this project is truly a partnership
between the City and the State. He encourage the committee to move
SB 246 forward.
Number 218
SENATOR WARD indicated he highlighted parts of the Court Monitor's
Report and asked Ms. Robson to respond to the highlighted sections.
He maintained that he voted for Harborview last year and supports
the concept, but questioned how this will fit in with a total
Corrections' package.
MS. ROBSON noted Senator Ward handed her a copy of the court
monitor's report addressed to Assistant Attorney General John
Bodick from John Hagar, Compliance Monitor. The highlighted
section at the bottom of page 2 refers to meetings that occurred
with the Population Group regarding the Valdez project. She
thought there may have been a misunderstanding in the way this
discussion was presented. She indicated she met with the
Population Group and informed it that DOC was considering a 60 bed
center. The possibility of increasing the number of beds was
discussed but was not feasible for a number of reasons. She noted
on page three, Mr. Hagar makes reference to the treatment facility
as not being a short term solution for population management, nor
would it be a long term solution because DOC will have to renovate
the facility before it can house inmates there. DOC will also have
to hire staff and have its treatment component on-line.
SENATOR WARD asked Ms. Robson to address his concern on the
following page.
MS. ROBSON said a section on the third page states that some
efforts, which were advertised as having an impact on crowding,
i.e. Valdez and the Criminal Justice Assessment Commission, have
not demonstrated the ability to reduce the hard beds at any time in
the foreseeable future. She supposed Mr. Hagar was looking at the
short term which will not come on line tomorrow because of the
reasons she previously mentioned, but the project will have an
impact on the Corrections' population because it will provide an
additional 60 beds.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked if SB 246 fits into a bigger plan for DOC.
SENATOR WARD said he does not know that this does not fit into a
bigger plan but he requested the committee hold the bill until the
following week so that he could review that question.
Number 287
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA maintained that Harborview is a highly
underutilized facility and that SB 246 is the result of a long
process. He explained DHSS wanted to get out of housing the
developmentally disabled population in the way it has in the past.
DOC is a growth industry and as a court order indicates, prison
overcrowding must be addressed. DOC has made it clear it does not
want to use the entire facility because to be effective, a
"therapeutic community" must be kept small. Two years ago the
Legislature appropriated $250,000 to determine the best use of the
facility. Last year, the budget contained $400,000 for the
Harborview facility if certain stipulations were met. One
stipulation was that the cost come in by DOC within the statewide
average of Corrections' facilities. SB 246 has met that
stipulation. The City of Valdez is prepared to spend $1 million
over and above the legislative appropriation to do the capital
reconstruction necessary to house prisoners but it does not want to
spend any money until it is assured the project has legislative
support. DOC indicated it would be ready to start the program
October 1, contingent upon the facility's readiness.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA noted that regarding DOC's long term plan,
it has no real program for drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
Everyone agrees this program is necessary so the question was will
Harborview serve the purpose at a reasonable cost. Money has
already been spent on this project and funds are included in the
Governor's operating budget for it. A separate bill was drafted
for this project because DOC wanted to get the project going as
soon as possible and because the definition of "correctional
facility" needed to be changed to include a therapeutic treatment
center." REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA cautioned committee members that if
that facility is left vacant, the operating costs to heat the
building will remain, and the Valdez hospital will not be able to
continue to function.
Number 350
SENATOR LINCOLN remarked that to answer Senator Ward's question
about how this project fits into the overall DOC plan, this
facility will provide over 50 beds and over 90 percent of offenses
are alcohol or drug related. Many prisoners are not treated for
drug and alcohol problems and the recidivism rate is high. Placing
prisoners in the Valdez facility will free up beds in other
institutions. She noted on Monday, pending referral of SB 246 to
the Senate Finance Committee, experts on the therapeutic community
will be testifying before that committee. She repeated this
program will tie into the overall plan by increasing the number of
beds in the system, and breaking the cycle of recidivism.
SENATOR WARD informed committee members that as Chair of the
Finance subcommittee on the Department of Corrections, he has had
a lot of contact with DOC staff on this issue. He stated the
people of Valdez have gone above and beyond to participate in this
project. There is no state match for this project. He repeated
that he supports the concept but is not prepared to act on this
legislation until he can piece it together with the total DOC
financial package. He repeated his request that the committee hold
the bill until Wednesday, March 4. He noted he is aware the City
of Valdez needs direction from the Legislature as early as
possible.
Number 433
CHAIRMAN WILKEN stated he understands the time constraints on this
bill, so will tentatively schedule the bill on Wednesday or the
following Monday.
SENATOR GREEN questioned the explanation on the fiscal note that
says all funds necessary to complete improvements are with either
the City of Valdez or the Department of Corrections.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA explained the Legislature appropriated
$250,000 to the City of Valdez two years ago and $400,000 to the
Department of Corrections last year for engineering work. The City
of Valdez plans to contribute $1 million for renovation.
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether those funds have already been
used.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA said he thought the $250,000 has been
obligated.
SENATOR WARD explained the City of Valdez voluntarily chose to use
its money on this project.
SENATOR GREEN questioned which appropriations the language on page
2, line 12 refers to.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA clarified that refers to the money already
appropriated that he just spoke about.
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether SB 246 is reliant upon a major
appropriation this year.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA said not for the construction part.
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether there are other facilities in the
state that are stand alone, meaning the only type of prisoners
housed in that facility are undergoing specialized treatment.
MS. ROBSON responded the female population from the Meadow Creek
facility was transferred into the Highland Mountain facility
because the counts had become so large. The sex offender program
was moved from the Highland Mountain program to Meadow Creek.
Meadow Creek is not entirely a stand alone program for sex
offenders; it is reliant upon some of the general core services
provided at Highland Mountain.
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether that is a preferred method. MS.
ROBSON replied isolating populations is preferable when cases
require 24 hour per day treatment. These prisoners are not only
dealing with issues of addiction, but also with issues of criminal
behavior. When this population is mixed with the general prison
population, the effects of treatment are diluted and the mix can be
counterproductive.
SENATOR GREEN asked whether the location of the Valdez facility,
and the resulting transportation costs, will deter a judge from
ordering prisoners to it. MS. ROBSON said she did not think so
because courts might order specific treatments for criminals
entering the prison system but DOC decides where the prisoner will
be placed.
SENATOR GREEN asked if placement is made by an internal decision
rather than by the court. MS. ROBSON replied both could occur.
The court could order an individual to engage in treatment. DOC
would then evaluate that individual and determine what level of
treatment he/she needs and where the treatment should take place.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
CHAIRMAN WILKEN adjourned the meeting at 9:40 a.m.
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