02/09/2004 01:39 PM Senate HES
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 9, 2004
1:39 p.m.
TAPE(S) 04-5
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Fred Dyson, Chair
Senator Lyda Green, Vice Chair
Senator Gary Wilken
Senator Gretchen Guess (via teleconference)
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Bettye Davis
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 277
"An Act relating to the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary
Education; relating to the Alaska Student Loan Corporation;
relating to bonds of the corporation; relating to loan and grant
programs of the commission; relating to an exemption from the
State Procurement Code regarding certain contracts of the
commission or corporation; making conforming changes; and
providing for an effective date."
MOVED CSSB 277(HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 285
"An Act relating to medical assistance coverage for targeted
case management services and for rehabilitative services
furnished or paid for by a school district on behalf of certain
children; and providing for an effective date."
MOVED SB 285 OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 288
"An Act relating to certain determinations concerning placement
of a child in emergency custody and temporary placement hearings
in child-in-need-of-aid proceedings; and providing for an
effective date."
MOVED CSSB 288(HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 289
"An Act extending the termination date of the special education
service agency; and providing for an effective date."
MOVED SB 289 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: SB 277
SHORT TITLE: STUDENT LOAN PROGRAMS
SENATOR(s): RULES BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
01/23/04 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/23/04 (S) HES, FIN
02/04/04 (S) HES AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/04/04 (S) Heard & Held
02/04/04 (S) MINUTE(HES)
02/09/04 (S) HES AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SB 285
SHORT TITLE: MEDICAL ASSISTANCE COVERAGE
SENATOR(s): GREEN
01/28/04 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/28/04 (S) HES, FIN
02/09/04 (S) HES AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SB 288
SHORT TITLE: EMERGENCY CHILD CUSTODY PLACEMENT
SENATOR(s): GREEN
02/02/04 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/02/04 (S) HES, JUD
02/09/04 (S) HES AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SB 289
SHORT TITLE: EXTENDING THE SPECIAL ED SERVICE AGENCY
SENATOR(s): GREEN
02/02/04 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/02/04 (S) HES, FIN
02/09/04 (S) HES AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
MS. DIANE BARRANS
Executive Director
Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE)
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented CS to SB 277.
MS. JACQUELINE TUPOU
Staff to Senator Lyda Green
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK 9801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 285, SB 288, and SB 289.
MR. JOEL GILBERTSON, Commissioner
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
PO Box 110601
Juneau, AK 99801-0601
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on what SB 285 accomplishes.
MR. JON SHERWOOD
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
PO Box 110601
Juneau, AK 99801-0601
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions pertaining to SB 285.
MS. MARCIE KENNAI, Deputy Commissioner
Office of Children's Services
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
PO Box 110630
Juneau, AK 99801-0630
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on the importance of SB 288.
MR. CHRISTOPHER L. ROBINSON
Executive Director
Special Education Service Agency (SESA)
2217 E. Tudor Road
Anchorage, AK 99507
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 289.
MS. JANET JOHNSON
Cordova, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 289.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 04-5, SIDE A
CHAIR FRED DYSON called the Senate Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:39 p.m.
Senators Wilken, Green, and Chair Dyson were present. Senator
Davis was excused due to medical problems in her family and
Senator Guess joined the meeting via teleconference, as it was
in progress. He said the committee would take up SB 277, SB
285, SB 288, and SB 289 and that his intention was to hear
public testimony and to move the bills out today. He asked if
anybody had time constraints that should be considered in
today's meeting. Hearing no response, he announced the first
order of business was SB 277.
SB 277-STUDENT LOAN PROGRAMS
MS. DIANE BARRANS, Executive Director, Alaska Commission on
Postsecondary Education (ACPE, "Commission") spoke to the
concerns that had been brought up by committee members at the
previous meeting [meeting of 2/4/04]. She addressed the first
concern by referencing Section 4, page 3, regarding Alaska
Student Loan Corporation's (ASLC) authority to finance projects
of the state with the proceeds of bond issues. This supports
the Corporation's intent to, over a three-year period, return a
substantial amount of the original capital that the state
contributed to start up the Corporation. To remedy concern that
language was overly broad and could lead to putting the
Corporation in a financially untenable position in the future,
Ms. Barrans recommended adding Subsection (g), [AS 14.42.220] to
cap the aggregate amount; the total the Corporation could issue,
with respect to (a)(3) would be $280 million.
MS. BARRANS said the second concern expressed by committee
members pertained to the Commission's limited authority to
prioritize four occupation categories and how, in the event of
an unforeseen emergency, the Commission would not have the
authority to prioritize grant money to individuals pursuing
careers outside of those categories. The remedy to this concern
was to remove the limiting section, the language in Section 21,
lines 28 - 29 [health, human services, education, or public
safety]. She noted that conforming changes would need to be
made to Section 24, reflecting that the language defined in
paragraph (3) had been removed. Paragraph (4) would read,
"occupation or profession" because the term, "occupational or
professional field" would be removed. She said these constitute
the committee substitute (CS) [which was currently en route to
the HESS committee].
MR. JASON HOOLEY, staff to Senator Dyson, informed CHAIR DYSON
and members that CS would arrive during today's hearing.
CHAIR DYSON said he would suspend the hearing on SB 277 until
the arrival of the CS, later in the meeting.
1:45 p.m.
SB 285-MEDICAL ASSISTANCE COVERAGE
The committee took up SB 285.
MS. JACQUELINE TUPOU, staff to Senator Lyda Green, presented SB
285 on behalf of the sponsor and testified that this bill allows
the state to extend targeted case management to various user
groups that aren't currently included in its authority. By
doing so, it allows for refinancing of general fund expenditures
by reimbursing the schools for the targeted case management
services. Secondly, it changes the state's rehabilitative
services to match the federal definition of rehabilitative
services. Doing this ensures reimbursement for the school-based
Medicaid rehabilitative services. It's estimated that this
legislation will potentially save approximately $270 [thousand]
in FY 05.
SENATOR WILKEN asked, "How does this roll into what we did a
couple years ago about -- we asked someone to start billing the
feds for something. Where are we on that project?"
SENATOR LYDA GREEN responded that this bill was directly related
to that legislation and she deferred to Commissioner Gilbertson.
MR. JOEL GILBERTSON, Commissioner, Department of Health and
Social Services (DHSS), said that SB 285 accomplishes two
purposes, and testified as follows:
One purpose does deal with school-based Medicaid ...
to improve and increase the flexibility for school
districts ... being able to bill for Medicaid services
and to assist them in the documentation of those
services. Also, to address a deficiency found in the
current authority of the department to move forward
[on what] was found by the Department of Law.
The first of these two deals with the ability of the
schools to adequately document for services so that
they can bill. For this reason, the legislation
itself now directly cites the code of federal
regulations in the definition of rehabilitative
services. The unambiguous linkage of the state and
federal definition will permit services recommended by
the physician or provider - normally included in the
student's IEP [Individual Education Plan] - those
services normally recommended, not prescribed, can be
billed under Medicaid. We have an approved state plan
for therapies, normally OT, PT, speech, some assisted
devices for hearing, some transportation services,
nursing services, and it is the department's intent,
after passage of this legislation, to submit another
state plan amendment of the Medicaid program, to
broaden the scope, and to include psychological
evaluation and counseling services. However, absent
this change, and this inclusiveness of the federal
language, under the CFR, we are now working under a
paradigm in which the doctor has to prescribe services
as opposed to services recommended in the IEP, to
allow those services to be billed under Medicaid.
Also, the amendment is needed because when the
department began to implement school-based services
legislation, SB 345, which was passed in 2002, the
Department of Law noted that while the bill had added
school-based rehabilitative services to the list of
covered Medicaid services, in AS 47.07.030, the
statutory definition of rehabilitative services in AS
47.07.900 was left unchanged. So the scope was
changed but not the definition. That restricts
rehabilitative services only to those adult
individuals who are substance abusers or who are
chronically medically ill. As a result, the
department cannot issue regulations allowing the
school districts to bill for rehabilitative services.
SB 285 fixes this problem by including a separate
definition for rehabilitative services for school
districts in AS 47.07.063, which supersedes the
previous definition that was in AS 47.07.900.
The second point of this legislation addresses
targeted case management [TCM] services. Currently,
those services are optional services under federal
Medicaid law. This change, being put forward in this
legislation, coincides with the department's general
effort to replace the general fund in the provision of
health care services across the state. Current law
restricts the provision of targeted case management
services to substance abusers, chronically mentally
ill adults, and SED (severely emotionally disturbed)
children. TCM for these groups is funded at the
Medicaid program match rate of 58 percent federal, 42
percent state. This is a change from the current
funding of these services, which is at 100 percent
general fund dollars. The amendment will permit DHSS
to identify additional groups that are currently
receiving case management services that are funded by
the general funds, and replace that with the Medicaid
match rate of 58 percent federal funds.
Some examples of services that can be provided through
TCM services include: Children under the care/custody
of the Office of Children's Services or Department of
Juvenile Justice [DJJ] who are not currently in
detention beds; children in the Infant Learning
Program, some public health nursing services; children
within the educational system who have an IEP; and
targeted tribal groups. The fiscal note notes only
minimal general fund savings for FY 05. It is a zero
fiscal note because the governor's budget already
includes a $270 thousand savings assuming the
implementation of this legislation and the successful
implementation of TCM services in FY 05. Much work
has to be done to begin the services. Obtaining
federal approval of the state plan amendment to draw
down the necessary funds has recently become a more
prolonged process than previously. State plan
amendments are becoming more difficult to receive
approval on, but we do ultimately receive approval.
This is an approvable state plan amendment, so we do
anticipate implementation at some point during FY 05,
and will realize these savings. In addition, billing,
accounting, and case management systems will need
modification in order to submit and support this new
claiming activity. These are some of the reasons for
there being minimal savings for FY 05, but we believe
that future savings will be much larger for the state.
CHAIR DYSON acknowledged that Senator Guess was participating in
the meeting via teleconference.
SENATOR GREEN said she wanted to respond to inquiries she has
received from school districts on this issue and asked when this
process would be in place.
COMMISSIONER GILBERTSON responded there is a two-pronged effort
to implement this legislation, recalling a previous discussion
with Senator Green to get this fast-tracked. He said the
regulations were developed and a state plan amendment was
submitted which was the federal side of this to get approval to
provide these services. The state plan amendment was approved
for some services, largely therapies; the deficiency in the
regulations was noted by the Department of Law. He said as soon
as this legislation is passed and the legislative authority
exists to engage in the services, regulations would be put out
again, there would be a comment period, and finalization of the
regulations. An additional state plan amendment will be
submitted to expand the scope of services to include counseling
and psychological evaluation. Those services would be subject
to the time process of getting the state plan amendment
approved. Historically this hasn't taken long, but as of late
it has taken quite a bit of time to get approval by the federal
government, he said.
SENATOR GREEN asked, "Possibly next fall?"
COMMISSIONER GILBERTSON replied this would be the goal.
SENATOR WILKEN commented on the fiscal note, saying that this
had been about a $4 million savings, which was an additional
amount of money that could be spent in the schools.
SENATOR GREEN said she didn't remember the amount.
COMMISSIONER GILBERTSON responded that a sizable amount of
federal money will be gathered through school-based Medicaid
claiming. That money goes to the school districts, and the
districts provide towards the general fund maximum, with 42
percent drawing down 58 percent of federal monies. The $270
thousand is the savings the state anticipates in FY 05. As a
result of the second part of this legislation, TCM services that
allow for claiming some federal match dollars on services
currently being paid for with general fund dollars, that scope
of business and amount of claiming is expected to increase over
the long-term. Acknowledging the start-up time, "we don't
anticipate a large savings in FY 05."
SENATOR WILKEN questioned what this would mean to the 53 school
districts and asked, "What will be freed up?"
MR. JON SHERWOOD, DHSS, responded that Senator Wilken "was in
the ballpark" regarding the total amount of funds, saying that
this would bring into the school district the mechanism the
school district provides to general funds [indisc. due to
coughing] and the state process through the federal funds. Mr.
Sherwood said he was not aware if estimates had been revised
regarding how fast the money would come in or if the amount was
still the same. Some of that depends on seeing what the federal
government actually approves.
SENATOR WILKEN said the bill would go on to Finance, and asked
Mr. Sherwood if there was a way to profile one district, such as
Anchorage, and give a range (low/high) of what it may mean five
years from now.
MR. SHERWOOD responded that the department could come up with an
estimate.
CHAIR DYSON said, "We would enjoy seeing that when it gets to
Finance." He asked Senator Guess if she had any questions and
then asked her if she was somewhere where she could receive a
fax.
SENATOR GRETCHEN GUESS replied that unfortunately she was not
near a fax, however, she understood the changes that Ms. Barrans
had discussed regarding the proposed CS to SB 277. [SB 277 was
previously heard during today's meeting.]
CHAIR DYSON then asked if there were any additional questions on
SB 285. Hearing none, he said he would entertain a motion.
SENATOR GREEN moved SB 285 from committee with individual
recommendations and accompanying fiscal notes.
CHAIR DYSON asked if there were any objections. Seeing and
hearing none, it was so ordered.
SB 288-EMERGENCY CHILD CUSTODY PLACEMENT
MS. JACQUELINE TUPOU, staff to Senator Lyda Green, presented SB
288 on behalf of the sponsor. Current state law provides for
the court to determine, within 48 hours of [a child] being
removed from the home, that there is probable cause to remove
the child from the home; however, the [courts] can use varied
language when making that determination. Federal law states
that the judge, in his/her findings, has to use the phrase that
staying in the home is "contrary to the welfare" of the child.
If that doesn't occur, "we could have problems getting our
federal money from the government." This bill puts the system
in place so that the judge has to determine whether it is
contrary to the welfare of the child to remain in the home. It
is estimated that if this legislation passes, there will be
$500,000 in federal Title IV-E receipts in FY 05.
SENATOR GREEN moved the [proposed] CS [version D, labeled 23-
LS1567\D, Mischel, 2/5/04] for purposes of discussion.
CHAIR DYSON asked if there was any objection. There being none,
version D was before the committee as the working document.
SENATOR GREEN explained that the first word of the sentence on
the last line on page 1 [line 14], should be "At" instead of
"After".
MS. MARCIE KENNAI, Deputy Commissioner, Office of Children's
Services, DHSS, testified that SB 288 is very important
regarding federal Title IV-E dollars coming into the state. If
this language is not in the court order at the first hearing, a
child is not [Title] IV-E eligible. That affects the child's
eligibility for foster care and also for an adoption subsidy,
th
which means that a child could be "general fund through his 18
birthday." Another point is that the judge has the opportunity
at the very first hearing to tell parents "it is contrary to the
welfare of your child" if he/she stays at home at this time.
Aside from the positive revenue to be achieved from this, it
also gives a very clear message to the biological parents.
CHAIR DYSON stated, for the record, that he and his wife
currently do not have any foster children. However his three
children have four foster children today that involve a
subsidized guardianship, so it may be that his immediate family
receives funds under this.
SENATOR GUESS asked if the language was more or less stringent,
and wondered what the changes would be mean in court.
2:03 p.m.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI responded that she didn't think this
would change much for the court. If the first hearing is
continued and the judge has not made the finding that it is
contrary to the welfare of the child to remain in the home, this
automatically makes the child ineligible for [Title] IV-E
reimbursement. Hopefully judges are not removing children or
giving permission to remove children from the home unless it is
contrary to the welfare of the child to remain at home. She
said that the practice is already happening, but the federal
requirement is stringent about the language being included in
the very first court order.
CHAIR DYSON then referred to a publication he had worked on
several years ago advising parents of their rights and providing
information about the process; he asked if those efforts were
still being continued.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI confirmed this to be so.
CHAIR DYSON said this departmental effort was important because
a parent who loses a child needs to know what is going on and
what his/her rights are. He mentioned that in her former life
[Deputy Commissioner Kennai] probably worked with similar
statutes, and referred to page 1, lines [8 and] 9, "the child's
parents or guardian, if they can be found, shall be permitted to
be present." He said he reacted to the word, "permitted"
because of course the parents should be present. He considered
deleting "permitted" but then re-considered the situation of a
child who has been assaulted or traumatized by the birth parents
and asked, "What is the situation under which the parents might
not be permitted to be there. What process would the judge go
through to exclude the parents from being there?"
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI responded, "I don't think there is
ever a case where the parents aren't permitted." She said
sometimes the parents cannot be found, are in jail, or are
unable to attend the hearing.
CHAIR DYSON asked, "And the child is normally not present?"
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI said this depends on the child's age.
Children are generally present unless the child is too young, or
cannot understand.
CHAIR DYSON asked, "Who makes that decision?"
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI said, "I believe our workers make
that decision."
CHAIR DYSON asked, "If the child was able to understand, and had
allegedly been assaulted by the parents, and it would be
traumatic for them to be confronted with their abuser, what
happens?"
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI responded that sometimes the judge
sees the child in [the] chambers. Often the children can be
kept separated from the parents until it's time for the child to
go in, if the judge wants to see the child. Every situation is
different. Generally, if a parent has assaulted the child,
he/she is in custody. "Of course we will keep the child safe,"
she added.
CHAIR DYSON asked if deleting the word "permitted" would do any
harm to the statute.
SENATOR GREEN commented that this would imply that parents are
being required to be there because it would read, "shall be
present" and parents may not want to be present. She said this
requirement would set a different parameter, whereas current
statute implies that it's a choice. She said, "I don't even
know that you'd want a parent there if they didn't want to be
there."
MS. TUPOU informed members that it had been relayed anecdotally
that, sadly enough, most of the parents don't want or care to be
present. She pointed out that the desire was not to hinder the
process by requiring parents to be present.
CHAIR DYSON commented that it was probably the flavor of the
language. He said he preferred "shall be allowed to be there"
rather than "permitted" and said, "I am not going to mess with
it. I can assure you that most of the parents won't have looked
at the statute."
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI said that when parents don't come,
that is often the reason why the judge continues the case;
that's when you don't get these "contrary to welfare" findings.
Most often, that has been the problem. At the first hearing the
parents may not show up and the court continues the case.
Unfortunately this means that if the judge has not very clearly
stated that it is contrary to the welfare of the child to remain
in that home, then the child is not eligible for [Title] IV-E
funds.
CHAIR DYSON asked if in her former life she ever had a parent
who thought that the state took custody when [the state] should
not have.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI said yes.
CHAIR DYSON said that interestingly enough he has not had a
single call like that since "you've been here," noting that he
didn't know if there was any cause and effect relationship.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI said she would like to think that
there was, but it is still [indisc.].
CHAIR DYSON asked how long she had been on the job.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI responded, "almost six months, not
quite."
CHAIR DYSON asked how many kids the state has taken custody of
during that period of time.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KENNAI said that since September, she
doesn't know; daily and yearly counts are maintained. She asked
for that data from [an unidentified person in the audience] who
also didn't know the answer.
CHAIR DYSON asked if there were any further questions or
comments. There being none, he said he would entertain a
motion.
SENATOR GREEN moved to report the CS for SB 288 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
note.
CHAIR DYSON asked if there were any objections. Seeing and
hearing none, it was so ordered.
SB 277-STUDENT LOAN PROGRAMS
CHAIR DYSON announced that the proposed CS had arrived and the
committee would return to SB 277.
SENATOR WILKEN moved to report the CS for SB 277 (version D)
[labeled 23-GS2003\D, Cook, 2/9/04] out of committee with
individual recommendations and the attached fiscal notes.
SENATOR GREEN brought up a point of order regarding adopting the
CS before moving the bill out.
SENATOR WILKEN moved and asked unanimous consent that the prior
motion be withdrawn.
CHAIR DYSON acknowledged that there was no objection and it was
so ordered.
SENATOR WILKEN moved and asked unanimous consent that version D
be adopted as the working document for SB 277.
CHAIR DYSON asked if there was any objection. Hearing none,
version D was before the committee.
MS. BARRANS informed the committee that she had previously
failed to mention a change and wanted members to be apprised of
that change before proceeding with the vote. She referred to
page 11, line 24, and said that the prior version of the bill
had established a severe shortage at a vacancy rate of 10
percent or greater. She said since the scope of the potential
prioritization group was being expanded, raising that rate an
additional 5 percent would be prudent; she had recommended that
change as well.
CHAIR DYSON noted that he had been alerted to that change.
SENATOR WILKEN moved to report CSSB 277, version D, from
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
notes.
CHAIR DYSON asked if there was any objection. Seeing and
hearing none, it was so ordered.
CHAIR DYSON added that the purview of the HESS committee was to
evaluate what SB 277 does for education, while the financial
implications - which are significant - would be dealt with in
the next committee of referral.
2:15 p.m.
SB 289-EXTENDING THE SPECIAL ED SERVICE AGENCY
MS. JACQUELINE TUPOU, staff to Senator Lyda Green, presented SB 289
on behalf of the sponsor and provided the following testimony:
The Alaska Legislature established the Special Education
Service Agency (SESA) in 1986 to help schools and Infant
Learning Programs provide required services for children
with disabilities where there was no local expertise, for
instance if you lived in a school district with one blind
child or one deaf child [indisc.]. Also, rural Alaska is
where this program is utilized quite frequently.
The availability of these workers in the state, and the
people who specialize in the area of disabilities has
really gone down. At the same time, the incidence of
disabilities has gone up. SESA provides required and
important services for people who might otherwise have to
go to costly residential programs and leave their
communities and families to have these services provided.
This bill re-authorizes SESA for nine years, until June 30,
2013. Included in the packet are 25 or 30 letters of
recommendation from various school districts, the
Association of School Boards, and numerous other agencies
in NEA Alaska. SESA is very well received and everyone is
championing for its re-authorization.
MR. CHRISTOPHER L. ROBINSON, Executive Director, Special
Education Service Agency (SESA), testified that he was available
to answer questions.
SENATOR WILKEN requested of Mr. Robinson that when SB 289 gets
to Finance, he'd be interested in knowing how SESA distributes
the estimated $2.1 million dollars among the 53 school
districts.
CHAIR DYSON asked where the kids with [FAS/FAE] show up within
specialized programs for kids with disabilities.
MR. ROBINSON replied that FAS/FAE (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Fetal
Alcohol Effect) kids are identified under the special education
category, such as learning disability, emotional disturbance, or
multiple disabilities. They would typically be served through
what is called, "mild disability" special education services at
the school district level. SESA's specific focus is on severe,
low-incidence (meaning occurring infrequently) disabilities.
Historically, SESA's funding does not target [FAS/FAE] kids. In
1999, SESA won a Health and Social Services grant issued to
develop intervention strategies for classroom purposes. He said
the funding only staffed one professional position and by design
it was inadequate to address the classroom situation. After
talking with DHSS and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, that
grant was cooperatively transitioned to UAF with the intent that
the funding would augment UAF's general teacher education
program to better equip teachers to handle instructional
differences presented by those kids. Since then, SESA has not
had such targeted services.
CHAIR DYSON suggested that maybe those kids could be dealt with
under [the category of] mental retardation because arguably it
is a soft brain injury.
MR. ROBINSON replied that FAE is not identified as a disability
category under state and federal criteria, and that
identification process is the gateway for a SESA services
referral. Without a doubt, there are kids identified with
multiple disabilities or emotional disturbance whose etiology,
in part, would be FAE, "and we know that to be the case." Those
kids are being served because of their categorical
identification in special education, other than FAE. Mr.
Robinson said that other than the 1999 grant (which transitioned
to UAF), he doesn't know of another grant that's been issued for
education intervention; subsequent FAE grant funding that he's
aware of has been preventive in nature.
CHAIR DYSON said his consternation was that he hoped Mr.
Robinson wasn't implying that the activities were being
"directed by the money as opposed to the need."
MR. ROBINSON asked, "referring to the activities of the agency?"
CHAIR DYSON replied, "Yes sir."
MR. ROBINSON said the low-incidence general revenue funding the
state received has a historical attachment that doesn't include
FAS/FAE kids. It would include FAS/FAE kids who have been
identified for the purposes of special education in a special
education category, most frequently that of emotional or
multiple disabilities. He said, "There may be a distinction
without a meaning."
CHAIR DYSON said he didn't want to get obsessive, but inquired
if the statutes or regulations should be changed so that these
kids could be targeted.
MR. ROBINSON replied that there are no regulations pertaining to
the agency at all. The statute identifies the mandate for the
agency to provide the low-incidence disability outreach program
and it specifies areas of disability that would be included in
that program, "FAE being absent." The larger question might be,
"Is FAE in Alaska a low incidence disability?" That would
fundamentally change the original and continuing legislative
intent for these funds which up to now has been to support
school district special education services specific to
disabilities that are severe and occur infrequently.
CHAIR DYSON asked, "So if we have too many kids with prenatal
alcohol poisoning, they wouldn't meet the need of low-
incidence?"
MR. ROBINSON confirmed that they would not meet the criterion
for low incidence, and thereby under the current design, would
not meet the criterion for student-specific service. He told
members that this was an important distinction within the
service menu because the great majority of services that come
out of the agency are not student-specific, but are broader
services than that. Mr. Robinson said it had been discussed
internally that should special revenue funding of some sort
develop, specific to FAS/FAE education interventions, SESA would
be very interested, not on a child-specific basis, but on a
statewide or perhaps regional training basis to help train
educators on classroom interventions. He said it was clearly
understood that these children have educational and
psychological differences and that status quo approaches in
special education don't necessarily work.
MS. TUPOU informed members that SESA offers workshops, courses,
newsletters, and numerous services - including the website -
that are available to school districts, whether rural or urban,
and regardless of incidence of disabilities in the school
districts. She estimated that there were about 6,000 hits per
month on the website, and the newsletter distribution was about
25,000.
SENATOR GREEN commented that this speaks to SESA's purpose of
providing intervention training and taking the message to the
home or school. She said FAS/FAE was not in the federal
mandate, and that although SESA doesn't specifically serve that
[population], she assumes that a child would rarely be only
FAS/FAE; he/she would likely have other descriptors, some of
which would fall under the category of services that SESA
provides.
SENATOR WILKEN said he understands that sunset reviews usually
trigger legislative [audits].
TAPE 04-5, SIDE B
CHAIR DYSON said, "... And my understanding is that the last
audit will be out in about a month, and our legislative audit
has done it several times." He reported that Legislative
[Budget and] Audit (LBA) recommends extending the sunset date
and he had considered delaying action on SB 289 for the month
until the next audit would be out, but having LBA's assurance
that there would be no objection - unless the committee feels
differently - he said he would not hold the bill on that basis.
SENATOR WILKEN asked, "So the audit just needs to catch up with
the bill."
CHAIR DYSON said yes.
MR. ROBINSON said, for the record, he wanted to correct previous
data heard in committee. The agency's newsletter publication
has a mailing list of about 2,000 and regarding the website, FY
03 data reveals a repeat user number of over 6,000. There were
more than 196,000 hits on the site for FY 03.
2:28 p.m.
MS. JANET JOHNSON, representing herself, testified via
teleconference from Cordova, saying that she has a 4.5 year old
daughter named Rose whose picture is with the committee from the
last time Ms. Johnson testified, in October. She said Rose has
a low-incidence disability, degenerative eye disease, and that
because of her condition "she walks funny, she falls down a lot
and things." She also has problems with sensory integration,
which means she gets overly stimulated by the average school
day. SESA has successfully been working with her while she went
through ILP. Rose transitioned, with SESA's help, into the
school system - and the school system in Cordova has not
traditionally been very compliant regarding children's special
needs - although it is getting better now, with parent
volunteers. SESA is the only authoritative voice regarding why
changes need to be made - not necessarily big changes involving
financial re-structuring - but changes such as how to set up the
classroom to meet the needs of someone like her daughter. Right
now there is a lot of cooperation in the school system because
of work that SESA has done. Ms. Johnson said that even when
SESA can't come to town, the agency notifies her if there is
something available that she should know about. This is
especially important because Rose's condition is degenerative.
She said SESA is her only back-up, and if it was not re-
authorized, it would leave many communities without anybody to
reach out to, and it would be tragic.
CHAIR DYSON said he appreciated both her situation and her
taking the time to testify today.
MS. JOHNSON then added that SESA trainings were available not
only for teachers but were also open to community members. She
said she could not have done this on her own because, "just me
talking about her condition isn't the same as getting training
from an authoritative agency."
CHAIR DYSON asked if there was any further public testimony or
questions. Hearing none, he said he would entertain a motion.
SENATOR GREEN moved to report SB 289 out of committee with
individual recommendations, multiple letters of support, and the
accompanying fiscal note.
CHAIR DYSON asked Senator Guess, who was online, if she had any
questions or comments.
SENATOR GUESS said it sounded good to her.
CHAIR DYSON asked if there was any objection. Seeing and
hearing, none, it was so ordered.
CHAIR DYSON announced that there was no additional business to
come before the committee, and adjourned the meeting at 2:34
p.m.
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