Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
03/22/2019 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Presentation: Office of Children's Services Response to the Citizen's Review Panel | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 22, 2019
1:32 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator David Wilson, Chair
Senator John Coghill, Vice Chair
Senator Gary Stevens
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator Tom Begich (via teleconference)
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: OFFICE OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES RESPONSE TO THE
CITIZEN'S REVIEW PANEL
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
NATALIE NORBERG, Director
Office of Children's Services (OCS)
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave the OCS response to the Citizen's
Review Panel.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:32:29 PM
CHAIR DAVID WILSON called the Senate Health and Social Services
Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. Present at the
call to order were Senators Coghill, Stevens, Giessel, and Chair
Wilson.
^Presentation: Office of Children's Services Response to the
Citizen's Review Panel
Presentation: Office of Children's Services Response to the
Citizen's Review Panel
1:32:51 PM
CHAIR WILSON announced the presentation Office of Children's
Services Response to the Citizen's Review Panel by Natalie
Norberg, Director of the Office of Children's Services. He noted
it was the third year in a row that OCS has presented a response
to the Citizen Review Panel (CRP) presentation.
1:33:15 PM
NATALIE NORBERG, Director, Office of Children's Services (OCS),
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), Juneau, Alaska,
thanked the CRP and especially its new chair, JP Ouellete, for
its extensive commitment and volunteer time on the board. She
said she appreciates their work and the new emphasis on
collaboration. It is very appreciated that the CRP is trying to
intentionally align its priorities with the OCS priorities. OCS
doesn't have much latitude in their priorities because so much
of what OCS does is compliance-driven by the federal government.
They have over 36 different compliance measures that they must
adhere to for a state-run child protection system.
CHAIR WILSON noted that Senator Begich was online.
MS. NORBERG said that one of the first things that Mr. Ouellete
spoke about was the administrative review process, and she
presented the following information on the process:
Background: Federal Requirements tied to funding require a
formal case review of all child protection cases every six
months until case closure.
• To comply, OCS employs six full time staff and two
administrative assistants, to facilitate the federally
required reviews.
• These staff complete 2855 reviews per year.
• Alaska is one of only 2 states who have not
incorporated these functions into the court system.
MS. NORBERG said the review process was put in place in 1997.
The federal government instituted it to create a third level of
oversight for cases. The purpose is to make sure that cases have
an outside perspective to make sure certain elements are in
place. They don disagree that it's very important. However,
many states have implemented this process into their judicial
system. Alaska is only one of two states that didn't. Many of
the elements of the review are already incorporated into court
hearings. So for OCS, it feels like a redundant process. They
are steadfast that they want to continue to work toward having
the administrative reviews incorporated into the judicial
system. As part of the program improvement plan that they are
negotiating with the federal government, they are working
closely with the court improvement program to implement a pilot
in the Fairbanks judicial court system, which has agreed to take
on elements of the reviews into their hearings. It will only
require an additional hearing after the case has been in the
system for about a year. They will examine the pilot's
effectiveness and efficiencies, but they are hopeful that this
process will work out and be a better use of resources. They
employ six full-time employees to do reviews. It is a high
utilization of their resources.
MS. NORBERG presented the following information on the CRP
second goal and the OCS response:
#2 Improve Outcomes for Family Reunification
Background: Reunification is the priority goal for all
children in foster for at least the first 9 - 12 months
in care.
• In 2018, of the children who exited foster care
54.5% were reunified
• National rate for reunification is: 49%
Summary of CRP Recommendations: Recruit and retain more
local caseworkers; provide training to caseworkers
regarding the importance of reunification and the trauma
of separation, be more trauma informed; train and support
workers to provide more early intervention and in-home
efforts to prevent removal; ensure caseworkers have
access to seasoned workers in their regions who are good
family support and reunification.
OCS Response
OCS remains aligned with the priority to improve rates of
reunification. Reunification is largely dependent on two
systemic issues:
1. Stable workforce
2. The accessibility of appropriate community services.
New Opportunities created by the 1115 Behavioral Health
Waiver and Family First Prevention Services Act
MS. NORBERG pointed out that OCS is doing better than the
national average for reunification. CRP did identify many great
strategies that they are aligned with. OCS is working to have
workers embrace the notion of reunification. Sometimes
caseworkers hit barriers with that. It is important not to rush
reunification if the family is not ready. They do not want
repeat entries. OCS does not provide direct intervention other
than creating the linkages to help families access community
resources. If there are no community resources, it makes their
work very difficult.
MS. NORBERG said OCS is very excited about the 1115 Behavioral
Health Waiver:
1115 Behavioral Health Waiver
• Services designed to target families at risk of
entering the child welfare system
• Continuum of community based, in-home family support
services
• Current Gap Analysis includes OCS to ensure the unique
needs of families involved with child welfare are
being discussed and addressed with providers.
MS. NORBERG said she was fortunate to be involved in some of the
initial design work. She was part of a work group that looked at
target populations and the services that would be made
available. She is very happy that one of the target populations
for the 1115 Behavioral Health Waiver is families at risk of
entering the foster care system. One of the targets for the
initiative is what services are needed to help struggling
families and what are the community-based supports that should
be and must be made available for those families. OCS is
participating in the current gap analysis. The Division of
Behavioral Health is working on this statewide initiative with
the assistance of the Mental Health Trust. Communities are being
visited by a team from the Division of Behavioral Health and OCS
who meet with providers to ask about their capacity and to help
them understand what the new services will be under the new
waiver. OCS is part of the process so they can have that
intimate conversation with providers about the specific needs of
families in the child welfare system and how are they going to
be able to take advantage of these new funding opportunities and
be able to provide those in-home family supports that their
families so desperately need.
1:40:33 PM
SENATOR STEVENS said he was responding to questions from his
constituents about racial differences with family reunification.
He asked if she had figures on that.
MS. NORBERG said that the reunification rate for Alaska
Native/American Indian children in Alaska is higher than it is
for their nonwhite counterparts. It is around 55 percent while
the reunification rate for non-Native children is closer to 50
percent.
SENATOR STEVENS said that was very interesting.
MS. NORBERG said OCS is optimistic about a large piece of
legislation passed by Congress last year and presented the
following information about the Family First Prevention and
Services Act:
• Allows states to claim reimbursement for 50% of costs
for the services after they have been provided
• Children and parents must meet eligibility
requirements:
o the child must be a "candidate" for foster care,
or
o be a pregnant or parenting youth in foster care
• Allows the following evidence-based services to be
reimbursed:
o Mental health prevention and treatment services
provided by a qualified clinician for not more
than a 12-month period.
o Substance abuse prevention and treatment services
provided by a qualified clinician for not more
than a 12-month period.
o In-home parent skill-based programs that include
parenting skills training, parent education and
individual and family counseling for not more
than a 12-month period.
MS. NORBERG said that the Act opens up the opportunity for
states to claim up to 50 percent reimbursement through the Title
IV-E program, which is the open-ended entitlement that funds
child welfare services through the federal government. It is a
very new opportunity which for the first time will allow for the
purchase of services. Never before have they been able to use
this funding stream for services. It is an excellent
opportunity; however, there are certain criteria. The family
must have come to the attention of the child welfare system and
it must have been determined that they needed intervention. The
services are very prescribed. The federal government has been
slow in providing the list of services.
MS. NORBERG shared the preliminary list of services:
Prevention Services/Mental Health:
• Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
• Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Multisystemic Therapy
• Functional Family Therapy
Substance Abuse:
• Motivational Interviewing
• Multisystemic Therapy
• Methadone Maintenance Therapy
In-Home Parent Skill-Based:
• Nurse-Family Partnership
• Healthy Families America
• Parents as Teachers
MS. NORBERG said OCS is exploring provider capacity with the gap
analysis and through other outreach efforts. Some of these
programs exist in Alaska, but many don't. The exhaustive list is
coming out in May. The services can only be paid for as a last
resort after Medicaid. There is a lot to figure out, but they
see it as an opportunity to create more targeted services for
families in the child welfare system.
1:43:56 PM
SENATOR COGHILL commented on the compliance requirements under
Title IV-E. He asked if this is a new set of criteria or a
rearranging of the criteria.
MS. NORBERG replied that it is separate criteria. She suggested
he was thinking of the criteria for things like foster homes to
be licensed in a certain way and the family to have met certain
income requirements. Those types of things do not apply to the
new dollars because [families] are not entering the foster care
system, so it is a little looser.
CHAIR WILSON said the Family Prevention and Services Act offers
many different opportunities for the state and this was the tip
of the iceberg. He asked if there is also funding for extending
the age range of foster youth eligible for grant funding for
continuing education.
MS. NORBERG said there is the opportunity for states to expand
the reimbursement rate for the age of children they consider to
be in the independent living category. Alaska did not choose to
expand because of its smaller population, but there are other
dollars for independent living services. They are not taking
advantage of some of the act because with the economies of
scale, it did not make sense for Alaska. There are many aspects
of this act that OCS has already taken advantage of.
CHAIR WILSON said he was hoping that it would be an opportunity
for the university to be involved with working with foster youth
and their certification programs to have a partnership with the
department to expand on those funds, but apparently not.
MS. NORBERG replied that OCS does have a partnership with the
university. They provide extensive supports through a program to
assist foster youth in their journey to getting a college
education. Last year they had the highest number of high school
graduates and youth enrolled and graduating from the university.
They partner with the university to offer educational training
vouchers. That is a program OCS takes advantage of in the state
and more youth than ever are taking advantage of that program.
CHAIR WILSON asked if that is funded through unrestricted
general funds or federal dollars.
MS. NORBERG answered that those are federal dollars.
1:48:21 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked whether Parents as Teachers on the
preliminary list of allowable services was the same program
eliminated in the governor's budget.
MS. NORBERG answered that she not aware of that program being
eliminated.
SENATOR STEVENS said there is a Parents as Teachers program, but
he is not sure if it is same thing. He thought that was
eliminated in the proposed budget.
CHAIR WILSON said the committee would get a response from the
department for that question.
SENATOR STEVENS said his question was what do they do with the
program if that was eliminated.
MS. NORBERG said Parents as Teachers is an evidence-based model
and the Division of Public Health supports one program. There
are other programs provided by nonprofits agencies that also
support the same model. They are very interested in partnering
with those entities to see if there is a way to draw down the
new funding opportunity to offset the expenses of the existing
programs. It is an opportunity to see if they can supplement the
funding.
SENATOR STEVENS said that the governor's budget eliminated Best
Beginnings and other early learning programs. One is called
Parents as Teachers. He said it may be two different things with
the same name, but he would like an answer.
CHAIR WILSON said that is more the modality of the service
provided. If the agency provided this modality of service, that
funding may have been cut, but it is reimbursable under this new
act. They will try to get a response to committee members.
MS. NORBERG presented the OCS response to the CRP's third
priority, cultural competency:
OCS is concerned about and committed to addressing
potential racism and cultural bias among its workforce.
This has been addressed in an ongoing fashion through
multiple strategies, including:
• Tribal State Collaboration Group Meetings
• Extensive required training on the Indian Child
Welfare Act for new workers
• Cultural Humility curriculum is required for all new
staff
• Two-day Knowing Who You are Training, provided and
required for the last decade designed to help
caseworkers address and acknowledge the unique
experiences of racial minorities.
• Cultural Resources for Alaska Families: Traditional
Health and Wellness Guide
• Tribal partners are involved on hiring teams for
MS. NORBERG said cultural competency remains an important
priority for OCS because of the continued disproportionality
rate of Alaska Native children in the child welfare system.
Today 64 percent of their cases are comprised of children who
are Alaska Native or American Indian; they are only 23 percent
of the child population in Alaska, so it is quite a disparate
number. They appreciate the CRP's support of this as a continued
priority. They do offer staff trainings and they have tried to
do creative things. They invite tribal partners to be part of
their interviewing team for their critical, frontline staff
positions and supervisory positions because it is important that
the tribal partners feel comfortable with the people OCS hires.
They have received permission from the Department of
Administration to do that.
1:52:46 PM
SENATOR COGHILL said OCS was dealing with three things regarding
cultural competency. One is how to deal with blended families,
specifically as it relates to ICWA [Indian Child Welfare Act].
Tribal groups don't always follow ICWA rules, and he saw that
tribal compacting is on the next slide. They have children with
both federal and state requirements, but the tribal groups have
a different view of it. He asked if there is a good relationship
with tribal groups who have different authorities.
MS. NORBERG asked whether Senator Coghill was asking about OCS
relationships with tribal government.
SENATOR COGHILL clarified that they have clear, directive rules,
federal and state. ICWA has directive rules. He asked if that is
also true of some of the tribal groups because they don't
operate under the same directives.
MS. NORBERG replied that the requirements of the Indian Child
Welfare Act do not apply to tribal governments who are taking
over their own child welfare cases. Because they are the tribe,
they don't have to adhere to the same oversight, and they can
provide services and conduct their child welfare system in any
way they decide. The Indian Child Welfare Act is about making
sure the state allows for tribes to have that legal intervention
and ability to be a legal party to the case. Because there are
so many tribal jurisdictions in Alaska, it is a very complicated
process for OCS staff to navigate. They do it better in some
regions than others. The relationship is working well in Sitka.
Sitka is one tribe out of 229. It is a lot of navigating for
their staff. They can do a better job helping staff understand
the nuances between tribal courts, tribal social services
entities, and tribal health. There are so many different
aspects. It is confusing for brand new workers, but they work
hard and have implemented different strategies for staff to get
to know and understand these various systems and to be aware of
the very rich and important and exciting opportunities that
having so many diverse tribal communities brings to families in
Alaska.
CHAIR WILSON said that there is a federal case regarding ICWA
that might be heard by the Supreme Court. He asked if there had
been any injunctions or any changes about how ICWA operates in
the state.
MS. NORBERG responded that there have been no injunctions at
this time.
SENATOR COGHILL said that the Texas Supreme Court made a ruling
regarding ICWA that might make its way to the Supreme Court.
There is a difference between cultural competency and legal
directives. Both the review panel and OCS are traveling in an
interesting world. They want to take the best out of the
culture, but the legal entanglement isn't always well described.
They have tried to figure out how to do that. On the other hand,
the Alaska Native children should never lose their rights as a
citizen of the United States. They haven't figured that out
totally. Meanwhile, the best care is still at the local level.
He wanted to highlight that competency is one thing, but the
legal rules are a very different thing.
SENATOR STEVENS asked what is meant by cultural humility.
MS. NORBERG answered that it refers to the ability to be
respectful of other cultures. It is being humble and having an
openness to learning about and being respectful of other
cultures. Because the staff works with such a diverse
population, it important that they understand and respect and
want to learn and understand the strength of other cultures.
SENATOR STEVENS said that it seems an odd choice of words. To
him, it suggests that humility of one's own culture so that it
doesn't interfere with other cultures. He asked if that was part
of it.
MS. NORBERG replied that it could be potentially part of the
message.
1:59:50 PM
SENATOR BEGICH referenced the university graduation rates. He
asked how many kids they were talking about.
MS. NORBERG said she could get that to him. It was probably
under 25.
MS. NORBERG said the CRP goal of finding relatives for placement
of children in foster care remains a high priority for OCS. They
have done a lot of things over the last five years to improve
their effectiveness in this area. They are slowly starting to
see the numbers of children placed with relatives increase. In
the last five years it increased ten percent. When they look at
the span of a child's life in foster care, they oftentimes were
placed at least once with a relative, but sometimes those
placements don't last. They do try to prioritize that, but it
can be challenging for family members to take on additional
relatives. They try to support them. The percentage placed with
relatives is a constantly varying number. They have done some
interesting things. With their ORCA [Online Resource for the
Children of Alaska] system, they can generate an automated
letter to inform relatives that they have a relative child in
the child welfare system. They must make that notification to
all known relatives within 30 days of a child being removed and
throughout the life of the case at various intervals. If there
is going to be an adoption, they must renotify relatives if a
child is not going to be adopted into a relative home.
MS. NORBERG said that the first scope of work undertaken by
tribal compacting cosigners was relative searches for OCS. They
have worked out an amazing system with tribal partners. They do
the search for OCS. They have access to their electronic
database and enter names of relatives on the state's behalf and
the letters get automatically generated. Because of HB 151,
there were new training and policy requirements for the
supervisory oversight for making sure relative searches were
happening on an ongoing basis.
CHAIR WILSON asked if parents whose children are removed put the
names of relatives in the automated system also.
MS. NORBERG replied that part of the relative search process
requires someone to interview the parents and ask for all known
relatives and then those individuals are asked and then it
branches out like a tree. It is common for parents to be
reluctant to identify relatives. Then they use what they can of
electronic databases and the tribes have access to their tribal
enrollment databases. They use a variety of sources, including
the PFD database to figure out who the relatives are.
CHAIR WILSON said that for kinship care, HB 151 has a
requirement of 45 days. A few weeks ago a constituent shared a
story about a worker who said, "I got 45 days to complete you."
He asked if it has become a new norm to wait 45 days.
MS. NORBERG said the policy is that the Office of Children's
Services has 45 days to assess a request for placement. There
can be a lengthy background check and home inspection to
determine if a family is appropriate to take a relative child.
Sometimes they get numerous requests for a specific child, which
is wonderful. The timeline has not changed. They are trying to
adhere to that because they had heard it was taking a long time
to asses relatives. The committee is aware of the multiple
demands on case workers. Identifying and exploring numerous
relative placements when a child perhaps is in an appropriate
placement may or may not be the top priority that day. It is
certainly their expectation that every relative identified has a
thorough examination done to determine if they are appropriate.
When there are multiple appropriate homes, it can be a difficult
decision about who is going to get that child. It can be quite
complex and multilayered.
2:07:27 PM
SENATOR STEVENS said that last year when they were dealing with
HB 151, they were visited by foster children. He was shocked
that two young ladies who visited him had been with eight to ten
foster families. He asked if that is common, if the 45 days kick
in with each placement, and if they keep track of the number of
times a child is in a foster home.
MS. NORBERG replied they are required to keep track of the
number and where the children are placed. Every time a placement
disrupts, it can take a long time to find a new placement.
Unfortunately, grief and trauma can manifest in behaviors that
are quite challenging for foster families and for all involved.
Sometimes children must be moved. There are lots of variables.
Oftentimes placements aren't found right away or they are
temporary placements. So yes, children have to move around. It
is a very, very sad part of the work.
MS. NORBERG gave an update on efforts related to HB 151,
Children Deserve a Loving Home Act. The bill had many new
requirements for OCS, and they have been working hard to
implement them. The addition of 21 new positions was one of the
most important parts of the bill. The bill was signed in June
2018, and they were given authority to begin recruiting for
those positions in July 2018. Many positions were not filled
until October. They have worked hard over the last year to
incorporate the new training requirements. They have an
excellent relationship with the child welfare training academy
at the university. They are constantly revamping and changing
the training to meet their needs and the needs of their staff.
It takes about two months from posting a recruitment to hire
someone. The training is spread over four months. It is mixed up
with a lot of time in the field. They hear often that classroom
is training is great, but workers don't know what to do in the
field. They are trying new strategies, including five traveling
mentors, which was part of HB 151, who are assigned to staff and
work with them in the field. They offer real-time support when
trying to make decisions. The transfer of learning process is
improving with the new training system, but it does take time.
The question has been asked of where all the new positions are
and what is their case carrying capacity. She would like the
committee to know, that with their new positions, their analysis
is they can be afforded a 35 percent vacancy rate. They have 231
frontline positions. Today, they have 134 positions filled. They
have a vacancy rate of 51.7 percent. They can only have a 35
percent vacancy rate to implement case load standards. Today 53
percent of the staff have been on the job one year or less.
Retention remains one of their highest priorities and crises at
this point. They continue to not have the staff to do the job.
It is better in some parts of the state.
MS. NORBERG said that in 2017, they received 31 new positions;
the majority went to the Wasilla office because of its large
population growth. They doubled the staff there. In the year and
a half that they have had the extra staff, their vacancy rate
has gone down to about 40 percent. They are starting to see
wonderful results with their ability to do the case work they
want them to be doing--meeting with families, creating case
plans, visiting children, making sure kids are safe. They are
starting to see positive results because of the influx of
positions from a year and a half ago, but it does take time for
these positions to get trained and to start taking on caseloads.
The bill requires the caseload caps to implement by June 2020.
They won't be implementing those caseload caps until they have
enough staff because it would not be safe for them to do that.
CHAIR WILSON said he is very appreciative of the additional
staff in Mat-Su. He asked about the physical space capacity for
OCS to work efficiently because he remembers people working in
the hallway. He knows Bethel is looking for more space. He asked
about space utilization statewide if they are increasing the
number of staff.
MS. NORBERG replied that currently the Wasilla office has enough
space. Some of the staff moved into the new child advocacy
center. Some are offsite. New staff does create the need for
more space, which leads to more expensive lease agreements. They
are struggling to figure that out. They have enough space now,
but they continue to look at office configurations in Anchorage.
OCS is about to lease new space in Bethel after the building
they were in basically collapsed. For now, OCS has adequate
space.
2:16:43 PM
SENATOR STEVENS commented that HB 151 was sold on the principle
that staff were quitting faster than they could be hired and
that they could get ahead of that curve by adding new positions.
He asked her to repeat the information about the turnover rate.
MS. NORBERG answered that the current turnover rate is 51.7
percent. They can afford to be at 35 percent but their target is
less than that. Nationally, the turnover rate for the child
welfare workforce is between 30 to 40 percent. They can expect
that, but theirs is quite high. They need to get it to at least
35 percent to change the trend.
SENATOR STEVENS clarified what the 51.7 number was for.
MS. NORBERG said 51.7 is the current vacancy rate. They are
basically at 50 percent.
SENATOR BEGICH asked if any of the vacant positions are
eliminated in the governor's budget.
MS. NORBERG answered that no positions are eliminated in the
governor's amended budget.
MS. NORBERG presented the OCS response to the CRP priority about
worker burnout and vacancies:
• Dedicated staff to Recruitment and Retention
• Letters of Agreement to address unique challenges
• Commitment to Recruiting the Right People for the Job
• Develop Managers and Supervisors
• Support for Wellness Activities
• First Year Onboarding
• Mentorship Program
• Recognition and Welcome Packages
• Exit Surveys
• Social media and local recruitment efforts
MS. NORBERG said that CRP is committed to identify ways to
support OCS staff to acknowledge the challenging work they do on
a daily basis that involves not only the trauma of dealing with
child abuse but also navigating the complicated governing system
that is the child welfare system with so many expectations on
the staff. They inform their staff about the Employee Assistance
Program, but many areas are not able to take advantage of the
program. Since she became director, they are committed to taking
a good look at what is happening to staff during the first year
and making the onboarding process a very intentional and
deliberate process such that they try to eliminate as many
external distractions as possible and focus on what is available
to them to support them, to focus on wellness and having a plan.
Many small offices cannot have a wellness committee. They are
looking to support them from a regional office.
MS. NORBERG said OCS is trying to centralize as many activities
as possible around the recruitment and retention process.
Frankly, the regional offices are often in crisis and cannot pay
attention to all the details. In the state office they are
committed to doing as much as they can. They are trying to work
with unions on different letters of agreement to address unique
challenges and create special opportunities for staff in certain
areas where they need the flexibility to offer different
incentives and supports. They would like to pay for time off
after a staff has experienced a very traumatic event. It is not
something they can currently do. There are so many things they
are trying to address on a systemic level. It is very
challenging. They are doing what they can without a lot of
money. Nonprofits in some communities have been very generous.
Beacon Hill in Anchorage is providing furniture to make the
office nicer. Chaplains come in for emotional support. OCS deals
with real-life crises and they need support. Canines come in for
emotional support. There are pockets of creative things
happening, but they have no ability to implement anything
statewide. They have tried to dedicate a few staff to focus on
the recruitment process because the state has taken cuts and
human resources is backed up. They can't always get timely
processing of the applicant pool, so they have had to take that
on within the division. They are doing everything they can
within the confines of the state system to impact timely
recruitment and retention. It will take a lot of effort and
different strategies. They are not giving up on it. It is a huge
problem. They are very committed to it.
2:23:53 PM
SENATOR BEGICH said that Mr. Ouellete talked about the
importance of CRP traveling to different sites and asked for
more travel resources. He wondered how they had been impacted by
the governor's travel restrictions and how their future travel
plans would be affected.
MS. NORBERG replied that CRP's budget, like the budget for OCS,
has not been changed from last year. They have looked into their
request for more money, but they haven't' spent all the money
allocated for this year. They still have $48,000 for travel. If
they request more money for this fiscal year, they will assess
that. All state boards and commissions have taken travel hits.
SENATOR BEGICH asked if left-over money is rolled over or
returned.
MS. NORBERG answered that she is not sure. They get a new budget
at the beginning of the fiscal year.
SENATOR COGHILL thanked her for her work and willingness to take
on the director role. It is one of the more sobering jobs in
Alaska. Besides recruitment, they struggled with technology. The
ORCA system is now up and running. Then there is bandwidth. He
asked if they have the tools for the new people to do their
work. They fought to get bandwidth in the Bethel area.
MS. NORBERG responded that she was not aware of any bandwidth
issues lately. The bandwidth there is slower, but they can do
their work. They struggle with making their devices more mobile.
They are behind the nation with available technology. The staff
cannot send or receive anything of a confidential nature while
in the field. The new commissioner is committed to figuring out
the issues with mobile device management. There are many things
they could do more quickly if they could manage confidential
information in the field.
SENATOR COGHILL said there must be off-the-shelf encryption. He
asked if it were a cost issue.
MS. NORBERG answered that she doesn't understand what the
barriers are. Some of it is that with the standardization
through the Office of Technology, whatever they use must be
compatible with the rest of the state. They would love to just
go out and get what they need, but they must work within the
confines of the rest of state. That makes sense, but it slows
down the process.
SENATOR COGHILL said this is a quality of life issue for
frontline workers, which includes everything from travel issues
to computer issues. Having the tools they need might make them
feel more respected. That has been a struggle. They are living
in very frugal times, but it is not just the actual equipment.
It is how to make that equipment work in the system. They should
keep a fire under it.
2:29:42 PM
SENATOR STEVENS commented that the turnover rate of 50 percent
is a shocking figure. It is one of the toughest jobs he has ever
heard of in the state of Alaska. He asked her to thank her staff
for sticking with it. Half the people leave every year, but half
stay. That is remarkable in a job that has a lot of burnout. He
asked if there are people who stay for years and are happy doing
this. They have heard the bad stories about people leaving, but
he asked if she can give them an idea of how long some stay.
MS. NORBERG replied that the frontline staff vary. Perhaps a
quarter of the staff have been on the job longer than two to
five years. Most staff who stay quickly promote and become
supervisors or managers or take related jobs to help support
caseworkers. Many people are extremely passionate about child
welfare and want to stay around the work, but they cannot
sustain the frontline for long periods of time. They don't know
if it is healthy for people to stay in the frontline for very
long because it is such traumatic and emotionally draining work.
She tends to worry about people who are exposed to that level of
trauma for that long.
CHAIR WILSON said that in the Mat-Su they have amazing frontline
workers. He gets upset when they leave and become promoted to
supervisors because they are effective. He understands that and
loves the team at the children's advocacy center. They are
amazing staff. They don't always get to appreciate the hard work
they do. He is appreciative of that staff that have stayed and
have the passion and drive to do this hard work.
MS. NORBERG said that she wanted to share an exciting new
initiative called Plans of Self-Care. It is a model that looks
at assisting women who may have been identified during pregnancy
screens who are using or abusing substances. It is an
interdisciplinary approach to assisting women before birth and
after birth. They will be doing a pilot with a birthing hospital
and other entities in Mat-Su to create a systemic process to
support moms and their babies and the whole family if substance
abuse during pregnancy has been an issue. They are trying to
avoid those kids coming into the foster care system in the
future. It is a promising initiative. Anything to do with
prevention is exciting to her. They don't have the opportunity
with their current needs to pursue prevention opportunities, but
there may be others in the near future. She can't wait to share
those with them next.
CHAIR WILSON said the committee would look forward to hearing
from her next year.
2:34:44 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Wilson adjourned the Senate Health and Social Services
Standing Committee meeting at 2:34 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| OCS CRP Response 3-22-19.pdf |
SHSS 3/22/2019 1:30:00 PM |
DHSS OCS response to CRP |