Legislature(2023 - 2024)BUTROVICH 205
02/21/2024 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): 2024 Update on the Alaska Children's Justice Act Task Force | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
February 21, 2024
2:29 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Matt Claman, Chair
Senator Jesse Kiehl, Vice Chair
Senator Löki Tobin
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator James Kaufman
Senator Cathy Giessel
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): 2024 UPDATE ON THE ALASKA CHILDREN'S JUSTICE
ACT TASK FORCE
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
JOSH LOUWERSE, Chair
Alaska Children's Justice Act Task Force
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a 2024 update on the Alaska
Children's Justice Act Task Force.
DR. CATHY BALDWIN-JOHNSON, Medical Representative
Alaska Children's Justice Act Task Force
Mat-Su, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a 2024 update on the Alaska
Children's Justice Act Task Force.
ACTION NARRATIVE
2:29:49 PM
CHAIR MATT CLAMAN called the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting to order at 2:29 p.m. Present at the call to order was
Chair Claman. Senators Tobin and Kiehl arrived shortly
thereafter.
^PRESENTATION(S): 2024 UPDATE ON THE ALASKA CHILDREN'S JUSTICE
ACT TASK FORCE
PRESENTATION(S): 2024 UPDATE ON THE
ALASKA CHILDREN'S JUSTICE ACT TASK FORCE
2:30:26 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN announced a 2024 update on the Alaska Children's
Justice Act Task Force (CJATF) titled "How Are We Servicing
Alaska's Children." He asked Mr. Louwerse and Dr. Baldwin-
Johnson to identify themselves for the record and begin their
presentation.
2:30:45 PM
JOSH LOUWERSE, Chair, Alaska Children's Justice Act Task Force,
Anchorage, Alaska, co-presented a 2024 Update on the Alaska
Children's Justice Act Task Force. He said is the director of
Statewide Initiatives for Covenant House Alaska (CHA).
2:30:59 PM
CATHY BALDWIN-JOHNSON, MD, Medical Representative, Alaska
Children's Justice Act Task Force, Mat-Su, Alaska, co-presented
a 2024 Update on the Alaska Children's Justice Act Task Force.
She said she is the medical director for The Children's Place in
Alaska CARES (Child Abuse Response Evaluation Services) to the
Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) in Southcentral Alaska.
2:31:26 PM
MR. LOUWERSE said that the intention today is to share how young
people are served in Alaska for maltreatment response.
2:31:39 PM
MR. LOUWERSE moved to slide 2 and outlined the key points of the
presentation:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Key Points
• Who we are & what we do
• ACEs: Why we do what we do
• Child abuse and neglect in Alaska
• Recommendations
2:31:56 PM
MR. LOUWERSE moved to slide 3, stating that the task force is
federally mandated and funded and started in 2000. Alaska has
had a Children's Justice Act Task Force (CJATF) for 24 years.
Some of the task force's duties are to act as a statewide
multidisciplinary group aimed at improving its systems,
advocating for legislative changes, and educating on the current
state of young people moving through Alaska's child maltreatment
systems. Slide 3 reads:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Introduction to the Alaska CJATF
• Federally mandated and funded
• Mission: Identify areas where improvement is needed
in the statewide response to child maltreatment,
make recommendations and take action to improve the
system.
• Statewide, multidisciplinary membership that
includes volunteers
• Legislation to improve protection & justice for
children (starvation, serious physical abuse,
privacy)
• Focus on education: child abuse in Alaska, mandatory
reporting, and best practices for the
multidisciplinary response to child abuse
2:32:36 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 4:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Why is this important:
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
2:32:45 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 5, stating the first Adverse
Childhood Experiences (ACES) study came out of Southern
California through the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and
Kaiser Permanente. She said researchers asked over 17,000 adults
who were enrollees at Kaiser Permanente about childhood
experiences. Slide 5 presents an overview of the study:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Adverse Childhood Experiences
*
CDC researchers and Kaiser Permanente
•Asked about adverse events before age 18
•75 percent White
•Mean age: 57 years old
•75 percent at least some college
ABUSE NEGLECT HOUSEHOLD DYSFUNCTION
Physical Physical Mental Illness
Emotional Emotional Incarcerated Relative
Sexual Mother treated violently
Substance Abuse
Divorce
*Felitti, Vincent J., et al. "Relationship of childhood abuse and
household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in
adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study." American
journal of preventive medicine 14.4 (1998): 245-258.
2:33:26 PM
SENATOR TOBIN joined the meeting.
2:33:51 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 6, stating that researchers
were surprised by how common adverse childhood experiences were
among this particular population study group:
[Original punctuation provided.]
ACES
Are common
And it is rarely just one bad thing for children:
• There was an 87 percent chance at least one other
category of ACE was present
• A 50 percent chance of 3 or more
2:34:20 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 7, explaining that because
Kaiser Permanente is a health maintenance organization, it was
able to compare the current health and well-being of these
adults with their childhood experiences. Researchers found links
to many of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in
the U.S. today, as well as a host of social ills. Further
research worldwide has shown that traumatic childhood
experiences alter gene expression and brain development, helping
to explain adverse outcomes seen in adults:
[Original punctuation provided.]
ACEs have consequences:
The more ACEs documented, the higher the risk for
developing later health and social problems.
The slide illustrates that with the accumulation of
ACEs, trauma modifies development and genetics leading
to issues like:
Strokes Drug Use
Smoking Intimate Partner Violence
Cancer Multiple Sexual Partners
Rape Osteoporosis Related Fractures
Depression Lung Disease
Early Death Alcoholism
2:35:13 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 8:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Child Abuse & Neglect in Alaska: Consequences
2:35:16 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 9, stating that, for years,
Alaska has had one of the highest rates of child maltreatment in
the country:
[Original punctuation provided.]
ACEs in Alaskan Adults
http://dhss.alaska.gov/abada/ace-ak/Pages/default.aspx
A bar graph illustrated how many Alaskan adults experienced:
Incarcerated family 11.5 percent
Sexual Abuse 14.8 percent
Witnessed Domestic Violence 18.7 percent
Physical Abuse 19.1 percent
Mental illness in home 21.9 percent
Loss of parent 31.7 percent
Emotional Abuse 31.0 percent
Substance abuse in home 33.8 percent
Alaskan adults who reported four or more of these categories
were:
• 49 percent more likely to be unemployed
• 274 percent more likely to be unable to work
• 92 percent more likely to earn less than $20,000
annually
• Significantly more likely to report poor physical
and mental health
She reiterated that, just like in the original Kaiser Permanente
study:
• It's never just one bad thing...
Source: 2013 Alaska Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
2:35:57 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 10, stating researchers
conducted a study examining the economic burden of child
maltreatment in Alaska:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Child maltreatment is expensive
Recent study: economic burden for 2019 non-fatal child
abuse cases in Alaska
$710 million "human capital" costs to state
(health, child welfare, criminal justice, special
education, productivity loss)
$2.3 billion including mortality & quality of
life reduction (like pain and suffering)
"Economic Costs of Child Abuse and Neglect in Alaska in 2019"
Nolan Klouda MPA, CEcD
2:36:55 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 11 to present a story
describing one type of experience CJATF sees with the children
and families it serves:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Introduction to Patricia
Patricia is a now 10-year-old who lives with her
mother Alicia, step-father Jason, and 6-year-old
brother William
Alicia is a nurse who works nights
Jason is a firefighter
2:37:24 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 12:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Birth
Patricia was born 5 weeks early because her biological
father Patrick strangled her mother then kicked her in
the abdomen
Patrick was arrested
Alicia filed for a restraining order and divorced
Patrick while Alicia was still an infant
2:37:52 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 13:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Family changes
Alicia met Jason through work
He swept her off her feet and was eager to adopt
Patricia
They moved in together into Jason's house when
Patricia was 4
Alicia had baby boy William shortly after
2:38:12 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 14:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Disclosure
When she was in 4th grade Patricia heard a
presentation at school about personal safety
After the presentation Patricia went up to her teacher
and said "Something like that has been happening to
me"
Disclosures of abuse are very common after these
presentations
2:38:52 PM
SENATOR KIEHL joined the meeting.
2:38:54 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 15:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Mandated reporting
Patricia's teacher made a report to both OCS & law
enforcement as required by Alaska law
The OCS social worker talked to Patricia briefly at
school and determined her mother was not aware of the
abuse
OCS & law enforcement worked with their local Child
Advocacy Center for Patricia to be evaluated
2:39:24 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 16:
Child Advocacy Center (CAC) Process
Patricia and her mom were greeted by their CAC family
advocate who took them on a tour and explained the
process
Their multidisciplinary team:
• CAC family advocate
• OCS worker
• Law enforcement officer
• Medical provider
The team met with Alicia and explained their concerns
for Patricia
Alicia was shocked and tearful
2:40:05 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 17:
[Original punctuation provided.]
The "talking room"
Patricia talked with someone specially trained to talk
with kids about difficult things in non-leading ways
Patricia said that since she was 6 her daddy would
come into her room at night when mommy was working at
the hospital and do inappropriate things
Daddy also showed her videos of naked people on his
phone
Patricia also described daddy drinking, then yelling
and hitting mommy
2:40:57 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 18:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Medical exam
Patricia had a head-to-toe exam by a nurse
practitioner with specialized training and experience
Patricia's exam was normal as expected given what
she described and the time since the last abuse
A urine sample was collected to test for gonorrhea and
chlamydia
Patricia & her mom were relieved to know her body was
OK
2:41:30 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 19:
[Original punctuation provided.]
William
Patricia's 6-year-old brother William was also
interviewed as a possible witness or additional victim
He did not disclose sexual abuse by his father
He did describe his sister coming into his room when
he was getting dressed, asking if she could kiss his
"peepee" like she does for daddy
He said yes, then later told his dad who hit Patricia
with a belt "a million times" and then Patricia
couldn't sit down
2:42:24 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 20, stating that the next
step in the multi-disciplinary response is for law enforcement
(LE) to discuss its course of action:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Next steps: LE investigation
The detective explained possible next steps to gather
additional information such as:
• Scene investigation
• Court authorized recordings
• Additional witness interviews
• Other corroborating evidence
2:42:52 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 21:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Next steps: OCS
Their OCS worker discusses safety planning to protect
Patricia and William from future harm
Mom Alicia explains her parents play an active role in
their lives and are willing to let she and the
children move in with them
Alicia will get a protective order on behalf of the
children
2:43:21 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 22:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Next steps: CAC advocacy
Their CAC advocate works with Alicia to determine
family strengths & needs
Strengths:
• Alicia has a secure well-paying job with benefits as
well as supportive friendships
• Grandparents can provide a safe living situation &
help with childcare
• Patricia is doing well in school and has a good
relationship with the teacher to whom she disclosed
Needs:
• Alicia, Patricia and William are referred for
counseling to therapists with specialized training
in treating children and parents who have
experienced trauma
2:43:56 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 23:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Follow up: OCS
OCS substantiates the sexual abuse allegation against
Jason
OCS closes their case concerning Alicia because she
has demonstrated her protectiveness for her children
2:44:15 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 24:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Follow up: Court system
Thorough investigation by the law enforcement officer
finds corroborative evidence for Patricia's
disclosures
At Grand Jury Jason is indicted for multiple counts of
sexual abuse of a minor
Jason accepts a plea deal that reduces the number of
counts but results in a prison sentence of 20 years
and lifetime sex offender registration
2:44:48 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 25:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Follow up: CAC advocacy
The CAC advocate stays in regular contact with Alicia
to ensure she and the children are still accessing
mental health services and doing well
She continues her involvement until the court case is
settled and Alicia feels that she and the children
don't need further support from the CAC
2:45:16 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 26:
[Original punctuation provided.]
"Ideal" outcome
Made possible when all our agencies work well &
together AND there are protective factors in place
HOWEVER many children in our state:
• Don't feel safe talking about their abuse
• Don't have a safe person to talk to about their
abuse
• Don't have supportive, protective caregivers
• Have to wait months to be seen by a trained
therapist
• Don't have adequate resources in their communities
And most of our agencies responsible for responding
are understaffed
2:46:14 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 27:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Because of Child Advocacy Centers:
• We reduce future exposure to Adverse Childhood
Experiences (ACEs)
• Cases are more likely to have successful resolutions
• Children and families receive services
• Advocacy
• Mental health services
• Needed resources (for example related to food and
transportation)
• Families can better protect their children going
forward
• We can reduce the state budget devoted to the long-
term downstream effects of ACEs
2:47:05 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 28:
[Original punctuation provided.]
What if we could work further upstream?
2:47:11 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 29 and discussed an ongoing
study called the Alaska Longitudinal Child Abuse and Neglect
Linkage Project (ALCANLink). This study uses a population-based
mixed design to follow a large group of children, starting with
risk factors identified prenatally based on Pregnancy Risk
Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data. It follows the
children using Childhood Understanding Behaviors (CUBS) data
when they are three. The study combines data from various
sources, including the Office of Children's Services (OCS) and
the Court System. Slide 29 reads:
ALCANLink
Alaska Longitudinal Child Abuse and Neglect Linkage
Project
A population-based mixed design
2:47:56 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 30 and shared findings from
following a large group of children over time:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Risk of allegation of harm for sexual abuse
About 1 in every 7 children born in Alaska will have a
report made concerning child sexual abuse before their
12th birthday
About 1 in 3 will have a report made to OCS for some
type of abuse or neglect
2:48:18 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 31, stating intimate partner
violence is a huge risk factor for child sexual abuse and harm:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and child sexual abuse
report
Among children born in Alaska to mothers self-
reporting IPV:
35 percent experienced a report of harm prior to age
13 years.
Are 2.6 times as likely to experience an allegation of
harm for sexual abuse relative to those born to mother
not reporting IPV
2:48:48 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 32, IPV and Child Wellbeing.
She said Alaska has extensive research that shows children
exposed to intimate partner violence are:
• More likely to struggle in school
• More likely to have a report made to OCS
• More likely to develop higher ACE scores
• More likely to experience a lot of adversities in their homes
and communities.
2:49:23 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 33, which illustrated the
risk of OCS involvement in a family's life based on pre-birth
household challenges and early childhood household challenges.
She stated that mothers with low-risk factors who remain in a
low-risk category have a much lower chance of having a report
made to OCS. She emphasized that taking steps to reduce risks
for mothers significantly decreases the family's risk of OCS
involvement. This, she pointed out, also impacts state
economics. Slide 33 illustrates how family changes affect risk:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Family changes affect risk
Key points:
• Homelessness, partner going to jail, and IPV were
the strongest individual challenges for both time
periods.
• Relative to remaining in the high challenge group,
the probability decreased by 40% for those that
transitioned to the low challenge group.
• Transitioning from low to high risk results in a
550% increase in risk relative staying low.
2:50:27 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 34:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Could we help Alicia sooner?
2:50:32 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 35:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Prevent further child abuse and neglect
Primary, secondary & tertiary prevention strategies:
Programs that strengthen families
Strong, stable, nurturing families create strong,
healthier, safer children
Example: Help Me Grow
Reporting of child maltreatment when it is suspected
Best practice responses
Multi-disciplinary through our Alaskan Child
Advocacy Centers (CACs)
Accessible, appropriate treatment for children
with trauma & sexualized behaviors
Services to support children and families in their
healing journey
Laws that hold offenders accountable
2:51:32 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 36, which focused on
educating and strengthening adults:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Strengthen families: Promote protective factors
Parental resilience: able to manage stress & adversity
Nurturing & attachment
Social connections
Knowledge of parenting & child development
Concrete support in times of need
Access to health care, other services
Caring adults outside the family
Cognitive & social competence of children
2:52:17 PM
MR. LOUWERSE moved to slide 37:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Improve our system response
Greatest challenges facing system improvement today:
Shortage of professionals
Social workers
Teachers
Health care workers trained in child abuse
Mental health workers trained in trauma
Law enforcement
Attorneys: prosecution, defense, judicial
Fewer incentives for hiring and retention
2:54:02 PM
MR. LOUWERSE moved to slide 38:
What the Alaska Children's Justice Task Force (CJATF)
is addressing:
• Changes to the multi-disciplinary child protection
teams (MDT) statute to allow CACs to offer support
and referral services for families with children
with problematic sexual behaviors
• Changes to the mandatory reporter statute to
increase the community safety net for children (i.e.
first responders, early childhood development
workers, etc)
• Statutory changes to deter unreasonable corporal
punishment that injures children
• We are looking for champions
• A big thank you to Senators Giessel and Tobin and
Representatives Cronk and Galvin for re-
establishing The Children's Caucus!
2:55:43 PM
MR. LOUWERSE moved to slide 39:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Hope for the future
ACEs are not destiny we can make a difference at any
age
Every Alaskan can help protect Alaska's children
"It is easier to build a child than repair an adult"
2:56:46 PM
DR. BALDWIN-JOHNSON moved to slide 40:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Be a champion for Alaska's children and families
2:56:50 PM
SENATOR TOBIN quoted Frederick Douglass, "It is easier to build
strong children than to repair broken men." She said she often
thinks of this, particularly in education. She drew attention to
slide 14, which discusses personal safety and instruction in
schools. She pointed out that a family where abuse is happening
may not provide this knowledge to a child, but it can come from
a trusted adult. She emphasized how critical public schools are
in ensuring that children understand when things happening to
them are not okay.
SENATOR TOBIN said she is proud to have worked on The Alaska
Reads Act, which expanded mandatory reporting to average daily
membership (ADM) funded pre-kindergarten programs. She
highlighted the importance of those early years when trusted
adults hear many things, emphasizing that the State wants to
ensure these adults are required to report.
2:58:07 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN thanked the presenters, stating the presentation
was very informative.
2:58:20 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Claman adjourned the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting at 2:58 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Children Justice Act Task Force Presentation to Senate Judiciary 2.21.2024.pdf |
SJUD 2/21/2024 1:30:00 PM |