April 24, 2002
Wednesday - 12:45 am

Anchorage - According to a news release from the Governor's office, members of the Knowles/Ulmer Children's Cabinet and child protection experts on Tuesday morning provided compelling evidence that continuing to invest in, not cut, critical programs that keep kids healthy, safe, and ready for success in school will provide dividends to the state now and in the future.

Using graphic stories of children who survived abuse and have been protected and nurtured to illustrate improvements within the system, the panel of experts outlined not only successes but also how budget slashing proposed by the Legislature will mean less protection for children.

"The budgets passed by the House and the one ready to pass the Senate will not just halt the progress we've made together, they will reverse it," Commissioner of Corrections Margaret Pugh told audiences at Child Care Connection in Mountain View Tuesday morning and at a noon presentation at the Wasilla Police Station.

Examples outlined of how children will be less safe than they are today include:

• Less Protection by Public Safety. Gov. Tony Knowles has proposed 5 new troopers specifically to investigate child abuse. The House budget rejects new troopers and cuts 23 existing troopers. The pending Senate budget rejected new troopers, and cut 17 existing troopers and up to 30 support staff.
• Children at Risk. The Knowles/Ulmer Administration proposed modest new Smart Start investments to assist children in state custody, respond to more reports of harm, reunify families, fight inhalant abuse, and make other critical improvements. The House and Senate rejected Smart Start investments. The House also cut 32 child-protection workers.
• No Help for Foster Families. Knowles proposed $909,000 to retain and attract foster families by increasing daily payments to parents (to $25 per day). But the House and Senate have rejected this increase and short-funded foster care and subsidized adoptions.
• No Gains for Early Childhood. Knowles proposed $100,000 to fund an early literacy program and $500,000 to expand Head Start (these state funds would capture up to $2 million from the federal government). The House and Senate have rejected these investments.
• The Scourge of Alcohol will Continue. One study has identified alcohol or drugs as a factor in 80 percent of child abuse or neglect cases. Treatment is a key to keeping many kids safe and preventing family break-up. Yet a recent study shows that on any given day 302 people are on a waiting list to get into treatment because there isn't enough treatment available in Alaska. Knowles proposed a $4.7 million alcohol initiative to reduce waitlists for treatment, hire rural counselors, and make other gains. He also proposed $2.5 million in Smart Start to treat women alcohol abusers with children, and get more help to juvenile drinkers. The House and Senate rejected almost all new investments. The Senate also cut existing alcohol programs by $4.3 million (20 percent of current funding). No single factor has a greater impact on the rate of crime, child abuse, family violence and dysfunction, and preventable birth defects than alcohol.

Pugh and Education and Early Development Commissioner Shirley Holloway, co-chairs of the Knowles/Ulmer Children's Cabinet, led the presentations and subsequent discussions with the public. Holloway said progress has been made in many areas in the past 7 years, including:

• Denali KidCare: Providing health coverage for children whose working parents cannot afford the high cost of insurance. Denali KidCare costs the state just over $500 per child per year. More than 70 cents of every KidCare dollar comes from federal funds. Every dollar spent on prenatal care saves an estimated $1.70 to $3.38 in postnatal health care.
• Child Protection: In 1997, one out of every four reports of harm against children was not investigated because of staff shortages. Many teachers even stopped reporting neglect because they knew nothing would be done. Social workers often carried caseloads more than double the national standard. One of the goals of Smart Start was to investigate every report of harm against children. Today, with more and better trained social workers, we're investigating 91 percent of those reports - and it's 100 percent in some communities. But the goals of Smart Start and the requirements of Alaska's laws are "zero tolerance" for abuse and neglect - investigation of 100 percent of reports of harm in all communities.
• Immunizations: Four years ago, only two-thirds of Alaska's two-year-olds were fully immunized against communicable disease. Today more than three-fourths of our
  2-year-olds are fully immunized. Our goal is 100 percent.
• Child Care: Childcare assistance has doubled the number of children served per month to more than 8,000. The program has grown from $19 million to $33 million in the past five years. We're improving quality, too, because we know modest strategic investments in childcare bring better results for kids and for society. Quality, affordable childcare is essential to keep single parent and low income families off welfare, thus saving the state money.
• Child Support: With a better law and a new investment of just over $1 million in state funds, collections are up by $20 million to $91 million, money that goes directly for kids.
• Suicide Prevention: Alaska leads the nation in suicides. Alaska's rate of 23.7 per 100,000 is over twice the national average. The Alaska Native teen suicide rate is an alarming 20 times the national average. Last year we funded the Suicide Prevention Council to come up with a statewide plan to reduce suicide in Alaska.
• Tobacco: Tobacco is Alaska's #1 Killer. One-third of Alaskan kids smoke. Smoking means an estimated $154 million per year in higher medical bills in Alaska. But preliminary data indicates that youth smoking has declined since the state increased Alaska's state tax on cigarettes. The Knowles/Ulmer Administration wants to continue fighting youth smoking, by using tobacco settlement funds to pay for kick-the-habit efforts, education, enforcement, and a campaign to counter Big Tobacco's slick marketing.
• Quality Schools Initiative: Through the Quality Schools Initiative progress is occurring. Standards are in place for students, teachers and school administrators; a high school graduation exam and benchmark tests in lower grades are on the books; and a task force appointed by the Governor is leading the charge for more classroom resources. We have proposed steps to promote early literacy and enroll more children in Head Start and we support the full year 2 recommendation of the Education Funding Task Force for addition resources to improve student and school performance.

In Anchorage, presenters included Alaska State Trooper Capt. David Hudson, Assistant Attorney General Lisa Nelson, Div. of Family and Youth Services (DFYS) Staff Manager Travis Erickson, and foster parent Bonnie Lange. In Wasilla, presenters included Trooper Margie Escobar, Wasilla Police Department Child Abuse Investigator Ruthan Josten, and DFYS Southcentral Staff Manager Greg Van Kirk. Mat-Su Family Partnership agencies were also present.

"After all these years of being a foster parent and adoptive parent, I am starting to understand why new foster parents stop fostering the children," said Lange, who along with her husband Gordon, has fostered 600 children over the last 32 years. "It is not the child, but all the red tape we have to go through, and lack of follow through, physical support and financial support, and getting the children to a faster permanent home. If the cuts continue, there will not be any foster families for these children. I sometimes feel Alaskans takes better care of their animals than they do their children."

In celebrating progress so far on the Knowles/Ulmer Smart Start initiative, Pugh noted three accomplishments have been achieved. "We have improved the health of children and families, protected kids living in fear, and worked to break the on-going cycles of family violence and crime. We've made great progress in each of those areas and, along the way, we changed the lives of countless Alaskans."

Related:

Complete list of budget cut impacts on Smart Start progress

Source of News Release:

Office of the Governor
Web Site

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