Opinions

A grand jury won't protect abused children, but legislators could do a lot more

Sorry, Tammie Wilson — the last thing we need in Alaska is a secret grand jury investigation of the Office of Children's Services. The attorney general should say 'Thanks, but no thanks."

The North Pole Republican state representative, as part of her re-election campaign, is attacking the agency that tries to protect children from abuse. File this one with her claim that inflation is a dubious concept, that research is not a "core mission" at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and her attempt to do away with food safety regulations.

With or without a grand jury, Wilson can try to dupe the voters into thinking she is doing her duty by issuing a press release and grabbing a headline.

Wilson claims OCS policies and procedures are not being followed and "legal kidnapping" is taking place, but if anything is lacking here, it's legislative oversight by Wilson and her colleagues.

There will always be unhappy parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who believe the state has mistreated their families by taking kids out of homes. Wilson is responding to those complaints.

Some of those complaints may be legitimate, as the enforcement of child protection laws is a human enterprise, marked by conflict and differences of opinion.

There are checks and balances — including independent legal representation for those who can't afford to hire a lawyer — but people who have their parental rights terminated, regardless of the facts, are never going to believe that justice has been served.

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On a regular basis, the Alaska Supreme Court decides "child in need of aid" cases in which the justices recount shameful details of how parents in Alaska have harmed their children. Alaskans aren't outraged about this maltreatment because they don't hear much about it. The courts use pseudonyms and the cases are not publicized, which is a consistent failing by those of us in the news media.

When I pressed Wilson for details about what she believes is wrong with OCS, she brought up paperwork problems — 88 percent of case plans she checked were missing a signature of a parent, 62 percent of visitation plans were missing signatures and 20 percent of the case files had no case plans.

"Policies need to be followed," said Wilson. No question. That's one reason we have a Legislature.

None of this is grounds for a secret criminal investigation. What's needed is for the Legislature to take an active role in making the system more effective.

The only detailed and productive legislative hearing on the operation of this vital agency this year took place on Feb. 1. Wilson participated, as did other members of a state House finance subcommittee, discussing key issues with OCS Director Christy Lawton for more than two hours.

All those interested in how Alaska deals with abused children and why the problem is getting worse should listen to the proceeding, which painted a bleak picture.

The number of foster children in state care has jumped by nearly 50 percent in the past few years, driven up by the heroin epidemic and by efforts to aid children who have been abused on multiple occasions.

The state is investigating more than half of the reports of abuse it receives, which is not reassuring. OCS should be investigating every report, but it doesn't have the resources it needs.

What disturbed me even more than the sad statistics offered that day was the absence of legislative follow-up by Wilson and her colleagues and the failure to pursue the issues raised.

The reason for the legislative neglect? Improving a state agency no one wants to see knocking at their door is a difficult and expensive task, and Wilson and other Republicans are not about to vote to raise taxes to hire more employees.

OCS workers have caseloads double the national recommendations, which just about guarantees signatures will go missing and plans will be delayed or never completed.

The turnover in Alaska among front-line caseworkers has averaged about 30 percent a year for a decade. As a recent employee survey put it, "It is rather stunning that as many as 60 percent of the frontline workers have been in their positions for less than three years."

The effort to rebuild families splintered by addiction to alcohol and other drugs, mental illness, poverty and violence may be the toughest challenge facing Alaskans. It requires treatment programs, counseling and person-to-person contact, all of which are costly.

There are steps the Legislature can take to improve the OCS system, but there is nothing easy about intruding into the lives of people in crisis.

A 2012 report by the state ombudsman's office faulted OCS for defects in its grievance procedure — the rules for which have been revised — and summarized the challenge this way: "Efforts at system-wide reform are hampered by OCS's high turnover rate, constrained resources, and the constant press of other more urgent business."

Columnist Dermot Cole can be reached at dermot@alaskadispatch.com. 

The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com or click here to submit via any web browser.

 

Dermot Cole

Former ADN columnist Dermot Cole is a longtime reporter, editor and author.

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