Social action is at the heart of the work of the National Association of Social Workers. The Alaska Chapter shares a proud history of being at the front of advocating for positive change for all Alaskans. NASW is committed to working toward social justice and will advocate for the well being of individuals, families and communities in Alaska. NASW supports the vital role of government in providing for basic human needs and will promote policies that empower people to live more humane, productive, and independent lives.

Join the NASW Social Action Committee!
The Social Action Committee meets every Tuesday during the Alaska legislative session via teleconference from 12:15 - 1:00 p.m. Please call the Chapter Office at (907) 332-6279 for more information. Every voice is welcome!

 

Summer LeFebvre, co-chair                    Mary Elizabeth Rider, co-chair

smrdwn at clearwire dot net                 merider at alaska dot net

Read the latest edition of Capitol Currents, your connection to the Legislature, here.

Click Here to download the 2007 Social Action Agenda in .pdf form

In October and November 2006 the Social Action Committee surveyed the NASW Alaska Chapter membership. A link to this web-based survey was sent to every member of the Alaska Chapter for whom the Chapter had an email address. There were over 415 members at the time, and we received 71 responses: a 17% response rate. We asked where respondents were from, about their fields of practice and the organization in which they work. We asked about their top priorities for advocacy.

Respondents were from Southcentral, 59%; Southeast, 21%; Interior/Central, 9%; Northern, 6%, Western 5%.

Social workers are passionate about social justice in all its forms. The results were very close. The top priorities were:

·         Health care (including Medicaid and access to care)

·         Child welfare

·         Domestic violence

·         Mental health, substance abuse, and co-occurring disorders

·         Children's mental health and substance abuse

·         Poverty

·         Elder issues, including long-term care

·         Housing and homelessness

The Committee will be proactive and responsive on the other priorities of social workers as they come up in the legislative process. We expect to maintain positions adopted by the National Association of Social Workers through our national Delegate Assembly, which met in 2005 and will meet again in 2008. This means we will support anti-discrimination measures, hate crimes measures and reproductive rights of women; and oppose measures that discriminate against any population based on personal characteristics or relationships.

Social workers have always been strong advocates for change.

Let us hear your voice.

Medicaid is the state/federal partnership that pays for healthcare to low-income Alaskans. For fifteen years, Alaska has relied on Medicaid to shift financial burden from the state to the federal government. Medicaid’s value to the state has been tested repeatedly. A recent study conducted by the Pacific Health Policy Group applauded the state for its efforts to focus funding on prevention and intervention services and it encouraged the state to continue in this direction. According to the U.S census, in 2005, 14.5 percent of Alaska’s children are living under the poverty level. These children and their parents end up getting primary care coverage through their local emergency rooms at a public expense of over six million dollars. Alaska has an opportunity to raise the income guidelines from 166% of the federal poverty line back up to 200%. This would allow more people access to preventive healthcare, eventually reducing public expense for emergency room care. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the re-instatement of the Medicaid program at 200% of the federal poverty rate. NASW Alaska Chapter supports full state funding of the Medicaid program and supports the state in asserting the federal government’s responsibility in keeping its end of its agreement with states.

Ensuring private coverage whenever possible. Alaska ranks 43^rd among the states in the number of adults covered by employer sponsored health insurance. Health care benefits for domestic partners reduces the number of uninsured Alaskans. In the past 10 years, the University system has offered these benefits with minimal public expense. Fortune 500 companies have found this an effective workforce recruitment and retention tool. Domestic partnership coverage is not just an issue of non-discrimination; it is a health care issue. NASW Alaska Chapter supports health care benefits for domestic partners.

Medicare: Low rates and the Gap. Medicare is a federal program that covers healthcare for senior citizens and some adults with disabilities in the U.S. Alaska’s elders and residents with disabilities who rely on Medicare are dealing with two issues that prevent them from care: low reimbursement rates for doctors and a critical gap in healthcare coverage. Seniors cannot find primary care doctors that accept Medicare. NASW Alaska Chapter supports public policy that increases the Medicare reimbursement rate for medical providers, that closes the Medicare gap, and that assists eligible Alaskans in meeting their healthcare insurance needs until the gap is repaired.

Ensuring critical access to hospital care. Alaska’s current Certificate of Need program supports health care facilities to accommodate local need, whether profitable or not. The Certificate of Need program also monitors and contains institutional service growth in our state. Some would like the Certificate of Need program changed or even eliminated for selected communities, making it easier to develop health care facilities that provide services that are profitable. Such a change would make it difficult for facilities that would otherwise provide profit-making services as well as services that don’t generate a profit. Such a change may also drive the service delivery system toward unsustainable higher priced care. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the delivery of all necessary health care in all communities based on local resources and data supporting the need for services, regardless of community size. Changes in the CON process should be based in analysis of use, need and ability to sustain services.

A National Perspective

NASW seeks enactment of federal managed care standards that enable consumers to feel confident that quality health care will be available when it is needed and that reassure providers that appropriate clinical and preventive care is economical and feasible. NASW will work to protect program integrity, financial stability, and entitlement status as well as the prominent role social workers play in the Medicaid and Medicare programs, including long-term care. NASW strongly values protecting the role of social workers as providers in these programs, as well as the right of clients to be served by social workers. NASW also will work to protect the confidentiality of medical records and patient information.

Alerts / Letters: http://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/issues/health.asp

Child welfare has been a purview of social work since the beginning of our profession. Most cases of abuse and neglect are related to substance abuse.

Culturally competent services. In Alaska, over 60% of all children in state custody are Alaska Native yet very few workers are Native. Federal law (Indian Child Welfare Act) requires that the Office of Children’s Services-Child Protective Service (OCS-CPS) work closely with tribes of Native children to ensure cultural continuity. Working with the cultural community of each child, regardless of ethnicity, is the only practice that makes sense when a child’s welfare is concerned. OCS-CPS has some contractual agreements with Native non-profits and Tribes to conduct some services on its behalf.

Rural reality: Over 75% of the remote tribal villages of the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta and other regions of Alaska have very limited or nonexistent public safety. Public safety programs were cut along with basic community services when the city match funding program’s was discontinued. Without public safety, tribal/state child protection team building has come to a standstill. Indian Child Welfare workers and their community-developed teams no longer feel safe and supported and are compelled to wait for outside State assistance (OCS and Alaska State Troopers), which often means dangerous delays to child and family safety and the loss of empowerment to the tribal entity and community. Support for village public safety programs is critical to child protection teambuilding in tribal village communities and vital to adhering to the federal Indian Child Welfare Act if 1978.  NASW Alaska Chapter supports public policy that strengthens the abilities of Tribes to provide direct child welfare services to their members and that strengthens the cultural competence of state CPS workers.

Workforce development. The Office of Children’s Services-Child Protective Service (OCS-CPS) has been given new positions to fill in the past few years, but a recent workforce analysis recommends an additional 19 workers. Qualified new workers are hard to find; CPS competes with private behavioral health and healthcare organizations that offer more attractive pay and benefits for lower caseloads with less personal risk. CPS needs to offer competitive pay and benefits in order to hire qualified new workers and keep them in their jobs, but cannot do so under current personnel/administrative constraints. NASW Alaska Chapter supports public policy that increases pay and benefits of CPS workers to make the positions competitive with private behavioral health and healthcare organizations.

CPS training. Most CPS workers have not been employed in the child protection field before their hire at OCS-CPS. Alaska requires 10 days of training for new workers in the first two months of employment. By contrast, most rural states and western states require a minimum of three weeks and a maximum of seven. Expanded training enables CPS workers to develop some competence in the laws and policies they are required to implement, as well as cultural and clinical competence to assist the families they serve. CPS funds training through the University with federal Title IV-E funds. Some states supplement federal dollars with state funds to support adequate training. Many states with tribal communities integrate their training programs to include tribal and CPS partners. The State of Alaska has 227 federally recognized tribes who are partners in the child protection and family safety issues of their members. Combined training opportunities promote child safety and family health and understanding between agencies on how to work together, which improves efficiency and effectiveness as well as helping to meet federal standards outlined in ICWA 1978 and ASFA of 1997. NASW Alaska Chapter supports public policy that increases the number of days of training for CPS workers in their first few months.

A National Perspective

NASW will continue to support a strong federal role in child welfare and adequate funding for child welfare programs, including training and technology programs. NASW will concentrate its efforts on promoting policies that protect the best interests of children, including the use of qualified staff and reasonable workloads that permit adequate contact with children, parents, grandparents, and their families. During the 110th Congress, NASW will focus specifically on legislative proposals to create a well-trained, competent, and stable child welfare workforce and to protect and improve federal child welfare training programs.

Alerts / Letters: http://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/issues/child_welfare.asp

In 2004, almost 38,000 Alaskans age 12 and over either abused or were dependent on alcohol. In 2005, 18% of all adults and 21% of those ages18-24 reported binge drinking. At the same time, over 13,000 Alaskans availed themselves of publicly funded mental health services. In Alaska, 79% of newly incarcerated inmates were actively abusing or dependent on alcohol or other substances in the year before their incarceration. Over one-third of Alaskans in jail have some type of mental health disorder or substance abuse problem. Children in alcohol-abusing families are almost four times more likely to be maltreated and 10 times more likely to be neglected; 81% of all reports of harm against Alaska children involve substance abuse.

In 2003, the cost of alcohol and drug abuse to Alaska’s economy was estimated to be $738 million in lost productivity, accidents, health care, criminal justice and public assistance. Yet, between FY 2002 and FY 2007, state funding for substance abuse treatment dropped by 56.2% or $18.6 million. In 2004, over 35,000 Alaskans who needed treatment for alcohol abuse could not receive it. Medicaid does not cover most substance abuse treatment.

Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment and Prevention Fund. Millions of dollars earmarked for substance abuse prevention and treatment are not being used for their intended purpose by the Legislature. In 2002, the 22^nd Alaska Legislature passed HB 225 that increased the excise tax on alcoholic beverages by 7.5 cents per drink. The legislation, sponsored by Representative Lisa Murkowski, also created the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment and Prevention Fund (ADTP) into which 50% of all alcohol taxes are now deposited. Each year, approximately $17 million in alcohol taxes are deposited in the ADTP. With “carry over” from previous years, the fund is expected to hold over $20 million in FY 07. In her sponsor statement, Representative Murkowski wrote that the fund “would help provide revenue needed for the expanded treatment, therapeutic courts, diversion programs and other initiatives now under consideration in the Legislature.” But the Legislature has not expanded prevention and treatment services by adding ADTP dollars to General Fund/Mental Health dollars (GF/MH). Instead they took away GF/MH and replaced it with ADTP. In 2005, 18% of all adults and 21% of those 18-24 reported binge drinking. If the ADTP fund was used as intended to supplement and not supplant GF/MH spending in FY 07, the State of Alaska would have an additional $20 million for treatment and prevention of alcoholism and substance abuse. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the full funding of substance abuse prevention and treatment through the appropriate use of the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment and Prevention Fund.

 Co-occurring disorders. The chronic conditions of mental illness and chemical dependency can, with supports, be maintained in such a way as to foster long periods of mental health and substance health, with occasional relapses. This is true even in cases with combined elements of mental illness, chemical dependency, traumatic brain injury, personality disorders, and other similar conditions, although more supports would likely be needed. The State of Alaska can succeed in providing supports that lead to sustained periods of mental health, substance health, and successful functioning in the community for individuals with behavioral health challenges. The State of Alaska has a vested interest in providing these supports, as they are critical for the health and functioning of individuals with behavior health challenges, as well as for the health and functioning of their families and communities. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the full funding of behavioral health services through General Funds as well as through Medicaid.

Consumer-operated services are services that are planned, operated and evaluated by consumers.[1] Though control is ultimately in the hands of consumer operators, consumer-operated services do not prohibit non-consumers or professionals from being involved. Some programs may seek or employ professionals to assist with specific responsibilities, but that involvement is decided by consumer operators. There are often varying degrees of organizational structure, but most often consumer-run programs are separate legal entities.[2] The Consumer movement in Alaska has developed over the last thirty years out of the discovery of the usefulness of peers supporting each other in self-help groups and from thousands of psychiatric patients who were discharged from psychiatric hospitals to communities where they found themselves isolated, lonely, and lacking meaningful relationships.[3] Current research has demonstrated that consumer services can reduce hospital stays[4] and can be cost effective. NASW Alaska Chapter advocates for Consumers of any population in need to be involved in the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of any services intended to help aide in recovery and support.

A National Perspective

NASW will work to promote full parity for mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment within the health care system.

Alerts / Letters: http://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/issues/mental_health.asp

Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) problems affect millions of individuals and families. Although there are no conclusions about the causes of these problems, evidence indicates that some treatment and prevention approaches can be helpful. Many affected by ATOD problems do not receive appropriate services because of the stigma attached, the lack of appropriate available treatment, and the inability to pay for services. Private and public health plans should cover ATOD treatment in parity with other health problems, and everyone should have access to ATOD treatment. Drug offenders should be diverted to treatment whenever it is a prudent alternative to incarceration. Inequities in criminal penalties for drug crimes should be eliminated. ATOD policy and practice should be grounded in evidence about effective prevention and treatment approaches. Social workers are obligated to address ATOD problems to improve the quality of life for all affected and to advocate for ATOD policies that will increase social and economic justice.

Bring the Kids Home. At any given time there are 350 to 400 children in out-of-state Residential Psychiatric Treatment Centers (RPTCs) receiving services. The unduplicated count of Medicaid recipients by custody status from FY1998 to FY2005 according to the State of Alaska, Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Behavioral Health and the Mental Health Trust Authority Bring the Kids Home Annual Report (December 2005) (Table 1 below) shows the continued need for more alternatives that will keep Alaska’s children closer to home.

Table 1

Unduplicated Count of Medicaid RPTC Recipients by Custody Status

IS=In-State; OOS= Out-of-State

The Department of Health and Social Services has partnered with the Alaska Mental Health Trust to complete multiple studies related to Alaskans’ dependence on residential care. These studies have given the state some insight on the behavioral health system. Between 1998 and 2004, placements in RPTCs grew nearly 800 percent. Overwhelmingly, children placed Outside exit with both mental health and substance abuse diagnoses. Most children have had prior Juvenile Justice contact. Residential placements in-state stayed relatively flat during the same time period. Alaska Native children are over-represented within this population.

The mission of the Bring the Kids Home Project is to return children being served in out-of-state facilities back to in-state residential or community-based care The Trust and the DHSS want to reinvest funding into local capacity efforts that would have been spent Outside on residential care. This includes building residential facilities in Alaska, building capacity in therapeutic foster homes, and increasing community supportive services. Between FY04 and FY05, the out-of-state youth and children receiving out-of-state residential services decreased by 5.1 percent, which is the first decrease since 1998. During the same time, the number of children receiving in-state residential treatment services increased by 34.7 percent. After steady increases, the number of non-custody children receiving out-of-state residential services decreased by 6.6 percent. In Anchorage alone there was a 16 percent decrease in the number of children sent out-of-state for residential treatment services (Bring the Kids Home Annual Report, 2005). Alaska needs to continue this trend of in-state treatment of high needs youth and children. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the development of appropriate in-state care for the youth who otherwise are sent Outside for their mental health and substance abuse problems. However, institutional care is overly emphasized. Prevention and early intervention at the community level will prevent future institutional placements of Alaska children.

A close examination of poverty reveals that it is about much more than money alone. Poverty results from a number of factors that include political, social, and economic dynamics. For instance, as the country shifts from a manufacturing to a service economy, wages have been dramatically lowered for the average "nonprofessional" worker. In addition, poverty of women has been exacerbated by persistent disparities in salaries for men and women, as well as the disproportionate economic burden that single mothers face in raising children alone. About 1/3 of elderly Alaskan women who live alone are low-income, significantly more than elders who are men or who are married.

There is no single solution that can "cure" poverty—poverty must be combated on a number of levels. People living in poverty often need increased access to affordable childcare, low-income housing options, mental health treatment, and educational and employment opportunities. Families under the stress created by poverty are frequently forced to make unsafe and limited choices. Such an outcome results in the perpetuation of intergenerational dysfunctions such as family violence role modeling and traumatic brain processing in children; lack of adequate food for growth and development of children; and depression and loss of hope for families. The primary goal is always to empower people to become vital, healthy members of society.

On a broader scale, social workers are tackling the complex issue of poverty through community organizing around subsistence and rural development. Community organizing uses the community's assets and combines them with additional resources to build up the local systems that support health, education and financial viability. It emphasizes a community's strengths. Social workers empower community residents to be active in leading these efforts by lending their professional skills to facilitate and support local initiatives. NASW Alaska Chapter advocates the full support of rural economic development issues and continuing dialogue about subsistence as a way to support local rural economies.

Alaska’s poverty programs are based on federal entitlements: the Alaska Temporary Assistance Program for low-income families; Food Stamps; Interim Assistance for those who are in process of being deemed eligible for Social Security because of a disability; and Adult Public Assistance for Alaskans with permanent disabilities. Release from poverty means not just providing a safety net, but networks into jobs that provide sufficient income and benefits to sustain a family. ATAP provides cash assistance along with case management and childcare so that low-income parents can get job skills, acquire work, and become able to support their families over a period not to exceed 5 years.

Rural reality: There will continue to be disproportionate numbers of families below the poverty level and in need of ATAP beyond the five year period. These are communities without cash economies and very limited paying job opportunities, whereby a subsistence lifestyle is mainstream. This economic system is accompanied by large family sizes, very high birth rates, and no road systems – which makes costs for heating oil, fuel and basic goods and services some of the highest in the nation. Families and individuals in need of TANF do have the ability to contribute in their villages and towns through community work credit such as food gathering and fuel (wood) distribution as well as domestic care and safety of elders and children in lieu of paying jobs, providing needed labor for basic goods and services. Most families are successful; some will always require assistance because of disabilities of a parent or child. These programs are managed by the DHSS Division of Public Assistance. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the full funding of Division of Public Assistance programs.  NASW supports programs that are creative and adaptive to the needs of Alaska’s rich cultural and lifestyle diversity.  

Another basic poverty program includes General Relief, through which the Division of Senior and Disability Services temporarily covers the cost of room and board in assisted living facilities when vulnerable elders and people with disabilities who have significant problems do not have sufficient funds to cover their living expenses. State-funded General Relief covers the costs of assisted care for vulnerable adults who have been abused or neglected in their home settings as well. Sadly, the Division chronically runs out of General Relief funds. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the full funding of the DSDS General Relief program.

A separate General Relief program is run through the Division of Public Assistance. It is a voucher program ($120/month max) used primarily for rent (when being evicted) or for indigent burial - 75% of the DPA General Relief funds go to burials NASW Alaska Chapter supports the full funding of the DPA General Relief program.

SeniorCare is a grant program that replaced the Longevity Bonus a few years ago. SeniorCare funds pay very low-income elders for some of their living expenses or for Medicare prescription gap coverage. Elders in Alaska have planned their retirement budgets with the Longevity Bonus calculated in; the loss of the Longevity Bonus has driven many elders into poverty. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the re-instatement of the Longevity Bonus in its last form.

A National Perspective: Promoting Economic Security — Increasing Opportunity

NASW maintains its commitment to a universal system of support that includes an adequate safety net and reduces the need for public assistance by providing tools and opportunities for families and the elderly to avoid becoming impoverished or to be moved out of poverty and contribute to the economic productivity and social functioning of the nation. The association will support proposals to protect and improve economic security provided by the current Social Security system.

Current National focus in this area revolves around the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, S.2.

Alert from National here: http://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/updates/2007/011907.asp

Alaska is well known for our horrendous rates of domestic violence and sexual assault. The Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault funds shelters and other program services for victims and their families, and provides basic funding for batterer intervention programs. Overall funding for victim service programs has increased somewhat the last few years; it is important that resources continue to be found to support this important work. Local police, village public safety officers, village-based counselors, behavioral health aides, and shelter workers do what they can to ameliorate problems. They work, however, with limited resources at their disposal.

Research shows that children who witness domestic violence can suffer long-term brain effects. Children in homes where violence has occurred need immediate support to prevent these negative brain effects. There is increasing evidence to suggest that witnessing violence at an early age is a risk factor for engaging in violent or anti-social behavior later in life. In a study of elementary school age children, those who witnessed violence and personal victimization were more likely to become perpetrators of violence. Studies of juvenile offenders show that a disproportionate number of them witnessed violence in their early lives; domestic violence appears to be a particular risk factor. (http://www.childwitnesstoviolence.org/resources/library.htm#1)

 Women with developmental disabilities are at particular risk for predators. Native women are at particular risk for violence in urban areas. The Alaska Native Women’s Coalition was formed in response to violence against Native women statewide.

Alaska has not conducted comprehensive statewide research to confirm the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault since the 1980s. While we know rates are high (police reports, regional studies and clients using shelter programs), we are unable to quantify how serious the problem really is. Have the programs developed in the last 30 years made a difference? Why or why not? What can we do to improve? NASW Alaska Chapter supports research about domestic violence and sexual assault statewide.

Shelters are under-funded. Shelters and safe-home networks are the basic safety net for abused Alaskans and their families. Shelters offer programming to help victims identify ways to keep themselves and their children safe from risk. Keeping victims safe should be a highest priority. We commend the State of Alaska for increasing support in the last few years, but more is needed to keep up with the rising operational costs of programs (see The Challenge: Victim Safety in Alaska, www.andvsa.org). NASW Alaska Chapter supports funding for domestic violence shelters for victims and their families.

Batterer Intervention Programs are limited. Perpetrators of violence need to be held accountable and learn how to change their behavior. Batterer intervention programs are instrumental in changing violence behaviors. Culturally-based programming may be very successful if given a chance. Alaskans deserve to be assured that batterers are treated and will not re-offend. However most domestic violence perpetrators in Alaska are charged with misdemeanors and Alaska has no probation program for misdemeanor offenders. As a result, perpetrators may be ordered to treatment but no one is monitoring their compliance. Additionally, programs are limited and virtually non-existent in rural areas. NASW Alaska Chapter supports access to culturally relevant batterer intervention programs in all communities and holding batterers accountable for their behavior. Funding batterers intervention should not be done at the expense of victim service programs.

Sex Offender Treatment programs are limited. Sex offender treatment programs can be successful; having no program guarantees recidivism. Alaskans deserve to be assured that sex offenders receive the most aggressive treatment available. Sex offender treatment must be reinstated both in the corrections system and continued in community programs after release. NASW Alaska Chapter supports sex offender treatment for all sex offenders.

Children in violent homes need immediate behavioral health services. Behavioral health and domestic violence programs are not adequate to meet the needs of children exposed to violence in their homes. Alaska’s children deserve to grow up without negative consequences related to witnessing violence, and Alaska needs its children to grow up to be healthy adults. NASW Alaska Chapter advocates for increased access to behavioral health services to children from households where violence has occurred.

Good data helps policymakers drive programs and funding. As a result of methodological and financial constraints, most studies are limited to counting people who are in shelters or on the streets. While this approach may yield useful information about the number of people who use services such as shelters and soup kitchens, or who are easy to locate on the street, it can result in underestimates of homelessness. Many people who lack a stable, permanent residence have few shelter options because shelters are filled to capacity or are unavailable. A recent study of 24 U.S. cities found that in 2005, 14% of all requests for emergency shelter went unmet due to lack of resources. For families, the numbers are even worse: 32% of emergency shelter requests from families were denied.[5] A review of homelessness in 50 cities found that in virtually every city, the city's official estimated number of homeless people greatly exceeded the number of emergency shelter and transitional housing spaces.[6] Moreover, there are few or no shelters in rural areas, despite significant levels of homelessness.[7] As a result of these and other factors, many people in homeless situations are forced to live with relatives and friends in crowded, temporary arrangements. People in these situations are experiencing homelessness, but are less likely to be counted. For instance, of the children and youth identified as homeless by the Department of Education in FY2000, only 35% lived in shelters; 34% lived doubled-up with family or friends, and 23% lived in motels and other locations. Yet these children and youth may not immediately be recognized as homeless and are sometimes denied access to shelter or the protections and services of the McKinney-Vento Act (U.S. Department of Education).

The costs of homelessness are much higher than the costs of housing. More than $14 million are spent annually on homeless services in Alaska, and include assistance with housing, health, education, social services and public safety. A 2003 study of chronic homelessness in Fairbanks, conducted by the University of Alaska Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, revealed that more than $40,000 per person was spent in public intervention over a 20-month period. By contrast, housing with supports can cost substantially less.

Affordable Housing. Statewide, approximately 3,500 people are homeless on any given night, including 1,600 people in families with children.[8] In Anchorage alone, 2,800 children from birth to age 12 were homeless at some time during the 2005-2006 school year.[9] There are several national estimates of homelessness. Many are dated, or based on dated information. For all of the reasons discussed above, none of these estimates is the definitive representation of "how many people are homeless.” The best approximation is from a study done by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty which states that approximately 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given year (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2004). NASW Alaska Chapter supports funding increases for the development of affordable housing in the form of permanent, permanent supportive, and transitional housing.

Rental assistance. As of December of 2006, 2,697 households were waiting for federal rental assistance programs in Alaska, 1,543 of which were in Anchorage.[10] Approximately 20,000 low-income households spend over half their income on housing, placing them at risk of homelessness. In February 2005 Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) announced a temporary suspension of new vouchers to people applying for rental assistance under the federally funded Housing Choice program (formerly called Section 8 housing). AHFC, the state-owned housing authority, initially indicated the voucher freeze would last 45 days and would be re-evaluated in March. The freeze was extended to the end of April. In 2004 the federal government increased funding for housing vouchers nationwide, but cut the Alaskan program. AHFC Is the sole provider of these vouchers statewide. In January 2007 the Housing Choice voucher lease up rate for Anchorage remains underutilized at 89% and has not returned to the pre-freeze lease up rate. This put Alaska at risk for further federal funding cuts on the Housing choice voucher program. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the immediate increase AHFC’s lease up rates to 98% in every state identified catchments area.

Housing Trust. More than 30 states have created housing trust funds, with consistent success in decreasing homelessness, which on average have leveraged $9.25 million in additional funding. The Municipality of Anchorage’s Ten Year Plan on Homelessness contains an action step to “Create a Housing Trust Fund that contributes to affordable housing locally.” In 2005- 2006, a state wide body of Commissioner and federal level appointments to the Alaska Council on the Homeless studied this problem and concluded that creation of a housing trust will allow Alaska to create more supported and flexible resources for the homeless and is an important next step for the state. An Alaska Housing Trust will have the flexibility to provide necessary supportive services and quickly address the changing needs of those at risk of homelessness. The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation Board of Directors approved an FY08 budget that included a $10 million capital increment for initial funding of a Housing Trust. The Alaska Mental Health Trust also supports a Housing Trust. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the creation of an Alaska Housing Trust and an appropriation of $15 million annually to implement the Alaska Housing Trust.

A National Perspective on Homelessness

Scholars have suggested that the persistence of homelessness in the richest country in the world at the beginning of the 21st century is a consequence of massive policy failure, as on any given night, point prevalence estimates indicate that as many as 800,000 people are homeless in the United States. Quantitative and qualitative researchers have addressed a plethora of causes, correlates, and covariates, and micro–mezzo–macro system-wide approaches have been recommended in numerous policy arenas. Too often policy-making processes at the federal, state, and local levels have been limited to local emergency measures, such as various health care services for the homeless coalitions that began in the 1980s. Although short-term program and policy changes are needed at the local level to cope with fiscal crises and the disjointed system of emergency services for individuals and families who are homeless, longer-term fiscal and programmatic recommendations contained in newer initiatives such as housing trust funds merit our attention. State and local communities as well as nonprofit and public agencies should rethink the place of shelter care within a larger continuum of services for special at-risk populations faced with crisis poverty and chronic homelessness. Shelters have become the frontline response, but their presence should not be viewed as a policy solution. Social workers should, in collaboration with people who are homeless, be actively involved in the development of continuity of services for individuals, children, and families who are without residence and in the development of a sound national housing policy that reaches those most in need.

Alaska has the second-fastest rate of growth of seniors in the nation. In 2030, Alaska’s percent of senior population will be the same as it is in Florida today (15%). Our state isn’t ready for this change. Alaska’s seniors are not poor overall, although some have very low incomes. Women living alone, often widowed, are the lowest-income elders. Seniors in a marriage or in a family household have significantly higher incomes than do their Lower 48 counterparts. They have income from Social Security, their savings, health care benefits, and retirement plans. They represent an economic force the like of which Alaska has not seen before. (ISER, 2006)

Care providers need education. Most care providers are family members; paid care providers are hired by non-profits and for-profits. There is no consistent education for care providers outside of the required 40 hours for Medicaid-reimbursed Personal Care Attendants. NASW Alaska Chapter supports programming that educates family and caretakers as well as paid care providers so that elders are safe in their homes and communities.

In-home service providers are unregulated. Agencies that bill Medicaid for services or which receive state grants have minimal state oversight. Those that provide services for private pay, mostly out of state franchises, have no state oversight at all. This poses a risk to vulnerable adults paying for services out of pocket. NASW Alaska Chapter supports regulation and monitoring of agencies that provide in-home services to elders.

Publicly-funded home and community based care programs should be based on mixed-income. Most senior service programs are oriented to the lowest-income elders in the state. While it is appropriate to provide free or Medicaid-reimbursable services to low-income elders, the industry must plan to bill seniors who can write their own checks. Ironically, government focus on low-income elders can pose restrictions for elders who have worked hard to fund their retirements. From Nome to Kodiak, elders have been forced to move out of their home communities because assisted living or independent living programs were restricted to low-income individuals only. NASW Alaska Chapter supports public funding for mixed-income senior programming.

Adult Protective Services is understaffed and under-funded. Adult Protective Services staff receives reports of harm and investigates complaints about abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults aged 18+. The very small staff has one person in Juneau, another in Fairbanks, and a few in Anchorage. They have limited budget for travel and no authority to prosecute abusers of elders and people with disabilities. NASW Alaska Chapter supports increased resources for Adult Protective Services to provide effective, statewide investigation and amelioration of abuse and neglect of elders and disabled persons.

State public health licensing regulations do not require training on abuse and neglect of elders. Elders who require personal care or any other type of personal service should have some assurance that these employees of licensed facilities know how to recognize abuse and neglect so that they can report it. The federal government is paying for a demonstration project to train Alaska’s care providers in recognizing abuse and neglect through the Division of Public Health and the UAA School of Social Work. This project ends 9/30/07. NASW Alaska Chapter supports regulations that require that all employees of licensed facilities and providers have training to recognize and report abuse and neglect of elders and vulnerable adults. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the continuation of education of all employees of licensed facilities and providers.

The State of Alaska continues to lead the nation in a number of arenas: incidents of child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and violent crimes especially crimes against women (Violence Policy Center, 2006). The state also continues to struggle with an ever-increasing population with needs related to mental health and addictions as well as a rapidly growing aging population, which will increase the numbers of older Alaskans and the needs associated with this population (ISER, 2006). In addition, the poverty rate in rural / remote Alaska far exceeds the national average, and issues related to homelessness continue to plague many areas of the state (ISER, 2006).

There are 1028 licensed professionals in the behavioral health field in Alaska. Over 350 licensed clinical social workers and 60 licensed BSWs provide over 1/3 of the behavioral health services in the state. The demand for more workers in this area is eclipsed only by certain health professions. The UAA and UAF Schools of Social Work graduated 35 BSWs in 2005, and 22 MSWs the same year. Twenty-seven (27) additional students anticipate graduating with a distance-delivered MSW in 2008. This does not address demand: in 2012, 266 masters-levels social workers will be required in the mental health, substance abuse, and medical fields[11]. The programs cannot meet industry demand, and Mental Health Trust grant funding for the distance-delivered MSW will end in July 2007. NASW Alaska Chapter supports the full funding and expansion of the BSW and MSW programs, both on campus and distance-delivered, at UAA and UAF. NASW Alaska Chapter supports a $183,000 GF increment to continue the MSW distance delivered program.

At the same time, the State of Alaska continues to have difficulty filling social work positions in these and others arenas, in urban, rural and bush areas of the state. In March of this year, the National Association of Social Workers released a study that indicated a potential threat to services for millions of Americans, Alaskans included, due to shortages of qualified social workers (NASW, 2006). Currently, 28 states offer some form of loan forgiveness to college-educated social workers (NASW, 2004). Alaska has a history of educational loan forgiveness. The time is right to include social workers in a loan forgiveness plan.

A program that provides educational loan forgiveness for social workers in Alaska would relieve the educational loan debt currently experienced by those in the profession. Other student loan forgiveness plans have been related to the number of years a graduate stayed in their profession and in Alaska. This seems like a reasonable approach. A loan forgiveness program would be a good first step in expanding a human services workforce to address health, social welfare, and safety issues statewide. NASW Alaska Chapter supports student loan forgiveness for bachelors- and masters-educated social workers.

A National Perspective: Protecting Consumers-Promoting the Profession

NASW is promoting loan forgiveness for social workers as part of its on-going work to improve working conditions, salaries, and other benefits for members of the profession and to ensure that consumers have access to qualified professionals. NASW will continue its support for proposals to provide loan forgiveness for social workers in child welfare and schools, while also working to secure loan forgiveness and other educational supports for social workers in other practice areas. Loan forgiveness legislation will be considered by Congress during deliberations on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1998.

Resources for Social Work Advocacy

State of Alaska On Line http://www.state.ak.us/

Alaska Legislature On Line http://www.legis.state.ak.us/

BASIS: Bill Action & Status Inquiry Systems http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/start.asp

Alaska Statutes & Legislative Resources http://www.legis.state.ak.us/folhome.htm

Gavel to Gavel: Live Audio and Video http://www.ktoo.org/gavel/stream.cfm

Federal Legislative Information on the Internet http://thomas.loc.gov/

Federal Government Statistics OnLine http://www.fedstats.gov/

Poverty in America http://www.nccbuscc.org/cchd/povertyusa/tour2.htm

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