Citizen Review PanelSylvan Robb

c/o Information Insights, Inc.Coordinator

PO Box 73490907.450.2456

212 Front Street, Suite

Fairbanks, Alaska 99707Susan Heuer, Chair

Visit to the Bethel Region

March7-8, 2012

Five of the sixmembers of the Citizen Review Panel (CRP) and the CRP’s staff support person visited Bethel, Hooper Bay, and St. Mary’s in the Western Region of the Office of Children’s Services on March7-8, 2011. The group conducted site visits and met with a number of people involved with the local child welfare system. The following agencies or constituencies were visited:

  • Attorney General’s office staff
  • Child advocacy center staff
  • Community health clinic staff
  • Community behavioral health clinic staff
  • Bethel Police Department staff
  • Local law enforcement (VPSOs and TPOs)
  • ICWA workers
  • Office of Children’s Services (all levels)
  • Public health nurses
  • School (elementary and high school) principals, teachers, nurses and counselors
  • State Troopers
  • Tribal officials

The Bethel region, while not being defined by any governmental entity, nevertheless encompasses a fairly well accepted area that includes Bethel and the 56 surrounding villages primarily along the Yukon, Kuskoskim, Innoko, and Susitna Rivers in southwestern Alaska. While the U.S. Census Bureau does have a Bethel census area, the region--as it is generally accepted--includes small areas in a number of the surrounding census areas and boroughs including: Lake and Peninsula Borough, Dillingham census area, Wade Hampton census area and the Yukon-Koyukuk census area. The hub of this region the size of Oregon (~59,000 square miles) is Bethel, a community of 6,230 where half of the jobs are government positions. This Yup’ik area is served by the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (serving 50 villages) and Association of Village Council Presidents (serving 56 villages).

Given the enormous geographic spread of the region, the area is served by three Office of Children’s Services field offices located in Bethel, Aniak and St. Mary’s. Aniak is approximately 95airmilesnortheast of Bethel and St. Mary’s is approximately 96 airmiles northwest of Bethel. The region struggles with many social problems including drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, high unemployment, high rates of suicide and--the issue that took us to the region—high rates of child physical and sexual abuse and neglect.Thirty percent of the population of the region is children. Many staff at OCS and partnering agencies in the region are working hard to improve the health of the community. Without a full complement of staff, they are facing a formidable task.

The following sections reflect wish lists and observations from within the specific agencies visited. We chose not to identify the agency making the comment due to the size of the communities. Suggestions were offered in the spirit of improving the child welfare system in the area and people did not want to risk damaging relationships by having comments attributed to them or their agency.

Positive comments
  • OCS staff office goes beyond the regular work day to help take care of their families in need.
  • New workers have been well received in the community.
  • Relationships with tribal partners are strong.
  • Staff at other agencies feel that OCS staff are working hard, but have too much on their plates to be able to be successful.
  • Other agencies and the community want OCS to succeed. They are willing to work with OCS and partner to keep children safe and help families.

Concerns

  • OCS staff who come from outside the region do not really have a meaningful understanding of village life, travel and unique local situations. They subsequently frequently do not make decisions that fit the cultural norms and standards which creates another layer of challenges and barriers.
  • The lack of available and decent housing compounds the difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff. The situation is most dire in Aniak and St. Mary’s.
  • Due to the high number of vacant staff positions the workloads are unmanageable. Staff are unable to keep up or catch up and so continue to fall further and further behind. Children’s safety is impacted and staff morale continues to decline.
  • Staff are under the impression that they are not allowed to travel to attend necessary trainings needed to do their jobs. The expectations and availability about travel and training are unclear.
  • The top administrative position, the Child Services Manager (CSM), was vacant for over a year because of the inability to recruit and retain appropriate candidates. This resulted in remote, superficial coverage which impacted the cohesion, success, and morale of the office. It also affected the effectiveness of the information stream from Juneau leadership down through the various staff levels. Line workers do not feel informed or connected to decisions and plans that directly affect them. Staff feel that changes are happening TO them not with them. Their opinions and input have not been sought on solving the problems of the region. A new CSM has just been hired but it will be a while before he becomes familiar with the agency and the office.
  • There is minimal orientation for new workers moving to Bethel. New staff aren’t taken around and introduced by existing staff to community partners.
  • Staff noted that if you read OCS’ definition of neglect and replace the words ‘parent’ with ‘OCS’ and ‘child’ with ‘worker’, the definition of neglect is applicable to how the Bethel staff feels. They feel overwhelmed with the scope of the danger to children, overworked because of staff shortages, under-supported, and fearful that something will happen to children on their caseloads.
  • Staff in Bethel feel there have been empty promises to provide help for the situation. In response to the CRP visit in March, senior leadership developed a plan to alleviate the worst of the situation which is just starting to be implemented now. It is imperative that outside help continue to support Bethel until the office stabilizes with leadership and new line workers. Poor morale is a huge factor for this staff that can be alleviated.

Recommendations

  • There are child safety issues. Finding a solution to this aspect of the problem MUST be first. The rate of case initiation is shameful. While the sense if that most of those cases were worked and just lack paperwork, the fact that no one knows for sure whether anyone responded is egregious.
  • OCS needs to respond to all calls and follow up by investigating all reports of harm within the legal timeframes.
  • Incentives, such as a housing voucher, would greatly assist in recruiting for the region. OCS needs to think creatively since current efforts have not been successful.
  • Senior and regional leadership should improve communication with the Bethel office. Multiple methods of communication need to be employed to be sure the message is received by staff at all levels. This will help alleviate fear, anger, confusion, and the feeling of being neglected and abandoned.
  • Staff who are finally trained and able to work are burned out and despair that the situation will never change. Consequently people are leaving the agency. Staff need hope that the situation will improve. Regular, reliable, updated information about plans and actual extra bodies will assist with this.
  • OCS needs to develop a rural protocol for new workers and new supervisors on who they need to see while they are in a village.
  • There is a strong sense in the office that Western Region is being set up for failure because top leadership does not want it to succeed. Actions need to be taken to demonstrate to the staff that Western Region is here for keeps. Words are not convincing anymore.
  • Community partners want OCS to succeed and are willing to help. OCS needs to start fostering those partnerships to be more effective in protecting children and develop job satisfaction from working in a team environment accomplishes much more than individual workers can. A new worker, especially one waiting for SKILLS, could go introduce him or herself to all other agencies in a day or two. This should be standard practice.

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