Borough again offers to help fund OCS office

It didn’t work a year ago, but the borough and Wrangell’s state House member are trying again to restore the Alaska Office of Children’s Services caseworker position in the community.

Same as last year, the borough is offering to cover half the expenses if the state will pay its half. The community has been without a caseworker for more than a decade due to state cutbacks.

Bringing back a caseworker “is absolutely crucial,” said Bob Davis, lead teacher and assistant principal for the high school and middle school. “We’re seeing a huge uptick in depression … just kids struggling.”

The Legislature approved the position last year, but the plan failed when Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed the spending.

Funding to restore the position this session was in the House version of the budget but not the Senate version, leaving it to a joint House-Senate conference committee to resolve as the Legislature hurries this week to complete its state spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Ketchikan Rep. Dan Ortiz, who also represents Wrangell, has been working the issue and said he is hopeful the Senate will accept the House proposal.

In addition to the stresses of school and life during the yearlong pandemic, a lot of the problems for children relate back to their home situations, where a caseworker could intervene and maybe help, Davis said.

The lack of a caseworker in town is part of the problem, he said. For a long time, all Davis could do was call the state’s 1-800 number to get help for youth in crisis. “I’ve made numerous calls this year,” mostly looking for help for middle school students.

“There was a long dry spell when there was nobody,” he said. It would take four or five days to get a caseworker to come to town to help Wrangell kids.

Davis recalled one student who asked: “Why do you bother calling them, they don’t do anything.”

Just a couple of weeks ago, a new caseworker hired in Petersburg was able to visit Wrangell, Davis said.

“The schools are the first line of defense for a lot of these kids,” he said.

The House version of the state operating budget includes $144,000 to add a front-line social worker in Wrangell. State general fund dollars and some federal money would cover half the cost, with Wrangell volunteering to cover the other half.

The borough has offered free office space in the Public Safety Building toward its 50% share, said Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen, in addition to covering some of the salary.

The borough would use money it has available from an unfilled position at the police department, she said.

In addition, “we will be looking for other (community) partners,” to help with the expense, Von Bargen said.

Budget pressures led the governor to veto the funding in 2020, his spokesman, Jeff Turner, said last April. “The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services determined it needed to prioritize services in other areas of the state with disproportionately larger child protection caseloads,” Turner said. “Based on its determination, the budget increase was vetoed.”

The Legislature faced a constitutional adjournment deadline of Wednesday night to finish work on the new budget, though the governor has called them into special session starting Thursday if they are unable to complete a spending plan.

Dunleavy also wants lawmakers to work overtime on his proposal for a larger Permanent Fund dividend.