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Congresswoman Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, and other House Democrats say they’re worried the U.S. Supreme Court is about to weaken the Indian Child Welfare Act, to the detriment of Native children and their tribes.

Peltola, the first Alaska Native person elected to Congress, previously worked as a tribal court judge. She said child custody cases were a mainstay. She stressed the importance of keeping children with their families or placing them within their tribe

“I think for every single human group, ever in existence, children, our precious children are our future,” she said at a congressional roundtable Tuesday. “And certainly, for Natives, it is no different.”

The roundtable discussion was similar to a hearing but was called by Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz. He lost the chairmanship of the House Resources Committee when Republicans became the majority party and can no longer set the agenda.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a challenge to ICWA brought by the state of Texas and a group of non-Native parents trying to adopt Indigenous children. Their lawsuit says the Indian Child Welfare Act makes unconstitutional distinctions based on race. Supporters of ICWA say it’s based on tribal affiliation.

Congress passed the law to reverse the wholesale alienation of children from their tribes.

“During the 1950s and 1960s, a terrifying national picture emerged. Native nations were losing children to state welfare systems at extraordinary rates,” New York University Law Professor Maggie Blackhawk said at the roundtable. “State governments separated over 100,000 of the estimated 400,000 Native children from their parents and placed those children in homes with no political, cultural or linguistic connection to their nations.”

The case is called Brackeen v. Haaland. The justices heard arguments in November. A ruling is expected by the end of June.

An overloaded nonprofit that provides free legal help would be able to serve more Alaskans in need if legislation proposed by Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage, becomes law.

Senate Bill 104, discussed by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, would direct 25% of the Alaska Court System’s filing fees to the Alaska Legal Services Corporation, up from 10% in an existing state law.

Dunbar, a licensed attorney, formerly worked for the agency on a variety of cases.

“They provide absolutely crucial legal services, free legal services, to those who can’t afford them. Things like family law, landlord-tenant (disputes); they are also the state’s largest provider of free legal services to survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault,” Dunbar said.

One case near the end of his time working with the corporation stuck in his mind.

“I worked on a case where family members were trying to win custody of a little girl who had been abused almost to the point of death. And they were helping to try and basically save this little girl. And it remains — even though I did a very tiny bit of work on that case — it remains the most important legal work I think I’ve ever done,” he said.

While the Alaska Constitution guarantees a defense attorney to someone in a criminal charge, there’s no such guarantee in a civil lawsuit.

The corporation, founded in 1967, is a nonprofit intended to fill that gap and provide help to Alaskans who can’t afford it.

But, said the corporation’s executive director, Nikole Nelson, the gap is now so large that the corporation can’t fill it.

“This gap has now reached a crisis level because existing funding for Alaska Legal Services has not kept pace with community need. And this is really what SB 104 is meant to address,” she said.

“In our 12 regional offices, we may see mothers who have been abused in front of their children and who don’t have the financial means to leave the relationship,” Nelson said. “We have grandparents who may be caring for their grandchildren but really need help with operational documents so they can get their grandchildren enrolled in school or get the medical care that they need.”

“We may have a veteran who has been denied his VA benefits even though he earned them through service, but his disabilities (are) keeping him homebound and unable to work. And for all of these problems, there is a legal solution. But unlike in criminal cases … you don’t have a right to legal counsel in those, and this is where ALSC comes in.”

Patrick Reinhart, executive director of the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education, testified in March to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the corporation and the Disability Law Center of Alaska perform vital work in the state.

“We know that both organizations are struggling to keep qualified attorneys,” he said. “So anything we can do to support efforts for our beneficiary group to access civil legal services is critically important.”

The corporation receives donations and assistance from other groups, but state funding has declined dramatically. It now receives just 57% of the state funding it did in 1984, even as the population of potential clients has tripled, Nelson told the finance committee. That decrease doesn’t account for inflation.

Because of budget struggles, the corporation now turns away half of the cases that come to it, Nelson said.

“To me, it’s a travesty that these people aren’t being served,” said Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks.

If Senate Bill 104 passes the House and Senate and becomes law with the assent of Gov. Mike Dunleavy it would result in about $450,000 more funding for the corporation each year, the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development estimated. That’s an increase from the roughly $300,000 the corporation currently receives under the relevant state law.

“We can serve another 182 clients for every $100,000 that’s added to our budget,” Nelson said.

In 2018, the Legislature considered reserving 25% of the state’s court fees for the corporation but decided against it.

“Since the Legislature at that point didn’t know how much revenue that would garner … it was negotiated down to 10%, with a commitment that it would be revisited if it didn’t meet community need,” Nelson said.

“And so, we’re at the point now where we know the amount of revenue that’s generated at 10%, and it’s not sufficient to the community need,” she said.

Filing fees aren’t kept by the court system, said Nancy Meade, general counsel for the Alaska Court System. Instead, they go into the state’s general fund, where they can be spent as the Legislature and governor direct.

After hearing from Dunbar and Nelson, the finance committee set the bill aside for further discussion. No additional hearings have been scheduled.

This story originally appeared in the Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced a new task force Thursday to look at the availability and affordability of child care in Alaska.

He said access to affordable child care is crucial to the state’s economy and wellbeing. Across the state, the child care market has long been tight and expensive.

“It’s a real issue that needs to be looked at and scrutinized so that we can come up with some models that can help our folks, our families, our mothers,” Dunleavy said.

Dunleavy signed the administrative order establishing the task force Thursday afternoon at the Credit Union 1 learning center in Anchorage, an onsite child care facility for the bank’s employees.

The task force will be made up of state officials, plus representatives of tribal, nonprofit, military and other child care programs. There’s also a spot for an Alaska parent who has experience finding child care. State Health Commissioner Heidi Hedberg said the goal is to improve the availability, affordability and quality of child care in Alaska.

“The task force will be looking at existing strategic plans, assessments, surveys,” Hedberg said. “They will also be listening to consumers, the parents who are trying to find that child care center close to home.”

She said the group will deliver an initial report with findings and recommendations to the governor by the end of the year, with a final report at the end of July 2024.

In the meantime, state lawmakers are also working to address the availability of child care options. Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, said one proposal would appropriate $15 million to support existing child care providers.

“1,700 childcare providers, earning on average around $14.50 per hour,” Fields said. “You could go get a job at Target tomorrow earning $20 an hour plus benefits. $15 million is enough to raise those wages, stabilize the labor force and stop hemorrhaging child care workers.”

Dunleavy opposes the injection of state money, calling it a “knee jerk reaction.”

“I’m not going to support $15 million in child care because we don’t even know what the child care is that we’re talking about,” Dunleavy said. “What does it look like? Is it focused on infants? Is it focused on toddlers? Is it focused on other age groups?”

Some child care advocates say that money is necessary.

Stephanie Berglund is CEO of thread, a child care advocacy group. She said money from COVID-19 relief that supported child care was effective in keeping the industry afloat, and similar state investments should continue.

“The sector is very fragile and needs additional support,” she said. “So we’re confident that child care needs more investment now, whether it’s this year or aligned with the policy recommendations that we’re hopeful for out of this task force. We know the dollars can’t come soon enough, and we encourage investment now.”

Both Berglund and Fields said they support the task force and hope it helps to inform legislation and government action to address Alaska’s child care shortage.

Other bills introduced in the Legislature linked to child care include one sponsored by Fields that would allow child care providers that receive state aid to collectively bargain with the state Department of Health. It’d also establish a child care provider fund. Another bill from Rep. Julie Coulombe, R-Anchorage, would expand the eligibility for state low-income child care assistance programs.

In Anchorage, a ballot proposition to use the city’s existing marijuana taxes to fund local child care initiatives is currently on the path to passing, with 57% of counted ballots in favor.

Tuesday was the first day back for 3 to 5-year-olds at Gold Creek Child Development Center.

Being back in the classroom might take some getting used to, lead teacher Jessica De Leon told her students. When she asked whether they were feeling excited, shy or sad, many kids raised their hands for all three.

“It’s okay if we’re feeling really big emotions,” De Leon said. “If we’re feeling a little sad because we’ve been home with mom and dad, or we haven’t seen our friends.”

The center temporarily closed in January as its board continued to search for a new executive director. Now, that search has come to an end: Nicole Koenneker will start work as the center’s new director later this month.

Ashley Heimbigner is a member of Gold Creek’s volunteer board. She said Koenneker will bring administrative experience and personal connection to the job.

“She is a parent here at Gold Creek and stepped in, raised her hand when we were really facing some staffing struggles at the end of last year and put in countless hours as a volunteer while also having a full-time job and two little ones,” Heimbigner said. “The more time we spent with her, the more we realized that she’s the leader that we need for Gold Creek.”

Filling the executive director position meant Gold Creek could open its doors again, though they’re starting off small.

“When the center closed on Jan. 13, there were four classrooms open,” Heimbigner said. “We’re opening with just one classroom now, which is a combined preschool/pre-K classroom.”

That class has 12 to 14 students on a given day. Before the closure, Gold Creek had about 40 total. The lower number of students means not all staff were rehired. Heimbigner said some of them found jobs at other childcare centers during Gold Creek’s closure.

But Jessica De Leon said she held out.

“I held out for a really long time, because I believed in Gold Creek and that it would reopen,” she said during a snack break. “It’s exciting to see everybody back.”

De Leon submitted applications to other childcare centers during the closure.

“But something in the back of my mind was telling me to just keep holding on,” she said. “My heart was with Gold Creek.”

Heimbigner said the center hopes to hire more staff and reopen the infant and toddler rooms as soon as possible. She expects Gold Creek will face some of the hiring challenges other centers are facing throughout the state, but she says work by groups like the Southeast Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children offers some hope.

“It does feel like everyone is trying to come together to rebuild this resource for our community and provide opportunities for real professional development and career building in this sector,” she said. “But it’s just a start. There’s so much work left to be done.”

Maternal deaths went up 40% nationwide in 2021. The rate also went up in Alaska.

Alaska has its own way of measuring maternal mortality, so comparisons to national rates are tricky. But in 2021, Alaska reported its highest number of pregnancy-associated deaths in the last decade — more than double the most recent five-year average.

Ness Verigin leads the Maternal Child Death Review program for the state. They called the increase a call to arms.

“We had a tragic number of maternal deaths and pregnancy associated deaths during that year,” Verigin said.

Twenty mothers died.

The Maternal Child Death Review looks at deaths that happen from the start of pregnancy until one year after a pregnancy ends. Verigin says that in Alaska, most of these deaths don’t happen during labor. Instead, they happen because of violence afterwards. More than half of maternal deaths in the last five years were linked to intimate partner violence – Alaska has some of the highest intimate partner violence rates in the nation.

“Pregnancy-associated deaths due to violence are what we’re really looking at, because that’s where we’re losing most maternal life,” Verigin said. “Even when we’re looking at deaths from overdose and suicide, we more often than not find a history of trauma and violence.”

There’s another factor that may have influenced the spike in maternal mortality in 2021: the COVID-19 pandemic. During Alaska’s delta wave, state physicians spoke out about how overcrowding and rationed care at hospitals had a devastating effect on the maternity ward. And national data shows an uptick in violence against women throughout the pandemic years.

Most maternal deaths in Alaska happen more than 42 days after delivery. Earlier this year, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced a bill that would extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from sixty days to a full year. The bill would increase access to care for treatable illnesses, like postpartum depression.

The state and grassroots organizations are working to address the issue. Alaska Native women are disproportionately represented among maternal deaths. The Alaska Native Birthworkers Community is a volunteer-led non profit that offers birth and postpartum support to address the disparity.

Verigin also manages a new program that provides free doula support and culturally competent care to pregnant people.

“It’s kind of become the latest big thing: cultural doulas and doula support as maternal mortality prevention — and doula support as violence prevention,” they said.

The program’s aim is to prevent maternal deaths from violence and it expanded from its 2021 pilot program last year. Verigin says they can see that it’s working.

Correction: The graph’s caption has been updated to reflect that the rate of pregnancy-associated mortality in Southwest Alaska is higher than for the state as a whole, not the overall number of deaths in Southwest Alaska.

A regional conference for child care providers in Juneau offered a chance for attendees to meet with legislators and advocate for more child care assistance from the state.  Attendees also learned about two bills currently in the Legislature that address the lack of child care in Southeast Alaska.

The Southeast Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children has served the region for 40 years. It helps parents find child care, assists providers with training and advocates for improved child care access.

Blue Shibler is the executive director of the organization. Earlier this month, the nonprofit held its annual conference in Juneau. The theme this year was “Be well, care well.”

“We had a lot of workshops about active play and mindfulness, both for adults and the children they work with,” she said. “We had a really good workshop that was all about caregiver stress management tools. So it’s really giving people tools for mindful self-regulation while they are working with children.”

There’s a reason for all this talk of self-care. Workers in the field are overworked and underpaid. The starting pay for child care workers is around $12 per hour. Days are long, and staff turnover is high. Not enough people get into the field. And the problem is especially bad in Southeast.

“Southeast Alaska as a region is considered a child care desert, that means we are meeting less than half of the need,” Shibler said. “There are communities that have no child care, and there are communities that have not enough child care.”

Shibler led an advocacy workshop that offered attendees a chance to speak with legislators. Haines child care provider Kim Larson was part of that group. She is limited to providing care for eight children total, and only three of them can be under 30 months old. She says care for that age range is in high demand.

“We are in need for more providers zero to thirty months,” Larson said. “I have a waiting list for five infants right now, and you know I can only take three at a time.”

Larson told legislators she thinks helping parents pay for child care is part of the solution.

“One of the things we talked about was how they support college-age kids, you know with the Pell Grants and stuff, and then of course they support the K through twelve kids, through the school, and then now they are starting to support pre K,” she said. “But they don’t support zero to three, which is when the kid’s minds grow the most, their brains grow the most, is in those early years. And there is no funding for that.”

Alaska legislators are working on two bills that address the issue. Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, was among the lawmakers who met with the group.

“We are trying to expand the number of families who can afford child care by making the subsidies more inclusive,” she said.

House Bill 89 would extend assistance to families who make up to 300% of the poverty level.

“You would make an application and then you apply to child care assistance, which is under the Department of Health, and then they make a payment towards the center to help with the cost of care. They would make a payment on your behalf,” she said.

The payment would be a flat rate, adjusted to the cost of each daycare center.

The other bill — House Bill 46 — would incentivize investments in child care centers through tax deductions.

“If a business makes investment into a child care center, they can deduct up to three million dollars for an investment they might have made into a child care center in their area.

The House bill also includes a provision that would allow child care providers to organize for collective bargaining with the department of health. Story says the bills and increased revenue will help daycare centers function better.

“They can afford to keep the adequate staff on, keep their doors open, keep the experienced staff with your kids, not have so much transition,” she said. “Little ones like to see their same caregivers, they bond with them. You want the people taking care of your kids making a living wage.”

Shibler, the conference organizer, says child care fits into the bigger economic picture.

“Child care is an essential part of an economy, and without it, we are going to continue to see labor shortages in all industries,” she said. “I think everybody needs to come together and realize that as a public good, child care needs to be heavily subsidized, not only at the government level but from private businesses as well.”

The bills are currently moving through the House. Rep. Story says if child care is seen as a priority, they will pass.