Office of Children’s Services director responds to lawmaker’s call for grand jury investigation

(Public Domain photo)
(Public Domain photo)

Representative Tammie Wilson claims to have heard hundreds of disturbing stories about actions taken by the Office of Children’s Services from parents and guardians struggling to regain custody of their children. Wilson sees several similarities in a number of the complaints and that pattern has her convinced an investigation is necessary. OCS Director Christy Lawton says Wilson is one of many legislators who contact her office for information on cases.

“The bulk of the cases that we’re getting called on are the cases that are in foster care which are all overseen by the court system. Whereby parents have attorneys, as well as in some cases CASA’s which are court appointed special advocates,” says Lawton.

She says the number one thing OCS tries to convey to anyone who questions the agency’s actions is that they do not make unilateral decisions on placement, removal of children, “termination of parental rights, how long a child should stay in custody if we’ve complied with the Indian Child Welfare Act or not.”

Rep. Tammie Wilson addresses the Alaska House of Representatives, March 12, 2014. (Photo by Skip Gray/Gavel Alaska)
Rep. Tammie Wilson addresses the Alaska House of Representatives, March 12, 2014. (Photo by Skip Gray/Gavel Alaska)

She says all of those things and more are heavily scrutinized by the courts which make the ultimate decisions. Wilson says she’s seen three common trends in a large number of the stories relayed to her. OCS appears to not prioritize reuniting families, in many cases it isn’t a clear why children are removed from homes, and it’s unclear what steps parents or guardians must take to get their children back. Lawton says two of those perceived problems aren’t real.

“Our number one priority, when a child comes into custody, is to always be looking at reunification as the primary goal. We’re in the business of keeping families together and ensuring child safety,” says Lawton.

Lawton also says on emergency calls, if law enforcement does not respond alongside the agency then the decision whether to remove a child rests solely with OCS. But, the reasons are “mapped out” in a petition filed with the court.

“And that’s a petition basically for what we call probable cause and a judge would then have to make a ruling whether or not there was probable cause to remove that child,” says Lawton.

Lawton says removing children from their home is one of the agency’s last resorts. She does give credence to the last issue Wilson worries about. She says she would be the first to say there are inconsistencies in the steps families have to follow to win back custody of their children.

Christy Lawton, Office of Children's Services director. (Photo courtesy State of Alaska)
Christy Lawton, Office of Children’s Services director. (Photo courtesy State of Alaska)

“When I’m sitting in my office as the director [they] seem very concrete, they seem very clear cut. You start at A and you get to B, and then C, and then D; but the truth is we’re dealing with human beings and our staff are human beings and the work is messy. It’s hard and it’s gut wrenching and there’s nothing black and white about it,” says Lawton.

She says the best OCS can do is make the policies easy to understand and train supervisors to think critically for the situations that are unpredictable.

“And that’s why it is so challenging and it continues to be an area of improvement across the board,” says Lawton.

Lawton doesn’t know whether the grand jury investigation Representative Wilson is suggesting would help but says she is open to any action or suggestions that can help the agency move forward.

“The system is flawed. It has its strengths and it has its challenges and the more important thing to me is trying to protect those kids that we are charged with serving and doing the best that we can,” says Lawton.

Representative Wilson says she is trying to collect enough information to show an investigation of OCS is warranted and expects it will take at least two weeks. Whether an investigation actually takes place is solely the decision of a standing grand jury.

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