2020 October PUBLISHED BY LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH COMMISSION Volume 33, No. 6 LEGISLATURE.KY.GOV/LEGISLATION/PAGES/DEFAULT.ASPX Lawmakers hear testimony on COVID-19’s impact on child abuse cases by Jordan Hensley FRANKFORT— Over the summer, lawmakers on the Child Welfare Oversight and Advisory Committee expressed concern over reported incidences of child abuse and child abuse court cases. During an Oct. 14 meeting, the committee received an update on both. According to Kentucky Court of Justice data, in March 2019, 2,191 dependency, neglect and abuse cases were fi led in Kentucky courts and 2,002 were fi led in April 2019. In March 2020 and April 2020, 1,476 and 903 cases were fi led, respectively. Marcus Vanover, a family court judge in Lincoln, Pulaski and Rockcastle Counties, shared with lawmakers that although COVID-19 safety protocols have changed how court operates, courts did not close. “Th e judicial centers continued to allow physical access for those that were seeking emergency orders for domestic violence, dating violence and child welfare,” Vanover said. “… Our courts scrambled to Rep. Lynn Bechler, R-Marion, asks a question about the learn how to do hearings remotely, however, child welfare cases have COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on child abuse court cases. been held even on the fi rst day of COVID limitations.” Vanover also told lawmakers that child welfare cases have remained a priority for courts across the state. Aft er the presentation, Rep. Lynn Bechler, R-Marion, asked if the pandemic is the reason why the amount of court cases fi led in March and April dropped this year. “Frankly, with children having to stay at home, there just were fewer eyes on them that would be reporting potential abuse or neglect,” Vanover said, adding he believes the COVID-19 pandemic is a contributing factor to the lower amount of cases fi led in March and April 2020. Bechler responded by saying he believes this data is an argument to open schools back up since so many reported incidences of suspected abuse comes from teachers and daycare workers. Continued on page 3 THE KENTUCKY GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1 Committee focuses on substance abuse treatment programs by Jordan Hensley FRANKFORT— Th e opioid epidemic facing the nation sadly has not left Kentucky untouched. Over the last eight years, the Kentucky General Assembly has allocated funding and passed several bills to combat the crisis and hold those who make the issue worse accountable. During the Oct. 13 meeting of the Substance Use Recovery Task Force, Van Ingram, executive director for the Kentucky Offi ce of Drug Control and Policy, kicked off the conversation with lawmakers on what Kentucky is doing to combat the substance abuse epidemic. He also told lawmakers these programs need reliable funding sources and more funding, if possible. “Th ese core dollars that we’re receiving are crucial,” Ingram said. “… It’s diffi cult for states and organizations to plan when we have these one-year grants.” Ingram told committee co-chair Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, that there is a bipartisan bill working its way through the U.S. Congress that could guarantee up to six years of funding. “Co-chair Alvarado and I may be working together on some solutions to help you with your request to Congress,” committee co-chair Rep. Russell Webber, R-Shepherdsville responded. Representatives from treatment centers across the Commonwealth also shared the challenges and needs facing their facilities and patients with lawmakers. Mike Cox, president of Isaiah House, shared research with lawmakers that shows money invested in addiction treatment reduces drug related-crime, judicial costs and medical costs. “Th e article continues by stating good outcomes are contingent on adequate treatment length,” Cox said. Cox said that many health insurance companies will only pay for short-term treatment rather than long-term treatment and many people cannot aff ord to pay for long-term treatment on their own. “Th e deeply rooted issues of addiction as we know are not solved quickly,” Cox said. “Trying to treat addiction in 21 days is like treating cancer with Tylenol: It doesn’t work.” Cox added that the biggest issue facing Kentuckians isn’t that there aren’t enough beds for patients, but that access to the beds available is hindered by patients not being able to aff ord quality care. Dr. Tuyen Tran and Dr. Marvin Bishop with 2nd Chance Center for Addiction Treatment shared with lawmakers that in rural areas it’s more diffi cult for patients to seek care due to lack of transportation. Rep. Russell Webber, R-Shepherdsville, responds to a comment by Van Ingram, executive director of Continued on next page the Kentucky Offi ce of Drug Control and Policy during a Substance Use Recovery Task Force Meeting. 2 2020 Interim LEGISLATIVE RECORD Although telehealth access and services expanded recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tran said there are still some barriers when it comes to substance abuse Child abuse, treatment. from page 1 “Th e DEA has a clause, the Ryan Haight Act, which requires that the initial visit be an in-person, face-to-face In response to Bechler’s comment, Sen. Reginald Th omas, D-Lexington, said he does not visit if you wish to prescribe a controlled substance,” Tran believe it is wise for children to return to schools due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases said. across the state. According to Tran and Bishop’s presentation, many Committee co-chair Rep. David Meade, R-Stanford, also weighed in on the issue. people seeking substance abuse treatment require the use “Th at is an issue that there are several varying opinions on,” he said. “I appreciate each of controlled substances to treat their addiction. and every person’s opinion… I do think, however, as we just saw with these slides with the dependency, neglect and abuse cases that are fi led going down… there are sometimes things Tran also agreed with Isaiah House’s claim that worse than this virus for children.” insurance providers, including Medicaid, hinder access to quality treatment. Although COVID-19 has had an impact on child welfare, the Department for Community According to Tran, there are restrictions in place on Based Services (DCBS) testifi ed that staff is still working to assess for safety, risks, and the mental health counseling services and how many drug needs of the families they serve. Video conferencing has been utilized and in-person visitation screenings a patient can have and what type of screenings. has been permitted if needed, according to the presentation. “I know it’s very diffi cult to articulate language and DCBS Division of Protection and Permanency Director Christa Bell said that at the verbiage to draft in a piece of legislation, but instead of beginning of the pandemic, there were concerns on how that would impact foster family having hard, arbitrary (language), allow the clinicians to availability. do what we normally do and what we were trained to do, which is use our judgement,” Tran said. “We were very pleasantly surprised that nearly all foster families surveyed were willing to Alvarado responded that he believes there’s some accept more children and even more than half of the families surveyed were willing to accept legislation in the works to make the expanded access to children that had potentially been COVID exposed or COVID positive,” Bell said. telehealth due to COVID-19 permanent, however, there Bell also testifi ed that the amount of intakes of children during the summer months was may be some federal restrictions. close to how it usually is during a normal, COVID-19-free year. THE KENTUCKY GENERAL ASSEMBLY 3 2020 Kentucky General Assembly Senate Julie Raque Adams (36) Paul Hornback (20) Robert Stivers II (25) 213 S Lyndon Lane 6102 Cropper Rd 207 Main St Louisville, KY 40222 Shelbyville, KY 40065 Manchester, KY 40962 (LRC) 502-564-8100 (LRC) 502-564-8100 (LRC) 502-564-8100 Ralph Alvarado (28) Stan Humphries (1) (Home) 606-598-8575 3250 McClure Road 763 Sinking Fork Rd (Work) 606-598-2322 Winchester, KY 40391 Cadiz, KY 42211 (Work FAX) 606-598-2357 (LRC) 502-564-8100 (LRC) 502-564-8100 Damon Thayer (17) Karen Berg (26) (Home) 270-522-0195 702 Capital Ave. 702 Capitol Avenue Alice Forgy Kerr (12) Annex Room 242 Frankfort, KY 40601 3274 Gondola Dr Frankfort, KY 40601 (LRC) 502-564-8100 Lexington, KY 40513 (LRC) 502-564-8100 (LRC) 502-564-8100 Reginald Thomas (13) Tom Buford (22) (Home) 859-223-3274 702 Capital Ave. 409 W Maple St Christian McDaniel (23) Annex Room 255 Nicholasville, KY 40356 PO Box 15231 Frankfort, KY 40601 (LRC) 502-564-8100 Latonia, KY 41015 (LRC) 502-564-8100 (LRC FAX) 502-564-2466 (LRC) 502-564-8100 (LRC FAX) 502-564-0777 (Home) 859-885-0606 Morgan McGarvey (19) Johnny Ray Turner (29) (Home FAX) 859-885-0606 2250 Winston Ave 849 Crestwood Dr Jared Carpenter (34) Louisville, KY 40205 Prestonsburg, KY 41653 PO Box 100 (LRC) 502-564-8100 (LRC) 502-564-8100 Berea, KY 40403 (Home) 502-589-2780 (Home) 606-889-6568 (LRC) 502-564-8100 Stephen Meredith (5) Robin L. 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