'You don't get credit for backtracking from your own bad ideas,' Gara says of Dunleavy reversal on foster care

On July 1, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said his budget vetoes restored “budgetary discipline.”

In the section of the budget dealing with foster care, he vetoed millions that would have improved programs for dealing with families in trouble and kids within the overburdened foster care system. He also vetoed money designed to give recruiting bonuses to attract social workers.

At the time of those vetoes, former Rep. Les Gara said the actions by Dunleavy meant more children would remain in a “foster care system he’s letting crumble.”

“They stop youth from being reunified with their parents. Cruel as cruel can be,” he said.

On Tuesday, Dunleavy held a press conference to promote several programs, including putting more millions into the foster care system, without admitting that he vetoed money for the programs five months ago.

“You don’t get credit for backtracking from your own bad ideas,” Gara said.

Dunleavy said he has a new plan called “People First,” with proposals on five areas related to health and safety, including foster care.

Reelection First is more like it.

After he was attacked on the vetoes last summer, Dunleavy had his press office write a statement in July saying there was nothing cruel about his budget reductions. He defended his vetoes on foster care spending.

“Rest assured that every foster parent will receive the payments they are owed, and every public health nurse will remain employed,” Dunleavy said in a press release printed in Alaska newspapers as an opinion column.

Dunleavy reduced the amount of money provided to third-party groups that deal with custody issues.

One of his vetoes was a $3.4 million plan under which tribes would work with the state on child custody. “Because state officials aren't in every village, an agreement with tribes allows them to take up some of the work,” the Anchorage Daily News said.

Dunleavy also vetoed $1.2 million for bonuses, counseling and other help for social workers, who have an exceptionally high turnover rate. Many don’t last a year.

"The benefits of this proposal are unsubstantiated and do not address the effectiveness of the organization of the whole department," his office said about that cut.

In a reversal from last summer, he now says the state must spend more to improve the foster care system.

This may have something to do with an increase in federal funding, which may be used to pay for the program to begin with, but Dunleavy didn’t make that clear. Full details are expected when candidate Dunleavy releases his proposed budget Wednesday.