Two Northwest Montana women will serve on a freshly minted board meant to keep Montana children safe.

Deputy Flathead County Attorney Anne Lawrence of Kalispell and Sunburst Mental Health Community Foundation worker Megan Bailey of St. Ignatius will serve on the 14-person Protect Montana Kids Commission that was created earlier this year to examine the state’s child protective system.

The commission was named in September and will be tasked with recommending immediate system changes, reviewing the system and making recommendations to legislators in 2017.

Lawrence specializes in family cases in the Flathead County Attorney’s Office, where she has worked for three years. Lawrence also worked on family law cases in the Texas Panhandle.

Lawrence said she enjoys her work helping children and she has a lot of respect for the case workers in the Montana system. Right now, she said there is a shortage of case workers in the area.

“They are overworked and underpaid,” Lawrence said. “It’s very, very difficult work. It’s very sad. It’s pretty horrific conditions that a lot of children are in.”

Lawrence said she would like to see the Kalispell Department of Family Services office fully staffed.

“I like to think we are helping the community at large by helping these littlest victims,” Lawrence said.

Bailey, too, said thinks focusing on children and families is important. She works as a therapist with families in crisis on the Flathead Indian Reservation. She has previously served as a crisis mental health profession in Missoula and has volunteered for many organizations in Indian Country. Bailey was raised in a traditional Native American household.

Bailey said that she thinks she will bring a unique perspective to the commission because her job lets her interact with all the cogs in the system.

“I’m hearing the school’s complaints about the system,” Bailey said. “I’m hearing the workers’ complaints, I’m hearing the family’s complaints about the system, I’m hearing the kids’ complaints about the system. I hear compliments, too.”

However, Bailey said she is more interested in listening to others during her time on the commission than spouting off her own opinions.

“I feel like I would be doing everyone an injustice if it was just from my scope and my voice,” Bailey said. “I want to talk to different tribes, families and workers throughout the state. Is my perspective unique or is my perspective something that encompasses the whole state of Montana? I don’t know the answer to that, but I feel like I have to find out.”

Bailey said she applauds the governor for his commitment to keeping children safe and that she is happy he might be interested in allocating more resources to the problem. She said that there also needs to be more utilization of programs already in existence.

“One of the things that I’ve noticed — and I may be wrong— is that there may not be a lack of services in the community, but there is a lack of understanding about how to link kids into those services,” Bailey said.

The commission is tasked with bringing recommendations that would improve the state’s child protection system to the governor by March 31, 2016.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or [email protected].