ARTICLE TAG

Alaska

Youth Services Insider

5/21/2022

Lawsuit Alleges End to End Failures in Alaska’s Child Welfare System

A class-action lawsuit filed last week accuses Alaska’s child welfare agency of failing to support birth parents, kinship caregivers and foster parents, while violating the requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act. 

Judges in “Kids for Cash” Scandal Must Compensate Families, Court Decides

5/16/2022

Alaska Foster Youth Get More Input in their Cases

Alaska has amended court rules to allow foster youth the ability to attend hearings and have attorneys argue their own wishes in their cases.

New Bill Would Help Foster Youth in Washington, D.C., Keep Federal Benefits

12/28/2021

Judge Curbs Alaska’s Practice of Claiming Foster Youths’ Federal Benefits

Last year, foster youth in Alaska won the right to be notified when the state seized their federal benefits and this fall, the judge on the case finalized the ruling.

Youth Services Insider
Study of Native Children’s Justice Needs Will Likely Be Extended

8/25/2021

Study of Native Children’s Justice Needs Will Likely Get a Two-Year Extension

A bill granting the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Tribal Justice two additional years to complete a study on the needs of Native children is on its way to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.

Youth Services Insider

7/1/2019

Alaska Dropping Federal Group Home Claims to Comply with Family First Act in 2019

The Family First Prevention Services Act offers states the chance to tap federal funds to prevent the need for foster care in some child welfare cases. At the same time, it greatly limits the amount of federal money that can be used to put foster youth in group homes, institutions and other “congregate care” options.

2/21/2018

Alaska Transfers Child Welfare Services for Native Alaskans to Tribes

In Alaska, a coalition of tribal governments has now begun to assume responsibility for offering some child welfare services to Alaska Native children. The Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact, which was signed into law in October 2017 by Alaska Gov.

    1/17/2018

    Analysis: 11 States Struggle to Meet Federal Education Requirements for Foster Youth

    A little more than a year after federal law mandated school districts across the country ensure foster youth are transported to school, at least 11 states are outright failing – or are clearly struggling – to make this happen, according to new reporting by The Imprint.

    2/22/2017

    Congratulations, Alaska: You’re the Foster Care Capital of America

    At the end of 2016, the federal government finally released state-by-state foster care numbers for 2015. Congratulations, Alaska: You’re number one! The National Coalition for Child Protection Reform uses a “Rate of Removal Index” to determine each state’s propensity to place children in foster care.

    7/19/2016

    For Advocates and Native Communities, an Online Resource for Sex Trafficking Victims

    American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls fall prey to human trafficking at a disproportionate rate, according to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC).