Reducing Barriers to Mental Health Service for Children

This program furthers the Department's mission by providing cooperative agreements for enhancement and expansion of Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) to organizations that OJJDP designates. The purpose of this program is to increase the coverage and capacity of CAC services in Alaska for child victims of abuse. The Children’s Place serves the Matanuska Susitna Borough, a 25,258-square-mile area with 31 communities and, as of 2019, a population of 106,438. The Children’s Place provides forensic medical exams and interviews in a child-friendly facility for children who have been sexually abused. The Children’s Place also responds to other cases of severe abuse and neglect. An MDT works together to provide care, advocacy, and justice for our patients so that children are not retraumatized by the evaluation and investigation of abuse. The Children’s Place will focus primarily on providing counseling services for children and families who have been victims of abuse. The secondary focus will be training for staff to support resiliency and sharpen skills in all areas of operation. The final focus area is to support part of the executive director’s salary and the medical biller’s salary, as both positions will be hands-on in developing this new program and learning to bill insurance for counseling services. CA/NCF