Bring the Kids Home is an initiative to return children with severe emotional disturbances from out-of-state residential facilities to treatment in Alaska and to keep new children from moving into out-of-state care.
Three primary goals guide the initiative:
- Significantly reduce the numbers of children and youth in out-of-state care and ensure that the future use of out-of-state facilities is kept to a minimum.
- Build the capacity within Alaska to serve children with all intensities of need.
- Develop an integrated, seamless system that will serve children in the most culturally competent, least restrictive setting, and as close to home as possible.
Guiding Principles
- Kids belong in their homes (least restrictive, most appropriate setting, community based).
- Strengthen families first (strength based, preventative)
- Families and youth are equal partners (family driven, youth driven).
- Respect individual, family and community values (culturally competent, individualized care, community-specific solutions).
- Normalize the situation (meet the child where they are, respect normal life cycles, promote normal and healthy development).
- Help is accessible (coordinated and collaborative).
- Consumers are satisfied and collaborative meaningful outcomes are achieved (emphasis on research, evidence, quality improvement, accountability).
History:
From 1998 to 2004, Alaska’s behavioral health system became increasingly reliant on Residential Psychiatric Treatment Centers (Residential Psychiatric Treatment Centers) for treatment of severely emotionally disturbed youth. Out-of-state placements grew by nearly 800 percent. Alaska Native children were over-represented: 49 percent of children in state custody and 22 percent of non-custody children in out-of-state placements were Alaska Native.