Building solutions for Alaska’s children and family wellbeing and state economic success.
In partnership with
The Vision
We envision a world where young people have access to mental health care they need. Key to realizing this vision is creating culturally competent and age-appropriate mental and behavioral health program models. It is essential that youth and young adults are involved in the creation of these models.Given how many young people lack access to the mental health services they need, we advocate for additional public and private funding to increase access to quality mental health support for all youth. Achieving funding parity between mental health and physical health programs is another essential ingredient in fulfilling this vision.
Finally, we envision a world in which preventive measures and support are widely accessible before mental health challenges become acute, which can be both effective and cost-saving. This working group of advocates, mental health professionals, and public health leaders are dedicated to the well-being of our youth, and we believe that one of the most promising strategies for advancing our vision is to accelerate access to supportive community individuals such as peer support, near peers, paraprofessionals, and caring adults outside the traditional mental health workforce, thereby broadening and diversifying service networks and making mental health care more accessible and effective for our youth.
Our vision is not just about creating a better future for our youth but about shaping a society that values mental health as much as physical health, and recognizes that everyone, especially our youth, deserves access to quality mental health care.
The Problem
There is broad agreement that current conditions in Alaska make it difficult for many families to thrive. Challenges such as lack of access to childcare, low kindergarten readiness, high poverty rates, and low workforce participation create significant barriers for families. According to the Alaska Early Care and Learning Dashboard, approximately 21,773 children—representing about 39% of children under six—cannot access childcare. This limitation has widespread consequences; for instance, in 2020–2021, 12.7% of Alaska children under age six lived in families in which someone quit, changed, or refused a job because of problems with childcare.
These issues are compounded by broader economic factors, including a narrow tax base and insufficient economic opportunity, though there have been some positive developments, such as modest job growth and increased wages.
of children under six cannot access childcare.
(Alaska Early Care and Learning Dashboard)
State funding for children and families the past 10 years has decreased by 15%
(Alaska Early Care and Learning Dashboard)
In 2020–2021, 12.7% of Alaska children under age six lived in families in which someone quit, changed, or refused a job because of problems with childcare.
(Alaska Early Care and Learning Dashboard)
Blueprint Consensus SOLUTIONS
Improving System Integration
Beyond fostering partnerships among organizations, there must be an updated vision of how the roles of different sectors in addressing SDOH can be better integrated.
Building an SDOH Workforce
Success in addressing SDOH in a community, identifying a person’s HRSNs (health related social needs), and coordinating services requires trusted community-based workers with strong local knowledge. Community Health Workers (CHWs), social workers, and similar professionals typically have these attributes. For any community, however, a team with workers at different decision levels is needed, and the best team depends on community characteristics.
Financing SDOH Approaches
Upfront investments in non-clinical social services, and in the “infrastructure” of collaboration, are needed to achieve downstream gains. Typically both government and private investment is needed and appropriate. Policy changes should also ensure that budget rules, payment systems, etc., should make such community investment a logical business or public investment decision; that is often not the case today.
Addressing Data Sharing, Evaluation, and Experimentation
The federal government and states need to consider several steps to help build a cross-sector information infrastructure. Data sharing is essential for effective screening and for successful referrals. Accurate and timely data is also needed to measure the effectiveness of SDOH strategies and to build a more complete understanding of the connection between nutrition, housing, education, transportation, other factors, and community health. Improved data and cost-benefit tools are also seen as important for measuring the broader multi-sector impacts of an SDOH investment.
Next steps
Convergence is currently convening a Collaborative of a diverse group of representative stakeholders and experts through the summer of 2024, with the goal of finding consensus on a set of recommended policy changes. These federal and state actions will aim to create a significantly better policy environment for innovative collaborative efforts at all levels, to improve individual and public health.
The Solution
With Convergence’s evidence-based methodology, this Collaborative will not only identify what solutions for children will deliver the biggest economic benefits or downstream savings, but it will take the next step of determining the plans and resources needed and how to secure them. These resources can be financial or non-financial (such as better leveraging volunteerism or familial support) and can come from both the private and public sectors. Participants in the Collaborative will include leaders and doers from across the political spectrum, from different sectors, and with a wide variety of issue expertise, enabling novel partnerships, cross-fertilization, and synergies.
Collaborative members
Stacy Barnes, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
Andy Bartel, St. John United Methodist Church
Tamar Ben-Yosef, All Alaska Pediatric Partnership
Eva Bergmann-Hok, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
Eric Billingsley, United Way Anchorage
Leigh Bolin, Resource Center for Parents and Children
Mark Burgess, Credit Union 1 Alaska
Representative Julie Coulombe, Alaska House of Representatives
Sarah Erkmann Ward, Blueprint Consulting
Lon Garrison, Association of Alaska School Boards
Amy Gorn, Mat-Su Health Foundation
Jennifer Green, Richard L. and Diane M. Block Foundation
Gretchen Guess, Rasmuson Foundation
Heather Harris, Anchorage Economic Development Corporation
Abbe Hensley, Early Childhood Advocate
Brian Holst, Juneau Economic Development Council
Meg Horvath, Providence Alaska Children’s Hospital & Women’s Services
Lee Kadinger, Sealaska Heritage Institute
Jared Kosin, Alaska Hospital & Healthcare Association
Julia Luey, Volunteers of America – Alaska
Kathleen McArdle, Anchorage Chamber of Commerce
Kari Nore, Alaska Chamber of Commerce
Rachel Olson, Reach 907 Behavioral Health
Larry Persily, Alaska News Coalition
Lucy Rogers, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
Ivy Spohnholz, Former Legislator
Jean Swanson, Sitka Tribe of Alaska
Trang Tran, UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research
Jessica Saniguq Ullrich, WSU Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health
Leah Van Kirk, Alaska Department of Health
Lindsey Vorachek, Alyeska Pipeline
David Wilson, Mat-Su Health Foundation
Project funders
Interested in funding a project in the future?
We rely on a diverse and growing mix of sources, including individual donors, foundations, and stakeholders at the table. Please contact Jenn Dziak at jenn at convergencepolicy dot org or check out our donate page if you are interested in providing support for this project or for Convergence’s work more broadly.
