Alaska sends kids Outside for care. A Wasilla project targets that.

Alaska has so little community-based mental health care for children that sending them away has become the default. The state places children in 17 psychiatric residential treatment facilities outside Alaska, and a 2022 U.S. Justice Department investigation found more than 800 Alaska children were treated in psychiatric institutions in 2020 — about a third of them Alaska Native, with parents reporting concerns about children being separated from their culture.

A proposal before the Wasilla Planning Commission next week aims at the gap the Justice Department identified. Denali Family Services wants to build a 21,700-square-foot outpatient facility for youth behavioral health at Lucille Street and Nelson Avenue, consolidating therapeutic foster care support, psychiatric care, early childhood and school-based services, and case management under one roof. The nonprofit serves more than 200 youth and families a year across Anchorage and the Mat-Su, and expects to employ 35 to 40 staff at full build-out.

City planning staff found the project meets all nine conditional use criteria and recommend approval, with conditions including sewer capacity verification tied to the city's wastewater plant upgrades and a fire marshal sign-off before building permits are issued.

The commission's vote Tuesday is binding. Construction is not expected to begin until late 2027.