Knik Tribe to lead effort to keep drug-affected families together in Mat-Su and Kenai

The Knik Tribe will lead a five-year effort to keep children affected by a parent's drug or alcohol use safely with their families across the Mat-Su and Kenai Peninsula boroughs, with $991,023 in federal money, according to the federal award record.

The Administration for Children and Families, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, awarded the money to the Palmer-based tribe through its Regional Partnership Grants program. The agreement takes effect Wednesday and runs through Sept. 29, 2031. The service area is home to about 180,000 people, nearly a quarter of Alaska's population, according to the award record.

The project builds on the tribe's existing Drug Endangered Children Alliance and extends that model to the Kenai Peninsula. It plans to coordinate referrals, bring several agencies together to review a family's case, and write family success plans for parents in recovery and the children in their care. Planned services include treatment and recovery support, parenting education, child advocacy and cultural healing activities.

Partners named in the record include the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, the Chickaloon Traditional Council and the Office of Children's Services, along with law enforcement agencies, health care providers, behavioral health organizations, schools and child advocacy centers.

The project's goals include reducing the number of children placed outside their homes or entering foster care, reuniting more families, and giving children stable, lasting homes. It also aims to identify struggling families sooner through family advocates, widen access to recovery and parenting services, and build a model that could expand statewide.