Tlingit & Haida awarded $1.15 million of $8.4 million sought for child care recovery

Six Southeast Alaska communities will see federal child care recovery money address "necessary child care recovery expenses and other allowable purposes," after the U.S. Office of Child Care awarded the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska $1,149,999, about one-seventh of the $8,449,997 the tribe had requested.

The communities named in the award are Juneau, Wrangell, Ketchikan, Saxman, Craig, and Klawock. The resolution does not establish how the funds will be divided among them, only that they will be used to address expenses across those communities.

The tribe's 477 Program filed the application in August and September 2025, and the request included the full amount of the tribe's federally approved indirect rate. The award came on February 10, 2026. The Executive Council adopted Resolution EC 26-24 on February 20, authorizing President Richard J. Peterson, or a designee, to submit, negotiate, execute, and administer the grant documents. The vote was 6 yeas, 0 nays, 0 abstentions, 0 absences.

The funds trace to disaster supplemental money announced in July 2025 under the American Relief Act. They are restricted to child care recovery expenses and other allowable purposes tied to major disasters and emergencies declared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act in 2023 and 2024.

The resolution states that the funds "will be used to address necessary child care recovery expenses and other allowable purposes for the communities of Juneau, Wrangell, Ketchikan, Saxman, Craig, and Klawock." It does not itemize which expenses the smaller award will cover, and it records no explanation from the Office of Child Care for the difference between the request and the award.

The resolution is the tribe's own record. It contains no federal response.

An earlier Alaska News article noted that Tlingit & Haida is building two early education campuses in Craig and Klawock to expand Head Start and child care capacity while adding Indigenous language instruction. Alaska News has also covered documented shortfalls in the federal Head Start money Alaska tribal governments administer.