About OCS: Strengthen Alaska Families

A primary goal of the Office of Children's Services is to strengthen Alaska's families. In order to meet this goal OCS has implemented the following strategies:

Strengthening Families Through Early Care & Education

A cost-effective initiative aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect. The Center for the Study for Social Policy, with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, set out to develop an approach to child abuse prevention that would be systematic and national, reach large numbers of very young children, and have impact before abuse or neglect occurred. Alaska is one of seven states chosen to pilot the program. Its strategy involves early childhood centers working with families to build protective factors around children. Alaska’s program brings together a leadership team from the child welfare, child abuse prevention, and early childhood fields, as well as parents and community leaders. These partners combine existing strategies to prevent child abuse and neglect primarily through state policy development and through early care and education programs. For more information

The Alaska Children’s Trust

Strives to improve the status of Alaska’s children by generating funds and committing resources to eliminate child abuse and neglect. In fiscal year 2005, the Children’s Trust awarded 16 grants totaling more than $229,000 to community-based prevention programs across the state. In 2005, the Children’s Trust also launched a social marketing campaign reminding parents to “Listen, Talk and Play” with their children, and funded a new 24-hour parent support line. For more information

The Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Project

Designed to bring partners in various fields together from around Alaska to review existing systems for children prenatal to age 8 and plan for their improvement. Its goal is to implement more family-centered, coordinated, prevention-oriented, and adequately financed systems of services to support the health and development of young children. For more information