RURAL Alaska COMMUNITY ACTION Program

The child development division provides early childhood and family support services to prenatal women, children and families in communities across Alaska, serving 643 children and their families. The programs offered include head start, early head start, parents as teachers, and the child development center in anchorage. Child development programs operate under strict federal and state regulations, which require a well-trained staff and continuous monitoring and Program improvement. Programs are designed to facilitate parent involvement and Community collaboration surrounding the basic belief that parents are the child's first and best teacher. Children receive services that promote positive socio-emotional development, healthy practices, cultural richness and school readiness.

Community development team programs served individuals from more than 98 communities in fy23 through a variety of capacity building and wellness activities. These include americorps, vista and elder mentor programs, in addition to several training and technical assistance initiatives. Topic areas include substance use prevention, tobacco prevention, youth engagement, leadership and best practices for working with tribal youth, nutrition education and hydroponic gardening, tribal justice and tribal court development, and state and federal grant management. In partnership with the native village of hooper bay, Community development also supports a domestic violence shelter in hooper bay.

Rural cap is an accredited behavioral health provider with a supportive housing division operating affordable housing units for low-income individuals in anchorage and provides one clinical programs across four locations, offering behavioral health services, following the intensive case management model, to individuals in housing who have sudbstance use or co-occurring disorders and who have experienced chronic homelessness. These behavioral health services are voluntary, but Rural cap maintains a high enrollment rate. Rural cap takes a holistic approach to the individual, recognizing the overall spectrum of needs and treating them concurrently. All programs provide an integrated, comprehensive approach to treatment, recovery support services, and permanent housing placement.

Nine self-help homebuyers are in the process of constructing their homes in soldotna. Construction is estimated to be completed on the homes in august 2024. Rural cap assisted 109 very-low and low income families in obtaining certificates of eligibility to purchase a home through usda Rural development's 502 packaged loan Program. 63 very-low and low income families have successfully closed on their loans and moved into their homes since january 2022. Rural cap's construction team provide weatherization services to include energy efficiency upgrades, indoor air quality upgrades and health and safety measures for 79 homes in the northwest arctic, bering straits, calista, kusilvak, anchorage and southeast Alaska regions. Of the 79 homes to receive weatherization services, 58 homes were occupied by seniors and additional 16 homes received accessibility improvement for clients with disabilities and additional 12 homes received mobile home repair.