Mission

Prevention of child abuse and neglect.

What We Do

ACT is a catalyst for the development of community-based child abuse and neglect prevention through grant making, awareness/education, advocacy, convening discussions, and changing public policy. ACT fulfills three key roles: (1) advocate, (2) convener, and (3) catalyst. As an advocate, ACT strives to actively influence public policy within political, economic and social systems and institutions that help us build a state dedicated to ensuring the safety of Alaskan children. ACT is home to Kids Count Alaska - a resource for legislators, public officials and child advocates containing reliable data, policy recommendations and
tools needed to advance sound policies that benefit children and families. Kids Count Alaska is part of a larger program, Voices for Alaska's Children, that is focused on building a bridge between science, practice, and policy to ensure children grow up in safe, stable and nurturing environments.

As a convener, ACT fosters relationships across the state that result in forward momentum. Two key programs/initiatives within ACT that fulfill this role are the Alaska Afterschool Network and Alaska Resilience Initiative. Alaska Afterschool Network (AAN) is the only statewide coalition dedicated to increasing afterschool and expanded learning opportunities for school-age children, youth, and families in Alaska. With over 100 members across the state, AAN created a network that has led to legislative advancements, increase in professional development, and a community sharing best practices. The Alaska Resilience Initiative formed in 2012 to advance the dialogue in Alaska on brain architecture, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and how communities can prevent ACEs and build resilience.
The Initiative's core philosophy is to design a sustainable statewide system that fosters a culture of health that supports children and families at the community level. The Initiative focuses on three core areas: investment in primary prevention; support of current ACEs work in Alaska, built on the Collective Impact framework; and investments in trauma-informed systems to build capacity of existing networks and services.

Finally, as a catalyst, ACT encourages a new culture, methodology and ideas in fighting an epidemic that has plagued Alaska for decades. ACT achieves this through our grant making process. Annually, ACT invests nearly $500,000 into organizations and programs across the state that are focused on the well-being of children, youth and families. To date, we have invested over $5 million dollars into Alaska to prevent child abuse and neglect. These investments have leveraged millions more.