Funding for child services in Alaska is unresolved as the Legislature nears the end of its annual session, and a committee will decide how to reconcile very different budget proposals from the House and Senate.
The House of Representatives proposed several significant increases to funding in their version of the operating budget, while the Senate’s proposed budget makes no increases, only providing union-bargained employee salary increases. Negotiations are ongoing for lawmakers to balance a budget in the face of a significant deficit caused by low oil prices.
Programs affecting the well-being of children were among the differences that must be addressed by a conference committee composed of three members of the Senate and three from the House.
They’re charged with picking budget amounts from either the House or Senate proposals — or a number in between the two — and bringing them back to each chamber for final approval. While there are roughly 400 budget items that this committee was set to begin to work on Tuesday afternoon, child advocates and some lawmakers are putting a spotlight on four sensitive areas: child advocacy centers, nutrition programs, infant learning and child care.
Centers that serve child victims are under threat
One of those funding items is for child advocacy centers, which provide services for children after suspected physical or sexual abuse.
The House proposed $5.5 million for 20 child advocacy centers statewide. The Senate proposed no increase.
Advocates say that additional state funding is essential for child advocacy centers to replace federal funding cuts and grants running out in the coming fiscal year, which lasts from July 2025 to June 2026.
“Alaska’s CACs may soon be in jeopardy due to a dramatic dropoff of federal funds in FY26,” said Mari Mukai, executive director of the Alaska Children’s Alliance, in an email on Monday. “Amounting to $5.5 million or about half of the overall statewide budget. We are asking the State to step in and fill this gap, which would allow the continuation of current service levels.”
The program is currently funded at $10.9 million from a mix of federal grants, local grants, earned income and funding, and no current state funding.
Child advocacy centers served 2,061 families last year, Mukai noted. “Alaska consistently struggles with some of the nation’s highest rates of child abuse and domestic violence, and Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) are an essential part of the solution.”
The centers provide wraparound services for children and their caregivers after suspected physical or sexual abuse, including trauma-informed interviewing process, forensic services, streamlined investigations and victim advocacy through the life of the case, she said.
Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, agreed that lawmakers should prioritize the program.
“That’s absolutely crucial public safety work. Talk to any police investigator who does these kinds of gut-wrenching cases, and they will tell you just how vital these are. Prosecutors will tell you the training these CACs have makes cases,” Kiehl said in an interview on Monday.
However, the finance committee put forward the Senate’s proposed budget, with no increases for the centers.
“We took the fiscally constrained position, but ultimately that need has to get met,” Kiehl said.
Kiehl said legislators are having productive discussions, “budget negotiations are vastly better than the state’s fiscal picture.” He said the final budget numbers, which will be a compromise between the two chambers and also take into account Dunleavy’s priorities, will be difficult.
“The backdrop is, we can’t replace every federal dollar. There isn’t enough money, there aren’t enough dollars. There’s just not enough money there. As we in the Senate talk with our conferees,” referring to the Senate’s negotiators in the conference committee. “A number of us have put that on the priority list.”
“There’s so much need and so little cash,” he added.
Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, has advocated for funding the centers throughout the session. He said Monday he believes there is support among lawmakers to approve the funding. “Child advocacy centers are also essential to detect and arrest predators,” he said. “So not funding child advocacy centers is really not an option, because if we didn’t fund them, sex predators would go free and prey on more children. So I think for that reason, no one actually thinks the final budget will fail to fund child advocacy centers.”
Other budget items related to child-focused programs are more uncertain.
Nutrition program increase faces difficult path
The governor and House proposed a $120,000 increase to child nutritional programs, to provide grant funding over the next three years. The Senate proposed no increase.
Rachel Lord, policy director for the Alaska Food Policy Council and also mayor of Homer, said the state support is necessary.
“1 in 6 Alaskan kids experience hunger, and 20,000 kids in Alaska are supported by SNAP assistance,” she said in an email on Tuesday. “When kids are fed, they learn and behave better. Helping to get food to kids through programs … help not only our most vulnerable Alaskans, but also can support our agricultural industry through local procurement and expanded markets.”
Lord added that Alaskans are relying on lawmakers to manage a stable financial system. “The structural deficit of the state is harmful, especially to our kids, elders, and working families. Reducing hunger in Alaska benefits our workforce, and reduces healthcare and public safety costs over time,” she said. “It is a long-term investment in our state, but it requires fiscal stability that we just don’t have right now.”
Last year, the House proposed an almost $480,000 increase to fund free school lunches, and the Senate also removed the item.
School lunches are part of the Department of Education and Early Development budget. This year, the only budget increase the Senate’s proposed for child nutrition was $75,000 more for employee salaries.
A bill to provide free breakfast and lunches for all Alaska students, House Bill 12, sponsored by Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks, also did not advance in the education committee this session.
Advocates argue infant learning saves future costs
Infant learning programs serve children and families from infancy to age 3, who are experiencing developmental delays. They provide home-based services, interventions and therapies funded by the state and Medicaid health care reimbursements, at no cost to families. Advocates are urging an increased state budget after flat funding since 2014.
The House proposed a $5.7 million increase in grants to early intervention and infant learning programs. The Senate proposed no increase.
Laura Norton-Cruz is a social worker, filmmaker and advocate for early childhood programs. “In rural regions, airplane costs have gone up. Health insurance costs have gotten up. And the funding has remained flat,” she told the Beacon earlier this month. “If they continue to flat fund, it is a divestment, right, especially as federal funds disappear,” she said. “(It) is a divestment from children. And if you divest from children, things will get worse.”
Last year, the programs were funded through the Department of Health at $9.7 million. If the conference committee chooses the Senate budget, the statewide infant learning programs would be funded at the same level.
Child care remains growing need
On child care, the House proposed a $6.1 million increase in child care subsidies, and $7.7 million more in grants to child care providers, totaling $13.8 million in increases. The Senate proposed no increase.
Fields said it’s an issue of continuing support for the state’s struggling child care sector.
“We have been funding child care grants for a number of years now,” he said. “It’s a question of, do we maintain continuity with supporting the child care workforce so the parents can work?”
Last year, the House proposed a similar $7.5 million increase, which was removed by the Senate, and the state funded the child care program benefits through the Office of Public Assistance at $47.7 million.
Whether any of these increases survive in the budget depends on the conference committee, which must weigh them against other priorities.
Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, and one of the conference committee members said in a news conference on Tuesday that some of the top priorities are funds for wildfire preparedness, emergency services, and child care. On child advocacy centers, he said “we’ll be reviewing that item, that does not go unnoticed.”