Lawmakers, advocates move to reignite an Alaska Children’s Caucus

A children's play set sits empty on a cloudy day in Anchorage. Advocates say better access to educational resources might help parents and children engage with their communities. (Photo by Sophia Carlisle/Alaska Beacon)

State legislators announced Tuesday that they are organizing a bipartisan Alaska Children’s Caucus to focus on policy to improve early childhood outcomes. The effort follows months of work by legislators with child advocates who have supported the formation of the caucus.

The caucus is still in nascent stages, but Senate co-chairs Sen. Löki Gale Tobin, D-Anchorage, and Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, and the House co-chairs Rep. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, and Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks, have an open invitation to all members of the Alaska State Legislature to join. The first meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

Sens. Loki Tobin and Click Bishop share a laugh during a break before the budget vote on May 17, 2023. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Advocates with the nonprofit Alaska Children’s Trust point to data to argue that a sustained legislative effort is needed to support improving the well-being of children in the state.

Alaska was 38th among the states in a ranking of child well-being, according to the most recent edition of an annual report. Trevor Storrs, executive director of the Alaska Children’s Trust — the state partner for collecting that data — said the state is always in the bottom quarter or third nationally because of low education, health and economic health outcomes.

“I dont think I’m surprising anybody that our families and our children are struggling in this state. This is not new,” he said in a presentation at the Capitol at the end of January.

To turn things around, Storrs said, the Legislature should budget for children and enact policy that prioritizes youth. He said the state’s investment in children, youth and families keeps going down, according to his data, so he wants to see lawmakers re-establish a children’s caucus. “It’s to be able to give a voice to those who don’t have a voice,” he said. “Kids don’t get to come to the Capitol.”

Legislators have attempted this before: Back in 2019, then-Reps. Chris Tuck, D-Anchorage, and Sara Rasmussen, R-Anchorage, worked towards a Children’s Caucus that met once.

Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, and Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage, smile as they leave the Senate chambers after voting in favor of the state budget on Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Tobin’s office has taken up the banner this year, working with the Alaska Children’s Trust.

“Our whole focus is on creating a sustainable system that is able to really prop up some of the things that we know are going to be good early education policy,” said Tobin, D-Anchorage. “I want to make sure everybody’s doing the work to get us into a place where it just becomes expected that there is a children’s caucus. That there is no like, ‘Who’s going to take the work on now and what’s it going to look like?’”

Tobin said the Hunt Foundation recommended Alaska legislators spend more time addressing pre-K, which feeds into performance in the K-12 school system. Officials with the foundation, which funds education-related efforts across the country, are scheduled to present information to caucus members at its first meeting.

“We’re looking forward to what we hope will be bipartisan solutions to addressing some of the holes, because we know there’s holes,” Tobin said.

Co-chair Giessel said she doesn’t have specific expectations for the caucus, but she anticipates child care and mental health will be addressed. “As a nurse practitioner, I volunteer in school-based clinics in [Anchorage School District]. I provide physical health services but screen for mental health issues and refer for services if indicated. Kids are facing many challenges today in this realm,” she said by email.

Child well-being in Alaska

Storrs said that Alaska has a significant strength — the state ranks 22nd in family and community ties. But there is room for work in the other three metrics that Annie E. Casey Foundation uses to measure child well-being: education, health, and economic well-being.

Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks, smiles after she leaves the Alaska House of Representatives on Thursday, May 18, 2023, after voting in favor of the state budget. At right is Rep. Jennie Armstrong, D-Anchorage. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska ranks 49th in the nation for education, according to the national report. The data shows fourth grade students are not proficient in reading and eighth grade students are not proficient in math.

Storrs said there have been some wins in education in the last year: More children are enrolled in school than previous years, for example, though Alaska’s rate is still not competitive nationally. Alaska students are also graduating more than in previous years.

Alaska ranked 44th in the nation for children’s health. Storrs said fewer children are in poverty in Alaska this year, but more than a third of the state’s students live in households where the parent does not have secure employment.

“When families don’t have basic needs they are more at risk,” Storrs said. He said lack of resources or homelessness are behind most cases of neglect in the state.

Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, listens as Rep. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, speaks on March 20, 2023, on the floor of the Alaska House. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

He said Alaska has more children in foster care than the national average and the rate of teen suicides is still high.

“We actually know what the solution is,” he said. “It’s really about ensuring that children, youth, families and the community have four things: the knowledge, skills, support and resources to thrive.”

Storrs made the case that with investments in childhood well-being, the state could reduce the amount of money it spends on correctional services, and pointed to research that shows that an early investment in children — from birth to age 5 — can reduce the amount of social spending governments have to do later.

“When we work with kids at a younger age and get them the protective factors that they need — rather than having adverse childhood experiences, ensuring that they have more of a positive childhood experience — builds that resiliency and prepares them for the challenges of adult life that we’ve all experienced,” Storrs said.

He said investments in home visiting programs, like the ones run by the state’s Head Starts or the Parents as Teachers program could make a big difference.

The first meeting of the Alaska Children’s Caucus will be held on Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. in the Beltz Committee Room in the Alaska State Capitol and will be available for streaming on akl.tv.

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