FY24 State Budget Priorities Impacting Justice-Involved Alaskans
The Governor’s proposed FY24 budget is currently being reviewed by the Alaska State Legislature. The
following items impact justice-involved Alaskans, families, and providers of services. To comment on these
budget items, send emails to house.finance@akleg.gov and senate.finance@akleg.gov.
__________________________________
Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API) (DFCS). Funds support API’s work with the Department of Corrections
(DOC) and community providers to develop Outpatient Restoration and Jail Based Restoration programs for
competency restoration. Support $800,000 GF/MH funds for Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API).
Alaska Training Cooperative (ATC). Funds support professional development, continuing education
programs, and non-academic trainings to individuals and behavioral health service providers. The Alaska
Mental Health Trust requested additional funds for the ATC, but this was not included in the proposed FY24
budget. Support the full $150,000 GF/MH recommendation for the Alaska Training Cooperative at the Center
for Human Development at the University of Alaska.
Comorbid Health & Addiction Care. Funds support adding specialized psychiatric nursing care for incarcerated
individuals who cannot live in general population due to the level of their mental health condition. Support
$150,000 MHTAAR funds to address Comorbid Health and Addiction issues in Department of Corrections.
Holistic Defense. Funds support continuing administering the Holistic Defense model in Bethel for defendants
not already participating in a therapeutic court or other diversion program. Participants with disabilities can
receive legal support from both a criminal and civil legal aid attorney, and community support (treatment,
housing, employment, etc.) from a social worker who works with the team to address a defendant’s unmet
community needs. Support $126,400 MHTAAR funds for Holistic Defense in Department of Administration.
Juneau Mental Health Court. Funds support continuing the Juneau Mental Health Court for people with
behavioral health conditions and other disabilities to develop a court-ordered treatment plan monitored
by the court that addresses the underlying reasons for an individual's contact with the criminal justice
system. Support $126,000 MHTAAR funds for the Juneau Mental Health Court.
Peer Support Certification. Funds support continued implementation of Alaska’s Peer Support Certification
program. Peer support is a critical service in community behavioral health settings across the state for ensuring
people with lived experience are involved in and leading the process of reentry and recovery. Support the Trust’s
full recommendation of $100,000 GF/MH funds for Peer Support Certification in Department of Health.
Reentry Services Expansion. Funds support expansion of the Institutional Discharge Project Plus (IDP+) program
to serve individuals with mental illness within DOC’s unsentenced population releasing into the community.
IDP+ is an evidence-based model of intensive case management that helps individuals access appropriate
housing, treatment, and other supports that increase stability in the community and reduces the likelihood of
future criminal involvement. Support $131,000 MHTAAR funds for Reentry Services Expansion in DOC.
Residential Substance Use Disorder Treatment. Funds support Residential Substance Abuse Treatment
(RSAT) for incarcerated individuals, and Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) and Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy interventions for individuals transitioning out of incarceration. Support the authority $125,000
Federal Funds for SUD Treatment in DOC.
Specialized Skills and Services Training for Serving Justice-Involved Alaskans. Funds support the annual
Reducing Recidivism and Reentry Conference in Anchorage focusing on treatment interventions, direct
services, and supports for Alaskans involved in the criminal justice system. The conference provides
hands-on skills and information for direct service providers, people with lived experience of incarceration,
families, corrections, courts and behavioral health workers. Support $72,500 MHTAAR funds for Specialized
Skills and Services Training for Justice-Involved Alaskans through the University of Alaska.
Supported Employment Workforce. Funds support continued expansion of educational opportunities for
people with mental health and addiction conditions, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and other disabilities,
as they work toward self-sufficiency and integration in the workforce. Supported employment is mentorship,
training, and other supports to help people with disabilities be successfully employed. Support $100,000
MHTAAR for Supported Employment Workforce expansion at the University of Alaska.
Telehealth Improvements. Funds support telehealth improvements for treatment and other health care
support for justice-involved Alaskans in both rural and urban areas. The Alaska Mental Health Trust
requested additional funds for Telehealth Improvements, but this was not included in the proposed FY24
budget. Support the full $63,000 GF/MH request for Telehealth Improvements in Department of Health.
Training for DOC Mental Health Staff. Funds supports additional training for DOC mental health clinical staff
for foundational knowledge on mental health disorders, cognitive impairments, PAE/FASD, traumatic brain
injury, addiction treatment, and more. Support the full $50,000 MHTAAR recommendation for Training for
Mental Health Staff within the Department of Corrections.
Training for Therapeutic Court Staff. Funds support additional professional training to existing Therapeutic
Court teams (judges, attorneys, project coordinators, clinical case coordinators, etc.) for both in-state and
out-of-state training focusing on the intersection of the criminal justice and community behavioral health
systems (mental health and substance abuse). Support the full Trust recommendation of $20,000 MHTAAR
funds for Training for Therapeutic Court Staff.
Treatment and Supervision Costs for Therapeutic Courts. Funds support expanding treatment services in
Kenai and Sitka, enhanced supervision through electronic monitoring and urinalysis testing, and additional
support services for the Palmer Families with Infants and Toddlers Court. Support $102,700 GF/MH funds
for additional Treatment and Supervision for Therapeutic Courts.
Trauma-Informed Treatment for Incarcerated Women. Funds support a pilot project to address the
impacts of past trauma on incarcerated women at two Alaska prisons (Hiland Mountain and Yukon-
Kuskowim Correctional Centers). This project is a collaboration between DOC and community partners for
both in-person and telehealth services that support healthy alternatives to substance use, and learning to
cope with the impacts of trauma. Support $150,000 MHTAAR funds for Trauma-Informed Treatment for
Incarcerated Women within the Department of Corrections.
Community In-Reach Programs and Activities in Alaska Prisons and Halfway Houses
Support resources and policies that promote community rehabilitative programs and activities
inside Alaska’s prisons and halfway houses, such as substance abuse treatment and recovery,
education and vocational training, reentry and transition planning, parenting and life skills,
faith-based and cultural activities. Community in-reach has shown to increase the likelihood of
success after release and reduce the likelihood of recidivism (the commission of new crimes).
____________________________________________
Before COVID, community service providers were providing a broad range of valuable
rehabilitative programs and activities inside Department of Corrections (DOC) facilities. With
the exception of chaplaincy, all of these efforts were suspended during COVID, and while
some work-arounds were introduced, such as self-study books and video presentations,
residents in DOC facilities were without access to community in-reach opportunities for
more than two years.
Today, as most COVID restrictions have been relaxed, and while some in-reach efforts have
returned, it is a small percentage compared to the spectrum that was once available.
Community providers support returning to a robust array of community programs and
activities inside DOC facilities (prisons and halfway houses) statewide. Community in-reach
can be provided in person, as it was previously, and through expanded safe and secure
digital technology, that may include video conferencing, distance learning, and closed-
circuit educational programming.
Recommendations:
▪ Support policies that ensure community providers are able to safely and securely enter
DOC facilities to provide approved programs and activities to incarcerated individuals.
▪ Support resources for contracts and staff support in providing valuable rehabilitative
programs and services, such as behavioral health assessments, treatment and recovery,
education and vocational training, life skills, finance, and parenting classes, faith-based
and cultural activities, recreation and arts, and more.
▪ Support resources and policies that promote expanded use of safe and secure digital
technology to incarcerated individuals in Alaska’s prisons and halfway houses, such as
video conferencing, distance learning, and closed circuit educational channels.
To contact your personal state legislators (Senator and Representative), go to www.akleg.gov
and scroll to WHO REPRESENTS ME and type in your home address. Say you are a constituent!
Access to State ID Upon Reentry From Incarceration
Support processes that ensure every individual leaving incarceration returning to an Alaskan
community has the appropriate documentation accepted by the Division of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) for a valid State ID. Not having acceptable documentation for an ID at the time of
release can mean critical delays for accessing housing, employment, treatment, training,
education, and other supports and services that increase the likelihood of success and reduce
the likelihood of future criminal behavior (recidivism).
________________________________
Proof of identity in the form of a State Identification (ID) card is a necessary component
for successful community reentry after incarceration. A returning citizen must show
government-issued identification when securing essential life resources such as employment,
housing, treatment, transportation, banking, public building entry, and other services.
Currently, individuals released from an Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) facility
receive documentation confirming their identity in the Inmate Release Identification Form,
with instructions to present this document to the DMV to obtain a State ID card. However,
in practice, DMV personnel may or may not accept the DOC document and deny the
issuance of a State ID, which happens, as reported by reentry case managers statewide.
Delays in securing a State ID may require the released individual to pause reentry-planned
pathways such as getting a job, getting an apartment, substance use or mental health treatment,
and other essential services. Individuals may wait weeks or months while other documentation,
such as a birth certificate, arrives from another jurisdiction. These administratively-induced
delays and subsequent inactivity are known to increase the likelihood of recidivism.
Recommendations:
▪ Amend Alaska’s statutes, regulations, and practices to ensure eligible individuals released
from a DOC facility have appropriate documentation for a valid State ID upon release.
▪ Require DMV, within the Department of Administration, to accept the documentation
DOC provides, or if DOC documentation is not acceptable, require DOC to work with the
appropriate agencies to obtain the proper documentation before release.
▪ Amend Alaska’s statutes, regulations, and practices to ensure the Departments of
Administration, Health, and Corrections implement streamlined identity information
exchange and the issuance of a State ID to all eligible returning citizens.
To contact your personal state legislators (Senator and Representative), go to www.akleg.gov
and scroll to WHO REPRESENTS ME and type in your home address. Say you are a constituent!
Access to Digital Technology to Better Serve Justice-Involved Alaskans
Support expanding access to digital resources in Alaska’s corrections and therapeutic court systems
to better serve justice-involved Alaskans at all phases of their justice-involvement—pretrial, incarcer-
ation, and reentry. Jurisdictions across the United States are using digital technology to safely and
securely deliver rehabilitative programming and activities through video-conferencing, closed circuit
channels, tablets, distance learning, computer labs, and more. Improved digital technology means
more access to treatment and recovery services, education and training, housing and employment
assistance, reentry and transitional planning, faith-based, peer support, tribal, visitation, and more.
____________________________
Justice-involved Alaskans continue to experience difficulty accessing rehabilitative programs and
activities after the pandemic. While the Department of Corrections (DOC) and community providers
have worked hard to provide these services, there simply are not enough staff or infrastructure to
accommodate the demand. Access to supports and services improves the likelihood of success, fulfills
the necessary conditions of release/probation/parole, and increases the likelihood people returning to
their communities after incarceration will be successful and not commit future crimes (recidivate).
Additionally, individuals releasing after decades of incarceration often do not have expertise or
experience using computers and digital technology, seriously impacting their ability to function in the
modern world and putting them at greater risk for relapse, homelessness, and/or recidivating.
Correctional systems across the United States are using digital technology to provide video-
conferencing, closed circuit educational channels, tablets, distance learning, secure computer labs,
and more, to improve rehabilitative programs. Advocates are asking for approved, safe and secure
technological solutions, NOT open access to Internet, social media, or email.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
▪ Support resources for digital infrastructure that provide safe and secure access to digital
technology—video conferencing, closed circuit education channels, digital tablets, computer
labs, software—inside Alaska’s prisons, halfway houses, and therapeutic court settings.
▪ Identify technological gaps and barriers in current systems that impact timely access to
rehabilitative programming that could be improved through digital technology.
▪ Support laws, regulations, and practices that allow access to digital technology (including
approved safe and secure tablets and computers) for rehabilitative programming and activities
that increase the likelihood of success and reduce the likelihood of recidivism.
To contact your personal state legislators (Senator and Representative), go to www.akleg.gov
and scroll to WHO REPRESENTS ME and type in your home address. Say you are a constituent!