When Governor Knowles introduced Smart Start for Alaska's Children in November 1997, he said, "No matter where Alaskans make our homes, or what we do for a living, we share a common goal - safe, healthy children and strong families."

Smart Start is a three-part initiative to expand health care for children and pregnant women in Alaska's working families, invest in proven prevention programs to break the cycle of family violence and protect children living in peril.

Today, there is solid progress to report: An estimated 12,000 more children and several hundred pregnant women now have health care coverage; immunizations are up; the number of children lingering in foster care three years or more is down; child protection workers are responding to more calls for help; a tough new law protects children while striving to keep families together.

To continue this progress, the Governor's budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2001 seeks additional resources for priority children's programs.

Medicaid for Children - $2.6 million General Funds (GF) / $5.6 million Federal Funds
Ensures that children have the health care they need.

Child Protection - $12.4 million GF / $7.2 million Fed and Other funds
Foster Care - $4.5 million GF / $1.6 million Federal Funds
Providing safe homes for children in state custody.

Subsidized Adoptions - $1.5 million GF / $1.1 million Federal Funds
Helping to cover the costs of permanent, loving homes for 17,000 Alaska children.

Residential Child Care - $500,000 GF
Providing residential foster care beds for children in need of 24-hour professional care.

Fahrenkamp Center - Operating: $100,000 GF / $100,000 Mental Health Trust Funds; Capital: $400,000 AHFC Dividends and $100,000 Mental Health Trust Funds
Renovation costs to convert this Fairbanks facility to a residential diagnostic treatment center for children in need of mental health assessments and treatment.

Child Safety - $555,000 GF
Working with child placement agencies to find foster care or adoptive homes, and additional resources for criminal background checks on foster parents and others who work with children, also includes funding for a new pediatric pathologist.

Front Line Child Protection Workers - $1.5 million GF / $500,000 Federal Funds.
Filling existing but unfunded social worker positions and providing cell phones and other safety communications equipment.

Training for Foster Parents and Other Providers - $200,000 GF
Training in mental health issues for foster parents and residential care providers.

Child Protection Information System - Capital: $2,700,000 GF / $2,700,000 Federal Funds
Continues efforts for the development of an information system to protect the children of Alaska and the safety of Family and Youth Services workers.

Front Line Worker Safety and Support Equipment - Capital: $300,000 GF / $40,000 Federal Funds
Equipment needed to improve program security.

More Background Checks - $90,000 GF
Additional resources for the Department of Public Safety to provide notification of any arrest or conviction of a foster parent, particularly for domestic violence offenses.

Legal and Advocacy Services - $600,000 GF / $18,000 Federal Funds
Legal resources are needed in the Office of Public Advocacy and the Public Defender Agency to handle the enormous volume of Children in Need Aid cases. The Balloon Project and Project Succeed continue to make a significant dent in the backlog of cases, however the caseloads are still unrealistically high.

Prevention - Infant Learning Program: $700,000 GF
Eliminating the waiting list for newborns needing diagnosis and treatment of development disabilities and delays from the Infant Learning Program.

Child Care - $6.1 million GF / $200,000 Federal
Child Care Assistance - $4.5 million GF
Child care is an essential factor in helping families in their transition off welfare and keeping other families from going on welfare in the first place.

Child Care Grant Program - $900,000 GF
Improving the quality of care with grants to licensed providers for educational materials and equipment and resources to attract, train and retain top-notch staffers.

Child Care Licensing - $700,000 GF / $200,000 Federal Funds
More resources to monitor health and safety conditions in child care homes and centers.

Youth Detention Facility Operations - $3.5 million GF / $3.5 million Federal and Other Funds
Opening and staffing 45 additional juvenile detention beds and 6 treatment beds now under construction in Anchorage, Mat-Su and Ketchikan.

Child Support Enforcement: $100,000 GF / $800,000 Federal Funds
Helping children by enforcing financial support obligations in a fair and equitable manner.