The opioid epidemic remains a complex and multi-faceted issue for residents of the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough, Alaska. Medical student Ian Richey interviewed three local organizations to assess community strengths, describe their missions and how they help patients with substance use disorder.
UAA's Alaska Justice Information Center presented data from 1979 thru 2021 to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Troy C. Payne, Director of AJIC wrote "After a large increase in the mid-2010’s, motor vehicle theft has been trending down since 2018. In both trend and magnitude, Alaska is similar to the national average for property offenses. Alaska has consistently had higher-than-average rates of violence since 1993."
A $1.5 million grant coordinated by Recover Alaska was presented to the University of Alaska Anchorage School of Social Work, which will significantly increase enrollment capacity, establish a pathway to licensure for graduates, add faculty and staffing, and offer continuing education to maintain clinical licenses.
Mateo Jaime, a Legal Studies student, arrived at the court hearing that would, finally, end his years in custody of the Alaska Office of Children’s Services in a buoyant mood. At age 21, young adults “age out” of foster care in Alaska if they have not been adopted or reunified with parents. A judge approves it in a hearing that amounts to a grim bureaucratic formality: A child has passed into adulthood without the foster care system laying a path to permanent legal family for them, and now they are on their own.
Students provide health to underserved Alaskans and receive mentorship through Alaska's WWAMI program.
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