AK Child & Family

A child in residential treatment receives individual therapy with a masters level clinical therapist, group therapy, and specialized therapy to address specific issues such as substance abuse counseling, victim impact groups, empathy building and skill development. A holistic approach is taken with students receiving support in their schoolwork, their recreation & leisure activities and spiritual journey as well as the specific issues that brought them into treatment.

Our Spiritual Life Program supports young people in residential treatment through ecumenical services. Students participate in spiritual life activities on a voluntary basis and the staff works to maintain their understanding across all faith systems in order to be able to support each youth in their personal journey. Spiritual Life programming is 100% donor supported.

Many students who have received residential care are discharged to a therapeutic foster home. These foster parents receive specialized training to manage children with severe emotional and behavioral disturbances. These parents provide a safe, highly structured environment for who need reminding or support of the skills they learned in residential care or other institutional setting.

Community programs provides case management, activity therapy and home-based services important for families who need assistance but at a level of lesser intensity than residential treatment. These programs also provide a healthy transition for students rejoining their families following residential care or placement in a therapeutic foster home

Our Training Department provides rigorous professional development for our staff. In conjunction with the State of Alaska Department of Health and Human Services we bring essential training to organizations across the state.

Some people may know AK Child & Family as the Jesse Lee Home. Founded in 1890 in Unalaska, the Jesse Lee Home provided care and schooling for children who were orphaned or whose parents could not care for them full-time. The Home moved to Seward in 1925 to better serve the community in a more central location. Following the 1964 earthquake, the Home moved to our current Jesse Lee Campus at 4600 Abbott Road in Anchorage. In 1970, the Jesse Lee Home merged with Lutheran Youth Services and Anchorage Children’s Christian Home to form Alaska Children's Services. In 2013, we changed our name to AK Child & Family to differentiate ourselves from the state and enable us to reach out to the community more effectively.

Today, this private non-profit organization provides hope in troubled young lives through a broad range of psychiatric  services. Our residential psychiatric treatment, community based programs and therapeutic foster homes offer the structure, care and expertise to help young people facing significant challenges to build strong, positive, healthy lives.