The Department of Prevention Services is dedicated to supporting the well-being and resilience of the Northwest Arctic region’s youth, families, and communities. Through a diverse array of programs—including Putyuk Children’s Home, Rural Alcohol Prevention, Social Medicine, the Wellness Program, and Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation—our department provides comprehensive care that addresses mental, physical, and social health. By partnering with local villages, tribal organizations, and regional entities, we strive to create environments of hope, healing, and empowerment for all we serve. Our services are guided by evidence-based practices, cultural values, and a commitment to nurturing the strengths of our communities.

907-442-7582

Putyuk Children's Home is a nine-bed Community Emergency Services Program (CESP), providing trauma-informed and culturally grounded stabilization services for children and youth aged 0-18. The program functions as a regional resource for the Northwest Arctic Borough, delivering care that aligns with established clinical standards, organizational policy, and the cultural values of the Inupiat people.

As a CARF-accredited program, Putyuk Children's Home serves children and youth referred primarily by the Alaska Office of Children's Services (OCS). The program provides 30-90 days of structured professionally supervised short-term stabilization, emphasizing safety, clinical assessment, individualized support, and coordinated service planning to promote continuity of care and successful transition to the next level of placement or treatment.

907-442-7603

The Maniilaq Social Medicine Program (SMP) started in January 2017 to integrate behavioral health care as a part of all regional client primary healthcare. SMP formed a behavioral health integration committee tasked with authoring policies and protocols to support integration, established a training program with partners at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital to support primary care providers in delivering best practice psychiatric and addictions care, began a community needs assessment to identify priorities and values for behavioral health care, and completed job descriptions for the addition of clinical staff, including two clinical social workers and one psychiatric nurse practitioner, in outpatient and women’s health clinics when funding becomes available. Also, SMP has incorporated the Circles/Systems of Care program to provide supportive social services to regional youth, families, and the community utilizing Iñupiat Ilitqusiat values and teaching methods. Under this application, Maniilaq proposes to use BH2I funding to support this staff as a bridge to developing a financially sustainable program.

907-442-7354

In partnership with the Alaska Tobacco Prevention and Control program, this program work to help Alaskans in the Maniilaq service area quit tobacco, educate the public on the dangers of secondhand smoke, keep youth tobacco-free, and educate the public on industry tactics that target new generations.

Key activities include:

• Support free tobacco quitting help for all Alaskans
• Educate the public about the health effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke
• Promote community and regional policies that reduce tobacco use and protect smokefree spaces
• Work to empower youth to live healthy, tobacco and nicotine-free lives

907-442-6105

The Maniilaq Wellness Program encompasses a community outreach approach to assist, support, and engage natural leaders in the Northwest Arctic Borough to promote healthy communities, families, and individuals. This includes encouraging these leaders to be involved in wellness committees, which may develop, nurture, and promote healthy community activities to make their communities a healthier place. Suicide prevention plays a key role in our Wellness program. The program’s main focus is learning about unique triggers for suicide in our region and researching our unique facets of resiliency and strength. Recovery Support Leaders (RSLs) assist in making connections between formal (BHAs and therapists) and informal (friends, uncles, aunties, pastors, taatas, etc.) supporters of recovery. It is the vision of RSLs to provide ongoing recovery support activities for those thinking about, or committed to, recovery. Activities may include talking circles, regular sober gatherings, and others.

907-442-7707

In partnership with the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation and the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, Maniilaq operates a seasonal winter shelter for the most vulnerable members of our community people who are unhoused or at risk of homelessness. The shelter is located in Kotzebue during the winter months, open daily from 8 PM TO 8 AM, 7 days a week. The shelter offers a warm and safe place to sleep, along with access to showers, laundry services, and food. For safety reasons, intoxicated individuals or those under the influence of other substances are not permitted to enter.