WHO WE ARE...

Organized in 2003 to serve at-risk students in rural Alaska, we are founded on the recognition that most students who drop out of school are dealing with a variety of obstacles that present barriers to their education and that only a few of these are school-related; most stem from overarching family and community issues like poverty, alcohol and drugs and violence.

We recognize that numerous public & private services already exist in our community to help children & their families overcome these obstacles. However, given:

• the difficulty of deciphering the maze of resources available
• the time & transportation necessary to reach them

...SERVICES ARE NEARLY INACCESSIBLE FOR THOSE FAMILIES WHO NEED THEM MOST.

WHAT WE DO...

We are not another social service agency! We broker in an effective and coordinated way, EXISTING community services through the schools.

We believe that there are 5 basics to helping kids stay in school and prepare for life:

1. A one on one relationship with a caring adult
2. A safe place to learn and grow
3. A healthy start and a healthy future
4. A marketable skill to use upon graduation
5. A chance to give back to peers and the community

Through school-based programs and special programs, CIS of Alaska is creating a network of social services, businesses, community resources and volunteers that work together to break down barriers to ensure even the most vulnerable of our children have access to these basics and core needs.

HOW WE KNOW IT WORKS...

Common sense tells us that health and human services are critical for all children... and that by making resources available al the school campus more of our community's most at-risk kids will be able to access them. But how we know that we are helping kids learn, stay in school, and prepare for life is we evaluate our efforts on an ongoing basis by tracking indicators of student success, like: attendance and stay-in-school rates, improved academic performance and improved behavior to determine the impact of our programs.

In addition to our 2007-2008 year results, here are highlights of our successes:

• CIS of Bethel is working with the District Court, the community of Bethel and its neighboring villages to address underage drinking. Our Community Diversion Panel has had 155 referrals from the Bethel and Chevak District Courts in the past year. Thirty-one first-time Minor Consuming Alcohol Offenders completed our program. We've only seen a 6% recidivism rate three months post-program completion and a 9% recidivism rate at six months post completion. Recidivism was defined as repeat MCA or other alcohol-related charges. We have recently begun accepting Repeat and Habitual Offenders, assisting them to get into residential treatment programs and support them during aftercare. CIS is working toward bringing an adolescent alcohol-drug treatment program back to Bethel, as the community has identified this as a priority. This summer our Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws/Youth Court Program is set to begin.
• CIS of Juneau has been operating an effective and very successful care coordinator program that provides at-risk students with needed services to help them stay in school. Since the inception of the program four years ago, we have served over 500 students, 90% of whom are Alaska Native. Of those students, less than 5% dropped out of school. The program works!
• CIS of Mat-Su referred to the Mat-Su Day School's Alternative to Suspension (ATS) program 27 students who were at extremely high risk of dropping out of school. Twenty-five of these students were successful in continuing their education and CIS worked to transition them back to their boundary school.
• Career Exploration Opportunities (CEO) a statewide initiative, works to expand career opportunities to Alaskan youth, specifically targeting rural high school students through providing a blended learning program with video-conferencing as an integral component. Last year CEO served 134 students (exceeding its target of 125 students) from seven districts in schools from Anchorage, Buckland, Juneau, Takotna, Nome, Shaktoolik and Shishmaref. Next year CEO is positioned to expand to additional rural schools and serve up to 200 students. Students, teachers, administrators and business partners alike continue to validate that CEO helps to engage students in school and prepare them for Alaskan careers. Additionally, CIS of Alaska CEO and the University of Anchorage have recently partnered to provide a CIS CEO Scholarship (providing free tuition and books) for youth interested in a logistics operations career certificate program.
• Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, another statewide initiative and an early intervention program to combat illiteracy, started with a pilot program in Nome in response to the Nome elementary principal's observation that children were reporting to kindergarten unprepared, especially in the area of reading. The program quickly spread to Juneau where over 600 children have enrolled with another 2000 additional children eligible, but lack of funds has slowed signups. Wainwright, Wrangell, Ketchikan and Fairbanks also have active IL programs with Mat-Su, Mt. View, Petersburg and Girdwood poised to come on line. Statewide, over 4,000 children birth to five are enrolled, including the First Family's newest addition, Trig Palin. Reading is fundamental. A recent survey saw the number of parents reading to their children jump from 50% to 75% in one year! The Imagination Library is a proven effective program that helps children start school ready to learn and has been adopted by Best Beginnings.
• And, CIS is evidence-based--our model works! The CIS Model is proving very effective. Research shows that comprehensive, integrated student services are necessary components of effective, school-based efforts to increase graduation rates and improve student achievement.