Family

Some foster children are eligible to receive Social Security benefits, but the kids and their families don’t always know the money is available. Instead, the state applies for the benefits and puts the funds toward paying for foster care services. Now a lawsuit is asking if the state needs to notify families and guardians before it starts taking the money.

Mat-Su Central is the homeschool program for the Mat-Su Borough School District and has just over 1600 students this year.

When the Alaska Legislature convenes later this month, it will consider a budget that makes no further cuts to Alaska’s Pioneer Homes.

Coming to the region at the start of the new year is a “nest” project focused on Inupiaq language revitalization. A Nome-based non-profit organization called Inuusiq Inc., which started up this year, is spearheading the project.

Unsecured MALM dressers, prone to tipping over, killed three children in three years. A wrongful death suit has been settled, lawyers for the families say; Ikea confirmed a “tentative” agreement.

Auke Bay Elementary nurse Luann Powers says lice are mostly a nuisance and explains how parents should deal with them.

Joshua Decker, ACLU Alaska executive director, said three ’70s-era restrictions are obstacles to women’s reproductive health, because they ban second trimester abortions in out-patient clinics and force some women to seek abortions out of state.

The Tenakee Springs School closed after its enrollment fell under 10 students and the town’s families resorted to home-schooling. The district reopened the school building as an independent learning center to give students and the community some of the school’s resources.

The Trans Murder Monitoring project reports that at least 295 transgender and gender-diverse people were killed in the last 12 months worldwide.