Awards

Announcing 2023 Award Winners

The Alaska Association of Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health (AK-AIMH) seeks input from members to make enthusiastic nominations for our annual awards! Through these awards, AK-AIMH seeks to celebrate individuals in our field who demonstrate significant commitment to AK-AIMH's mission through their professional and volunteer activities. 

Rising Star Award:

CHAMPION: Tara Hagge

Tara Hagge exemplifies all that is “right” with Early Relational Health. Tara has such a beautiful way of being with the families and staff with whom she works. From first phone calls, to wrapping up services and launching families to their next great possibilities, Tara brings light and hope, even when challenges seem insurmountable. She goes above and beyond to make sure families feel wrapped up and cared for, always with the child’s and family’s best interests and voice at heart. She uses phenomenal skill in communicating, embracing use of the FAN (Facilitating Attuned Interaction) to model attunement and connection with all those around her. She sets the stage for successes in every aspect of what she does! Sprout wholeheartedly thanks her for personifying our values and vision.

Leadership Award:

CHAMPION: Southcentral Foundation -Indigenous Project Launch

“Southcentral Foundation’s (SCF) New Generation Project, previously known as Indigenous Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health), is funded by a five- year federal grant provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This grant was awarded in 2018 and is currently in its fifth and final year. SCF renamed the project The New Generations Project after the first year to support the aim: Alaska Native families will increase their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness by optimizing the effectiveness of services that support families in the preparation for and care of new generations. The purpose of The New Generations Project at Southcentral Foundation is to promote the wellness of young Alaska Native and American Indian children, from birth to 8 years old, by supporting the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of development. During the first year, SCF completed a community assessment which assisted in the creation of our strategic plan for the following years of the grant. More recently, Southcentral Foundation has been focusing on enhancing family strengths and parenting by rolling out system-wide training on The Strengthening Families Five Protective Factors which is an over-arching strength-based framework to guide staff interacts with families across the system. In an effort to promote work-force awareness and development regarding Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, SCF has also been developing a 4-course series on Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health which will be piloted in Fall of 2023. The long-term vision is for these courses to be a valuable resource to create awareness about the importance of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health across the lifespan. SCF is also enhancing home visiting with a focus on social and emotional wellbeing by actively piloting a home visiting program out of Primary Care called the Parent Partner Pilot. The second phase of that pilot started in July of 2022 with a Behavioral Health Consultant who is a Masters Level Clinician who alone has reached more than 100 families in their homes and in clinic settings.  SCF has been honored to be a leader within the state in striving to improve coordination across child-serving systems, building infrastructure, and increasing access to high-quality prevention and wellness promotion services for Alaska Native children and their families to benefit generations to come.”