Foster parent recruitment ad wins honors

MAT-SU — The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services earned five awards in the National Public Health Information Coalition’s 2013 Awards for Excellence in Public Health Communications, including a gold medal for its foster parent recruitment video “One Child.”

“Foster parents are in high demand in Alaska, and the department did a great job capturing the need and the benefits of foster care in a fun, compelling ad,” said Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, a former foster child and longtime foster care advocate, in a press release.

The department won five medals in the contest for its efforts to educate Alaskans on health and children’s issues, including for its “Play Every Day TV PSA: Athlete.”

Gara said there is a huge need for foster parents and mentors in the Valley. There are roughly 2,000 children in the foster care system in Alaska, he said.

For more information about becoming a foster care parent, contact Christy Lawton, division director of the Office of Children’s Services, at (907) 451-2650 or email christy.lawton@alaska.gov.

To mentor a youth in the foster care program through the Facing Foster Care in Alaska program, call (907) 433-4630.