Meadow Lakes eyed for childrens' treatment facility

MAT-SU -- Pending Senate support of a bill offered by Senator Lyda Green, R-Mat-Su, Meadow Lakes may soon be home to Alaska's only childrens' mental-health treatment facility.

Michael Janecek, Meadow Lakes Community Council president, reported that the council gave a unanimous thumbs-up to construction of the facility at their Feb. 13 meeting. North Star Behavioral Health System, he said, is currently negotiating with the borough for a parcel of land located near the intersection of Vine and the Parks Highway.

Kathleen Cronen, CEO of North Star, explained the proposal to the council at that meeting.

"Everyone was impressed by Kathy Cronen's presentation," Janacek said. "And they are extremely excited over this development in our community."

Borough Manager John Duffy has been instrumental in attracting the North Star facility to the Valley.

"We are very happy that North Star has chosen the Mat-Su Borough as a site for their private sector development," Duffy said Tuesday.

"This is not a Wasilla facility," Duffy added, by way of clarifying earlier published information. "It's a Meadow Lakes facility -- a children's village -- to be located within the Meadow Lakes community."

Cronen briefed borough assembly on the proposal at its Tuesday meeting.

"The Valley is ideal for us," Cronen said, "because there's a lot of land that would enable us to create a homelike, non-institutional setting for these children."

Cronen advised that more than 300 disturbed children are currently being treated in residential facilities out-of-state because Alaska does not have beds to accommodate them. This is not a good clinical situation, she explained.

"Because of the great distance separating these children from their families and communities, many families can afford to visit them only once during their 12 to 18-month treatment program," Cronen said. "This has the potential to greatly decrease the effectiveness and long-term success of their treatment."

Cronen sees three principal benefits in locating the village in Mat-Su.

"There is the clinical needs component, that keeping these children in-state, close to their families and communities, will help with their treatment," Cronen said. "Then there are the jobs that the center will provide for local residents. And finally, locating the facility within Alaska will retain Medicaid dollars that are currently being spent out-of-state."

Cronen said she has been delighted with the reception that North Star has received in the Valley.

"Meadow Lakes was very welcoming to us," she said. "In fact, they were charming."

According to Cronen, the facility will be developed as a children's village consisting of a main building, a recreational facility with a gym, a dining hall, and cottages that will accommodate nine children each, for a total of 63 beds in the initial development phase. Girls and boys will be grouped in separate cottages and divided into three age groups: 6-10 years, 11-13 years, and 13-17 years. There will also be a nine-bed cottage for intensive initial evaluation of children.

"Once the infrastructure is completed, the facility can be expanded up to 72 beds, depending upon need," explained Cronen.

When asked about a time frame for completion of the facility, Cronen said a lot depends upon the outcome of the current Alaska legislative session. Senator Lyda Green, R-Mat-Su, is sponsoring a bill that will support bringing these children back to Alaska.

"If all goes well, we will be ready for start up within 12 to 18 months of the end of the session," Cronen said. "We will break ground and begin recruiting at the same time, so that we can bring employees on board to be trained approximately 6 to 8 weeks before start up."

Duffy said the Meadow Lakes facility will provide approximately 250 new jobs offering above-average wages in a wide variety of occupations, ranging from psychiatrists and managers to food-service workers.

The borough is working with North Star and with the U.S. government's Workforce Development Board to develop specialized training programs to provide borough residents with new and additional skills necessary to qualify for some of the positions that will be available, Duffy said.

Duffy emphasized that the center will not house young people who are in trouble with the law.

"This is to be a mental-health treatment center for disturbed children and adolescents and not a juvenile detention facility," Duffy said.