NAMI Fairbanks seeks borough funds to expand youth mental-health education in schools

Nanette Rogers, executive director of NAMI Fairbanks, asked March 14 that the borough help fund a youth mental-health initiative aimed at prevention and early support. Rogers said NAMI Fairbanks recently entered a three-year memorandum of understanding with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District to deliver "Ending the Silence," a mental-health education program for middle and high school students, and is seeking $30,000 of a $40,000 project budget.

Rogers described complementary services: peer and family support groups, a helpline that provides follow-up when callers identify ongoing needs, and steps to launch "NAMI on Campus" at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She said services are free and open to anyone and emphasized that NAMI supplements but does not replace clinical care.

Commissioners asked about program evaluation, helpline follow-up and demographic tracking. Rogers said the helpline sometimes builds ongoing contact and follow-up relationships and that demographic data collected during education or support-program participation is forwarded to NAMI National; she said the MOU with the school district does not currently include automatic sharing of student demographic data but could be amended to address that if needed. Commissioners also asked whether NAMI had pursued Mental Health Trust funding; Rogers said conversations had occurred but prevention-focused youth funding had not been prioritized by the trust to date.