Alaska Association For Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

AK-AIMH strives to impact Alaska's communities by ensuring that thriving young children are cared for by families who have the supports needed to promote life-long social-emotional wellness.

We are a professional membership organization and our primary users include our members in three categories: individual professional, individual student, and organization/agency. A major focus of our work is public awareness on behalf of the mental health needs of Alaska's families with children ages birth to 5 years. We work to improve the capacity of all relevant service sectors in Alaska; therefore our users also include policymakers, program administrators, and collaborative groups throughout the infant and early childhood field in Alaska.

Pick.Click.Give provides opportunities for AK-AIMH to broaden its reach to ensure all individuals and entities are provided resources and support in order to best support infants, young children, their families, and other people who touch their lives.

Funds raised will help AK-AIMH fulfill its strategic offering of services that Educate, Advocate, and Collaborate:

• Collaboration/Consultation with partner organizations/groups: we lend our expertise to common efforts to meet the mental health needs of Alaskan families with young children 0-5.

• Advocacy: we strive for improved public awareness, policies, and systems that increase access to services for young children and their caregivers.

• Education: we facilitate continual professional development for those whose work touches the lives of young children by (1) offering quality professional education, (2) scholarships for those working in underserved areas, and (2) inviting professionals to consolidate their learning through our specialty endorsement system which uses a competency-based approach developed by experts in the field and used in nearly 30 states and countries, the Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health.

AK-AIMH is a member of the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health (32 states and two international infant mental health associations) which promotes the collective capacity to advance leadership, policy, and practice in this unique specialty field.