Lawsuit claims Alaska isn’t providing enough money for food, necessities for older foster youth

Plaintiffs say the Office of Children’s Services should pay living stipends to older youth, as it does to foster families, and youth are struggling to pay for basic items like clothing and food

The Office of Children’s Services, housed within the Alaska Department of Family and Community Services is located in the Goldstein Building in Downtown Juneau, seen on Jan. 23, 2025 (Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

By Corinne Smith

Alaska Beacon

A lawsuit filed in state court by advocates for foster youth is challenging Alaska’s foster care system, highlighting a gap in state care for older foster youth who are not living with foster families. Those foster youth live in other housing, like shelters and dorms, and struggle to access state funds to cover basic living expenses, the lawsuit says. 

The lawsuit filed by the non-profit advocacy organization, Facing Foster Care in Alaska, says the state should provide the same monthly living stipends to older foster youth for basic necessities, as they do to foster families with youth in their home.

“For youth in these alternate settings, there’s no foster care payment going anywhere,” said Amanda Metivier, executive director of Facing Foster Care. The organization is arguing that without these living stipends, the state is failing its duty of care for older foster youth in state custody, and are asking the court to require the state to distribute living stipends directly to all older foster youth. 

The Office of Children’s Services, housed within the Alaska Department of Family and Community Services, runs the state’s foster care system. It provides a “cost of care” stipend to foster families for each foster youth in their home to pay for essential items like food, clothing, toiletries and school supplies. 

But there’s no stipend for foster youth living independently, in shelters, college dorms or other housing. Instead, the department provides vouchers and small grants for living expenses, but advocates say it’s not enough — and call it a failure of the state to uphold its constitutional duty in the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for the Office of Children’s Services said older foster youth have the same funding and support as younger children, and items or services are provided by need or request. 

Plaintiffs say foster youth not placed with families are left struggling to care for themselves and find ways to pay for basic necessities like clothing, food and transportation to medical appointments, work or school, according to the lawsuit. “And so it’s a lot of going without,” Metivier said.

She said her organization filed the lawsuit on behalf of foster youth who asked for help so they can recover a sense of financial stability. 

Youth who are not adopted or reunited with family are eligible to remain in state custody until they are 21 years old, as per state law, as a transitional period into adulthood. 

Metivier said that’s a good thing, and mirrors national trends of extending foster care to provide foster youth with additional support and improve their life outcomes. 

Foster youth are more likely to be at risk for homelessness, incarceration and mental health challenges: A national survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 2020 to 2024 to track outcomes for foster youth found that 35% of foster youth in Alaska had experienced homelessness, 18% had experienced incarceration and 24% had a substance use referral by the age of 17. 

Miye D’Oench, an attorney with the civil rights firm Northern Justice Project, who is representing the plaintiffs, said the lawsuit calls on OCS to fulfill its legal duty of care.

“At the end of the day, this is to us, just plainly unacceptable, and it’s a massive failure of the foster care system, and it’s unconstitutional,” she said.

Moreover, the number of foster homes is not keeping up with the number of children and youth in need, according to the lawsuit, which is forcing foster youth to live independently in youth shelters, dorms or even in cots in OCS offices. In November, the state reported 2,493 youth in foster care and 1,184 foster homes. 

Officials with the Office of Children’s Services declined to answer specific questions but provided an email statement to address the issue generally, through Brian Studstill, communications director for the Alaska Department of Family and Community Services.

“Young adults served by OCS have access to the same funding streams available to younger children, as well as additional resources designed to support their transition to adulthood,” the statement said. 

The department provides financial incentives for participation in skill‑building activities, including independent living classes, assessments and transition planning, as well as funds to grantees and contractors who deliver independent living services, according to the statement. 

“OCS routinely offers food and clothing vouchers, bus passes, and other transportation assistance such as cab fare or limited vehicle maintenance for those who rely on personal vehicles for work or school,” the statement said. “Additional supports may include assistance with cell phones, laptops, work attire or gear, and driver’s education costs. Young adults are encouraged to seek support whenever needed.”

Studstill clarified that payments are not made regularly to older youth, like monthly stipends. “There is no re-occurring stipend paid to children or youth,” he said. 

“Services and commodities are paid for by OCS based on need or request, which may include re-occurring payments for room, board or ongoing expenses or they may be covered as the need arises such as clothing and food vouchers,” he said. 

The department’s statement cited additional federal funds available to older youth, including $5,000 per year for educational and training vouchers for attending college. In the lawsuit, plaintiffs said those vouchers fail to come close to covering student expenses. For example, University of Alaska Anchorage tuition is estimated at over $30,000 per year, according to the lawsuit, and students are shouldered with covering housing, food and school supplies. 

As of Jan. 12, there were 112 youth in state custody between the ages of 18 and 21, and 56 youth were living outside of a foster care home or group home, according to the department’s statement. 

“​​Those living outside of a licensed foster home reside in various placements such as college dorms, on trial home visits with family, unlicensed relative homes, assisted living homes to meet extraordinary needs, or are in custody of the Division of Juvenile Justice,” the OCS statement added. 

For licensed foster homes, OCS provides foster families with a monthly stipend for each child based on age and difficulty of care. For youth ages 12 to 20 years old, it’s roughly $40 per day or $1,200 per month. 

Metivier said teens as young as 14 and 15 years old are living outside of foster homes, and providing the living stipend would allow more stability. 

“This gives them an opportunity to be in care, have that safety net, but to also practice managing money,” she said. “To take care of themselves as a staggered way to be able to cover their cost of rent and food and transportation as they prepare to be able to do that on their own once they’re out of custody. And that’s successful, that’s successful in a lot of places.”

D’Oench, the plaintiff’s attorney, pointed out OCS makes a budget request from the Alaska State Legislature each year based on a foster youth count which includes older youth, estimated at 2,500 children and youth in care. 

OCS is also facing a federal lawsuit alleging systemic failures in the department and the state’s foster care system, including chronic understaffing, overburdened caseworkers and failure to find adequate placements, which is risking harm to children. The case went to trial in August, and will be decided by the presiding federal judge in the coming months.

• Corinne Smith started reporting in Alaska in 2020, serving as a radio reporter for several local stations across the state including in Petersburg, Haines, Homer and Dillingham. She spent two summers covering the Bristol Bay fishing season. Originally from Oakland, California, she got her start as a reporter, then morning show producer, at KPFA Radio in Berkeley. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.