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Enrolled SCR 14: Relating to health and social service best practice models and identifying citizen networks to achieve solutions to health and social problems in the state.

00Enrolled SCR 14 01 Relating to health and social service best practice models and identifying citizen networks to 02 achieve solutions to health and social problems in the state. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS the rate of alcohol-related death in the state is 152 percent higher than the 06 average rate for alcohol-related death in the United States; and 07 WHEREAS the rate of suicide in the state is 93 percent higher than the average rate 08 of suicide in the United States; and 09 WHEREAS the rate of forcible rape in the state is 260 percent higher than the average 10 rate of forcible rape in the United States; and 11 WHEREAS 75 percent of Alaskans report experiencing or knowing someone who has 12 experienced domestic violence or sexual assault; and 13 WHEREAS 47.6 percent of women in the state report experiencing intimate partner 14 violence; and 15 WHEREAS, in the most recent study completed in 2010, an estimated 18,296 arrests 16 were attributed to alcohol and drug abuse, and the economic cost attributed to crime-related 17 alcohol and other drug abuse in the state was nearly $217,700,000; and

01 WHEREAS, according to the McDowell Group report titled "Economic Costs of 02 Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Alaska, 2012 Update," the total cost to the state's economy in 03 for drug and alcohol dependence was $1,200,000,000 and is growing at a rate of 04 $66,000,000 a year; 05 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the identification 06 and development of citizen networks involving natural helpers who are actively involved and 07 influential in the community in which they reside; and be it 08 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages citizen 09 networks to participate in the creation of positive community and social norms related to the 10 prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in the state; and be it 11 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the 12 development of regional best practice models that address the state's critical health and social 13 challenges, derived in collaboration with identified citizen networks representing 14 communities across the state; and be it 15 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the governor 16 to support the development and use of regional best practice models in an effort to establish 17 more effective and cost-efficient methods of addressing the state's critical health and social 18 challenges.