Association of Village Council Presidents

Transportation department: through the work of this department, the Association of Village Council Presidents (avcp) promotes the economic development of our region's villages through planning, designing, constructing and maintaining priority projects in the avcp region. Our transportation program has developed long range transportation plans for the tribes compacted with avcp with copies of the plans distributed to each tribe, developed scoping reports for all compacted villages, and submitted and added numerous miles of facilities and proposed facilities to the tribes' irr inventory. The avcp transportation department carefully monitors the trends in infrastructure funding.in 2015 this program:1. Continued work on projects in scammon bay and eek which employed 36 and 44 employees respectively in each community. 2. Began new projects in the villages of chevak, kongiganak, and alakanuk with a total of 62 additional temporary employees.

General assistance: the Association of Village Council Presidents provides assistance to needy families in the yukon-kuskokwim delta region with the objective of achieving the following goals:a) to assist needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes;b) to reduce the dependency of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work and marriage;c) to prevent out of wedlock pregnancies; andd) to encourage the formation and maintaining of two parent families.the avcp temporary assistance to needy families (tanf) program takes a multi-layered approach to addressing the problem of unemployment in our region. In addition to traditional benefits, avcp's tanf program has developed programs to encourage and develop skills and confidence in our youth so that they remain off of welfare.in 2015 the avcp tanf program:1. Provided traditional assistance payments through 30 case workers based in the villages throughout our region. In 2015, the program averaged a total of 497 active tanf cases each month, and paid a total of $4,002,999.50 in cash benefits. 2. Supported elder and youth programs which promote youth skills development and self-sufficiency, and prevent youth from becoming dependent on welfare. In 2015 avcp supported six (6) elder and youth programs in 6 different communities. 3. Provided funding for the campfire Alaska rural program to operate camps in 14 villages in the avcp region in 2015. Campfire Alaska rural program provides a day camp for rural children that provides structure, teaches healthy life choices, as well as cold water safety and swimming lessons to children. In fy 2015 the 14 campfire sites served a total of 1302 children in the avcp region and the programs lasted from 3-6 weeks in length. Additionally, with tanf funding, campfire hired temporary workers in each of the 14 communities.4. Assisted in setting up clean-up green-up programs to 21 villages in the avcp region. This program teaches children to respect our land and communities, and teaches children about healthy living.overall grants out from tanf totaled $4,417,216 (from federal tanffunding), and $409,307 (from state of Alaska tanf funding).

Self-governance: through these funds, avcp operates ten (10) different programs which provide many services to our member tribes and individual tribal members; including indian child welfare services, general assistance, burial assistance, child care services, higher education scholarships, probate and other land title services which ensure that all real estate transactions comply with nhpa, nepa and nagpra, and natural resource protection and development. Additionally, on behalf of our fully-compacted tribes, avcp provides pass-through funding, employee remuneration, and on-going training and support to develop the capacity of these tribes and promote their self-determination. Avcp negotiates, develops and monitors compliance with applicable tribal, federal, and state laws, regulations, contracts, cooperative agreements, memoranda of understanding, and/or memoranda of agreements that impact tribal sovereignty. Our tribes can compact for any or all of these programs each year.in 2015, the office of self governance funding furthered the following results:1. Our indian child welfare department represented 398 children in the avcp region, monitoring each child's progress in the child welfare system, and advocating in court on behalf of the child's tribe. Also in 2015, avcp increased prevention efforts to reduce the number of children entering the child welfare system in collaboration with the tanf department. This effort identifies families at risk and provides referrals and assistance in obtaining services.2. Our tribal service department provided an intensive grant writing seminar for tribal administrators from around the avcp region, as well as quickbooks training for bookkeepers.3. 42 tribes compacted for higher education services through our education, employment and training (ee&t) department. Altogether 159 students received higher education funding assistance.4. 40 tribes compacted for job placement and training services through the ee&t department and altogether 39 clients received job placement and funding assistance.5. 107 families in the avcp region and 238 children received childcare services through our ee&t department.6. Through our hip program, avcp constructed a public safety building for the Village public safety officer program as well as 5 residential homes in the avcp region.7. The natural resources department continued to work with our tribes on the kuskokwim and yukon rivers to develop the capacity of the inter-tribal fish commissions. President obama recognized this effort when he visited Alaska in august of 2015, pledging to provide $350,000 in additional osg funding to support our continued work towards tribal co-management of the resources in our region.8. The natural resources department carried out two hazardous fuel reduction projects, clearing brush and trees around the perimeters of two Village communities to prevent loss in the event of a wildfire.9. Our realty and cultural and environmental resources departments co-hosted land jurisdictional workshops for our tribes.10. The tribal justice department continued the work of assisting tribes in creating and updating tribal code.11. Our tribal services department provided 1,297 tribal id's in our bethel office and traveled throughout the region to provide an additional 1,135 tribal id's in the avcp Village communities.12. Direct social service assistance to or for the benefit of individuals was provided through osg social service funding and through osg (or gaming-dedicated) funeral assistance (grants out totaling $691,799 and $239,880, respectively).

Head start - in 2015, avcp's headstart operated programs in 11 different locations throughout the yukon-kukoskwim delta region serving a total of 221 children. Headstart preschool programs promote school readiness in children under age 5 from low-income families. Avcp's program partners with the parents and the communities to provide a positive and safe learning environment for the children. Additionally, this program employs several full-time employees in each community it serves. Energy assistance - the Association of Village Council Presidents through its social services department provides energy assistance to needy households in the yukon-kuskokwim region by working with energy vendors to avoid heating cut offs during critical winter months. Avcp operated this program in 2015 through the following grants and partnerships:i. Low income home energy assistance program (liheap)ii. The Alaska affordable heating program (akahp) iii. The crisis heating assistance program (chap) iv. Citgo heating oil programgrants out assisted 133 families (from federal funds), and 95 families (from non-federal funds).public safety - the Association of Village Council Presidents through a grant from the department of public safety operates the Village public safety officer (vpso) program in the yukon-kuskokwim region. The purpose and objectives of this grant are to train and employ individuals residing in our Village communities as first responders to public safety emergencies such as search and rescue, fire protection, emergency medical assistance, crime prevention, and basic law enforcement. In 2015 the vpso program employed 18 law enforcement officers throughout the region.