Knik Tribe Social Services Fingerprinting Source in the Matsu Valley. - Knik Tribe proposes a 24-month project to establish reliable fingerprinting services for prospective relative, kinship, foster, adoptive, and guardianship caregivers. Knik Tribe currently has no fingerprinting equipment or onsite service. Residents of the Mat-Su Borough must rely on three walk-in locations where fingerprinting is offered only during limited days and hours. Some applicants may travel up to 75 miles from the borough boundary, and limited operating and submission schedules can delay fingerprint-based background checks and caregiver licensing. The project will establish a permanent fingerprinting location at the Knik Tribe office, 1744 Prospect Drive, Palmer, Alaska, and provide mobile services throughout the Mat-Su Borough. Out-of-area applicants will also be welcome to use the Tribal office. Knik Tribe will purchase and deploy three fingerprinting systems: one permanent office-based system and two portable systems for mobile services. The project will support up to 50 prospective homes annually, including all adult household members required to complete fingerprint-based background checks. Implementation will include a needs and connectivity assessment, competitive procurement, secure workspace preparation, equipment installation, software configuration, required system authorization, security and acceptance testing, and staff training. At least three employees will be trained and cross-trained to operate all systems. Knik Tribe will protect biometric information and personally identifiable information through role-based access, encrypted transmission, secure storage, approved equipment, confidentiality procedures, staff training, and CIO oversight. Contractors and partners will be required to follow the same privacy, security, retention, incident-response, and information-disposition requirements. Knik Tribe will measure service availability, time from referral to fingerprinting, submission timeliness, rejection and recollection rates, mobile-service delivery, caregiver licensing progress, and customer-reported barriers. Preliminary targets include fingerprinting at least 90% of referred applicants within three business days, submitting at least 95% of fingerprints within one business day of collection, and maintaining a fingerprint recollection rate below 5%. Performance will be reviewed quarterly, and corrective actions will be documented when targets are not met. The Social Services Program Manager and Program Coordinator will lead implementation and operations, supported by the CIO, CFO, procurement and grants staff, an Alaska child-welfare/Compact representative, and qualified vendors. By improving access, timeliness, quality, and security, the project will reduce fingerprint-related licensing delays and help increase the availability of safe, stable, culturally connected family homes for children.
