Page 6 - 2018 MHT Annual Report

About the Trust
In the years preceding statehood, the territory of Alaska had few resources to provide for the mentally ill or those with developmental disabilities, many of whom were sent by the federal government to outside institutions after being charged and convicted for being “insane and at-large.”
In 1956, Congress transferred the responsibility for providing mental healthcare to the territory and ultimately
the state, establishing the Alaska Mental Health Trust and granting it one million acres of land to generate income for a comprehensive mental health program. However, in a class action lawsuit ruling in 1984, the Alaska Supreme Court determined the state breached its fiduciary responsibility to manage Trust land. In 1994, after many
years of litigation, in a final landmark settlement the Alaska Mental Health Trust was reconstituted with $200 million and one million acres of land. The Trust Land Office was created to effectively manage the lands.
The Trust is the only organization of its kind in the United States.
For almost 25 years, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority has administered the trust and served beneficiaries who experience mental illness, developmental disabilities, chronic alcoholism and other substance-
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