Airdrie is set to receive an increase in Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) as the provincial government announced an additional $10 million of FCSS funding on Sept. 18.
“Since 2009, our Province has seen population growth and there have been changing needs and expanding needs of children and families across the province,” Minister of Human Services Irfan Sabir said, adding many Albertans rely on FCSS to support their well being and to strengthen communities.
“These are the programs which demonstrate positive wealth that can be realized when people have access to Provincial support and get help before the crisis hits. We decided it’s time to increase these programs instead of cutting the programs like previous governments.”
Since taking power in May, the NDP has restored $39 million in proposed cuts from the previous Progressive Conservative government with $10 million of that allocated to FCSS funding.
In Airdrie, this means an injection of $391,578 for 2015. This is the first increase to program funding by the Province in six years, according to Clay Aragon, City of Airdrie team leader of Community Development and Social Planning.
“It’s huge, obviously,” he said. “The funding we get from the Province prior to this injection was $688,602 and it’s been that for the last, I believe, five years. This money will for sure be used to fund more preventive social programs that our FCSS-funded agencies have been needing for, obviously, those many years.
“It provides an opportunity for FCSS-funded agencies to look at ways to expand their programs and get more residents to participate in their programs. That will surely help in this hard economic time.”
Municipalities are required to match 20 percent of all FCSS funding, according to Aragon. With this announcement, the Province is waiving that compulsory contribution for 2015. The matching contribution will be required for 2016.
However, Aragon said because City council has already approved FCSS funding for 2015, including the City’s contribution, staff will be recommending leaving things “as is” for 2015.
“We’re actually going forward to council on Oct. 19 to allocate the 2016 FCSS funding and at the same time asking council for direction around what to do with the $391,578,” he said. “Administration proposes we defer that to 2015 so there’s an opportunity for the community to really plan ahead as to what they want to use it for.”
Aragon said he expects the additional FCSS funds will be released after the Provincial budget is tabled by the NDP government at the end of October.
“The way the Province is doing it, because of their fiscal year, is they’re giving us three quarters of that (amount) this year, and then a quarter of that amount next year,” Aragon said.
What is less clear is how FCSS funding will look after 2016.
“That future funding doesn’t get confirmed until the government releases their Provincial budget,” Aragon said. “The community will get to know more about what the future is going to look like once the provincial government releases their budget and identifies their three year funding plan.”
Aragon said staff and council have been lobbying the provincial government for a number of years to increase FCSS funding.
“(The City has been lobbying) either directly from council or through other organizations such as the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA),” he said.
“AUMA has gone forward to the Province, joining with other municipalities to really say there needs to be a little more investment on the social side through FCSS.”
