In an emergent item during a regular meeting May 28, Rocky View County (RVC) council unanimously authorized Reeve Greg Boehlke to sign a letter to the Government of Alberta supporting the Airdrie and District Victims Assistance Society (ADVAS) in seeking $75,000 of additional funding from the office of the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General.
According to the letter, “the organization is currently facing existing and anticipated future financial hurdles that will impact our service levels, our ability to grow, as well as our continued services to victims of crime.” Between 2014 and 2018, ADVAS – which operates out of the Airdrie RCMP detachment – has seen its file count increase by more than 50 per cent, from 1,460 files to 3,691 files.
“ADVAS has met the $150,000 cap and these funds significantly fall short of our ability to cover our basic operating costs,” the letter stated.
Randy Ell, Family and Community Support Services co-ordinator for RVC, said victim service programs generally receive funding for their core operations from the Solicitor General and Department of Justice. Provincial regulations state FCSS cannot duplicate what other government departments offer in terms of services, he noted.
“However, they have said FCSS programs may support volunteer advocate training,” Ell said.
As an example, Ell said, trained advocates may make hospital visits to support the families of highway accident victims, or attend domestic abuse incidents.
“These volunteer advocates spend over 70 hours in core training,” he said. “That can be communication, it could be mental health first aid, it could be court proceedings – anything they would need in order to support the victim,” he said. “They also go through an enhanced police record check, they go through a child welfare check. It takes almost a year for them to become a volunteer with these programs.”
RVC, along with the City of Airdrie and the Town of Crossfield, contributes FCSS funds to ADVAS, Ell said.
Boehlke’s signature joins those of Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown, Crossfield Mayor Jo Tennant, Officer in Charge of Airdrie RCMP Insp. Kim Pasloske, ADVAS Executive Director Michelle Wagner and ADVAS Board Chair Patti Reid.
