Low participation and service duplication are included among reasons why the city recently chose to discontinue funding the St. Albert Youth Community Centre.

In an explanatory document shared via email on Monday, Mayor Nolan Crouse provided an eight-point summary on why city council and the community services advisory board (CSAB) agreed to stop funding the centre through the Family and Community Support Services.

In his document, Crouse said the decision was "not based on the important value that the Youth Community Centre brings to the community, but, rather, based on a comprehensive review of many factors."

Among the factors:

• FCSS funding is required to be allocated for preventative programs and the services offered by the youth centre were not deemed to be entirely preventative by nature;

• The number of youths being served by the youth centre is not deemed substantial for the amount of FCSS funding being allocated;

• The city and other organizations are providing some of the same programs as the youth centre;

• The sustainability and stability of programs provided through the city is more secure than that of the youth centre that relies heavily on grant funding.

The mayor said the decision does not mean the city will not continue to work with the centre to help it find other sources of funding.

Following an internal discussion earlier this year, the CSAB recommended that the funding be dropped, a recommendation that council unanimously supported in mid-June. That decision attracted criticism because the specific reasons weren't made public. Council subsequently passed a motion that the mayor would work with the city's FOIP co-ordinator and the CSAB chair to determine what reasons could be made public.

View explanatory document here

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