The city is moving to establish an emergency and crisis fund for residents.
The city will use a slice of the extra money given by the province for the Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) department to fund an emergency and crisis support and resource fund.
The $147,027 one time extra provincial funds will be split in the following ways: $15,000 for suicide and mental health supports, $5,000 for training and support for the Neighbourhood Network volunteers, $10,000 for asset development marketing and promotion and $117,027 for dealing with a variety of emergencies, crisis and other supports needed in the face of emerging trends.
Scott Rodda, the director of that department, said his staff are seeing more people struggle with mental health.
The money for suicide and mental health support training, for instance, is to address a spike in suicide attempts and ideation. The report estimated there is probably about one suicide attempt a day in St. Albert this year.
“That’s probably an underestimate,” Rodda said.
The majority of money would be for a crisis fund to address more one-off problems.
Rodda said it involved a “leap of faith” on the part of council, with the idea that the fund could be used to help residents out in the time of need.
Some of the examples in the report included everything from helping a homeless youth with less than $100 to obtain an updated ID so he could apply for housing to helping families requiring immediate counselling services acquire those services more quickly, rather than having to wade through waiting lists and program criteria.
Rodda said the city’s Strategic and Mobilization Committee members have come together over the last six months and shared stories about what’s causing stresses in the community, like the economic downturn and now the fires in the Fort McMurray region.
Criteria would have to be established for giving out funds, he said, but the idea is to have a quick and flexible response to emergency situations.
Council unanimously supported the suggested distribution of money.
Coun. Tim Osborne said he liked the idea, noting it responds to identified gaps and feedback from the community.
“I feel a little better about provincial downloads when they come with money attached to them,” Osborne said, in part a response to a concern from Mayor Nolan Crouse about provincial downloading.
Osborne moved the motion and accepted a suggestion from Coun. Sheena Hughes to add a part about developing a policy for council’s consideration regarding the emergency/crisis fund.
Hughes said she sees the logistics of distributing the funds as a big issue, and said criteria should be developed so the city can justify any expenditures through the fund.
“I realize the majority of people are going to be earnest in their intentions and earnest in their need,” she said.
Crouse raised the point that there needs to be more work about delegation when a larger crisis – like the fires in Fort McMurray – arise in the municipality.
“You can’t call a special council meeting in the middle of a crisis,” Crouse said, nor can a committee meeting be held in the middle of a smaller scale human crisis that the emergency fund would address.
Council also signed off on adding a new staff position to their department, a new manager of community supports. That position is being paid for within the existing budget.
The department has also changed its name, and will now be known as the community and social department rather than FCSS.
