Low participation and service duplication are included among reasons why the community services advisory board (CSAB) recently recommended discontinuing Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) funding for the St. Albert Youth Community Centre (YCC).
In an explanatory document shared via email on Monday, Mayor Nolan Crouse provided an eight-point summary on why city council and the CSAB agreed to stop funding the centre.
In his document, Crouse said the decision was “not based on the important value that the (YCC) 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.
“I think there’s probably two themes,” Crouse said. “One is the … the FCSS funding needs to be for preventative programs only and that is the one thing that is fundamental. And the second thing is that we make sure the money being provided, it’s not a duplication of services.”
Following an internal discussion earlier this year, the CSAB recommended to council May 29 that FCSS funding be discontinued after 2012, which council approved. That decision attracted criticism because the specific reasons weren’t made public.
The St. Albert Gazette had lobbied council to make public the reasons for the CSAB recommendation. Monday’s release is the culmination of a motion passed by council calling on Crouse, CSAB chair Trina Shipanoff, FCSS director Scott Rodda and chief legislative officer Chief Belke, to release a backgrounder explaining the decision.
Instances of double-funding in the release include the city’s operation of anti-bullying programs and employing such individuals as the school resource co-ordinator, the family school liaison and the Building Assets & Memories (BAM) co-ordinator.
Also noted is the declining number of youth using the YCC, which is “not deemed substantial for the amount of FCSS funding being allocated.”
The preliminary results from the city’s 2012 municipal census indicate there are approximately 15,000 youth under the age of 19.
“We have to make sure we’re providing funding for youth and we have to spread that around,” Crouse said.
Doug Campbell, chair of the YCC board and former executive director, said he was calling for a special board meeting this week to review the information that has been released.
“I guess what we want to do is, having reviewed that, we’ll take a look at what the implication is to us deciding whether or not to keep the centre open,” Campbell said. “That’s what we’ve been doing, deciding whether or not its feasible.”
Campbell said he would have no further comment until after the board meets. The board had originally set a June 30 deadline for a decision on whether or not to keep the YCC open, but has extended that to July 31.
But Crouse said in the release that just because the YCC doesn’t qualify for FCSS funding after 2012 doesn’t mean it can’t be supported.
“This also does not suggest that the city will not continue to work with the YCC to assist them in seeking other sources of funding,” the release states.
