Wednesday, October 4, 2023 Vol. 46, No. 40
$1 includes GST
Happy Thanksgiving
FCSS sits down with Provincial Minister
Nixon hears FCSS experienced 60 per cent increase in clients - forced into crisis intervention as people have nowhere else to turn Patricia Harcourt Editor
Local Viking/Beaver Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) staff and board members met with Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services last week. They were part of a contingent of social services people from the region meeting with the minister. Dawn Chrystian, director for Viking/Beaver FCSS addressed Nixon at the meeting with key issues facing the local organization. Chrystian outlined a situation where funding has remained stagnant while the client base has risen substantially, and FCSS is forced to perform crisis intervention outside their actual mandate. Although “grateful” for a five per cent funding increase, the minister heard that this comes on the heels
of eight years of no funding increases. “Funding has not kept pace with local needs,” she said, noting: “We recognize a 60 per cent increase in the number of clients since 2019.” She also noted that studies reveal every dollar invested in FCSS results in a savings of $12 that might be needed to access emergency or urgent support for individuals not being helped by FCSS. “We are a cost effective alternative,” said Chrystian. Local partners are supposed to contribute 20 per cent of the necessary FCSS funding, with the province kicking in 80 per cent. But due to the underfunding by the province, the local contributing municipalities are all over contributing at rates of 30 per cent (Beaver County), 24 per cent (Town of Viking) and 21 per cent (Village of Holden).
Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) staff and board members from the region were invited to meet with Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services. In the front row, from left, are: Town of Viking Viking/Beaver FCSS Board member Clint Nearing, Minister Nixon, Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely, and Viking/Beaver FCSS Director Dawn Chrystian. In the back row, from left, are: Tofield/Beaver County West FCSS Director Tracey Radley, Flagstaff Family and Community Services Financial Manager Brooke Grove, Camrose and District FCSS Director Lyndel Kasa, Bashaw FCSS Director Christine Beulow, and a board member for the Camrose and District FCSS. “We met to discuss all things FCSS-related,” explained Chrystian, “particularly the value we add to our communities (research indicates that for every $1 spent on the FCSS preventative model, $12 is saved as FCSS services reduce the need for intervention services, which are more costly), struggles we are currently facing, and to thank the minister for his ongoing support.”
The local FCSS “would not be able to function without these additional funds, and without external grants that FCSS staff are required to apply for throughout the year,” she said. Chrystian also said the centralizing of provincial and federal programs so vulnerable clients have to access them through 1-800 numbers is causing hardship for many with physical and cognitive disorders. She called it “a barrier to accessing services.” Example included Income Support and AISH applications which require individuals to apply online, centralized lines for home care
and mental health access. This results in long waits and are difficult to navigate. FCSS helps people having difficulty accessing supports like AISH and Children’s Services, but it is not part of their mandate. “As one of the only support agencies still directly imbedded in our community, if we did not do this work, who would?” she asked, and it is necessary to prevent further breakdown of the social fabric in the community. Add to this an increase in the number of crisis situations that end up at the FCSS door. “We are the only support
service agency in the area and, as such, need to respond to these matters even when they are outside our mandate,” she said. These include abandoned children, individuals in active psychosis unable to access AHS mental health services, and people fleeing domestic violence “arriving at our offices with their belongings.” And, while FCSS is “proud to be recognized as a place of support,” Chrystian said: “We are concerned that as this work exists outside of our mandate we are unable to provide a clear overall picture of the value of our rural program.”