Date:
Expiry Date:
Current Status:
Sponsors:
District:
Year:
Convention:
Category:
Status:
Vote Results:
Preamble:
WHEREAS the Government of Alberta (GOA) identifies proactive and preventive approaches to social issues as being key to building and sustaining a system that improves outcomes for children, families, seniors and communities; and
WHEREAS Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) is a partnership between the GOA, municipalities and Métis Settlements that develop locally driven, preventative social initiatives that enhance the wellbeing of individuals, families and communities; and
WHEREAS FCSS is established pursuant to the Family and Community Support Services Act and the Family and Community Support Services Regulation, in which the Government of Alberta contributes 80% of program costs and municipalities contribute at least 20% of the program cost; and
WHEREAS there are 210 local FCSS programs representing 316 municipalities participating in the provincial FCSS program; and
WHEREAS FCSS services include programs for parent and family support, early childhood development, youth programs, and programs to keep seniors connected to the community; and
WHEREAS the seniors demographic is growing in Alberta and around the world and the cost of institutional health care and housing for this vulnerable population has been proven to be unsustainable; and
WHEREAS investments in proactive and preventative actions lead to less pressure on crisis management and intervention services related to justice, health care, child intervention, family violence, and seniors’ institutional housing, which will ultimately reduce the economic and social costs to the GOA and all Albertans; and
WHEREAS in 2010 and 2014, RMA endorsed resolutions calling for the GOA to increase FCSS funding as it had remained stagnant for years; and
WHEREAS in 2015, the GOA responded by increasing FCSS funding by 33% from $76 million to $101 million, however, has not increased FCSS funding by more than 5% in the last nine years since then; and
WHEREAS In 2023, RMA recognized the challenge posed by rural FCSS programs and enlisted the University of Alberta’s Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities (ACSRC) to develop a report that specifically outlines the issues faced in local rural FCSS programs; and
WHEREAS the ACSRC report noted key challenges facing rural programming including insufficient provincial funding, increasing inaccessibility of provincial social services in rural Alberta, and changing and increasing social needs in rural Alberta; and
WHEREAS the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with a period of high inflation has left more Albertans in need of social services provided by FCSS programs; and
WHEREAS rural FCSS programs are faced with an increased challenge of providing preventative services that meet local needs, with limited funding and reduced access to provincial support services;
Operative Clause:
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) advocate to the Government of Alberta (GOA) to immediately begin indexing provincial Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) funding to population growth and inflation;
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the RMA advocate that the GOA improve accessibility to provincial supports for vulnerable rural residents to allow for fair and equitable access to critical services throughout Alberta that adequately meet their needs.
Member Background:
The Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) philosophy is based on a belief that self-help contributes to a sense of integrity, self-worth and independence. The programs developed are intended to help individuals in the community to adopt healthy lifestyles thereby improving the quality of life and building the capacity to prevent and or deal with crisis situations should the need arise.
In particular, FCSS offers specific solutions to the critical need for increased supports to our seniors population that facilitate aging in place. The cost of institutional health care and housing for this segment of the population has been demonstrated to be unsustainable, given the increased numbers of seniors and of health care needs. If FCSS funding were increased to offset population growth and inflation, the high cost of health care and housing for seniors could be mitigated by allowing those who want to age in place to do so with greater supports through FCSS.
The last substantial increase of provincial funding to FCSS Programs was in 2015; almost 10 years of stagnant funding that has been unresponsive to enormous economic and social challenges and has placed hardship on FCSS programs across Alberta. Because of this, FCSS organizations are falling further behind in their ability to maintain their level of support to Albertans, and in many cases, much needed services and programs will be reduced or eliminated in municipalities. Stagnant funding erodes the effectiveness of FCSS programming because of the increased population accessing services, as well as the increased cost to provide the same services year over year.
Municipalities are legislatively tasked with establishing and delivering preventative social services and programs that meet the needs of their residents through FCSS Programs. In particular, rural FCSS directors and staff deal closely with community members and have a firsthand view of the local needs, which increases their ability to respond. As needs grow, the cost of providing adequate services has increased at a rate that far exceeds the level of funding provided by the Government of Alberta. Municipalities are, therefore, tasked with filling in the funding gaps. When this occurs over multiple years and across the entire province, it solidifies that there is a critical need to examine the level of government funding.
Coupled with the strain of frozen funding, provincial support services are becoming harder to access for rural residents. Provincial support services are being reduced, consolidated, and moved online which poses accessibility challenges for vulnerable rural Albertans. As this occurs, the services are downloaded to rural FCSS programs.
The University of Alberta’s Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities (ACSRC) Report on FCSS Service Delivery Challenges in Rural Alberta captures the unique challenge to smaller, rural FCSS programs. Throughout the study, there was repeated feedback that the consistent downloading of tasks by the province is further stressing FCSS programs across rural communities by increasing their workload without access to additional government funding.
Additional Information:
University of Alberta’s Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities (ACSRC) Report on FCSS Service Delivery Challenges in Rural Alberta:
https://rmalberta.com/reports-toolkits/fcss-service-delivery-challenges-in-rural-alberta/
Government of Alberta – Alberta Supports:
RMA Background:
RMA has no active resolutions directly related to this issue.
Alberta Health Services
With regards to resolution 2-24F in relation to funding support for rural family and community support programs, as these services are funded and provided by the Government of Alberta, AHS is unable to provide a response to this resolution. Responsibility for this also falls under the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services.
Development:
Resolution 2-24F called on the Government of Alberta to index provincial Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) funding to population growth and inflation and that they improve access to rural FCSS. Prior to Resolution 2-24F, rural municipalities passed a series of now expired resolutions calling on the GOA to increase FCSS funding. In 2023, in partnership with the University of Alberta’s Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities, RMA release a report on rural FCSS that found rural FCSS programs are underfunded, struggle to attract and retain staff, and that these services fill a critical gap in rural municipalities whereas urban municipalities have more services to call upon to form a combined approach to meeting residents needs. FCSS costs are intended to be split 80/20 between the Government of Alberta and municipalities, but to keep FCSS afloat and maintain an adequate level of service, rural municipalities often finding themselves contributing in excess of 20% of total FCSS costs.
RMA sent this resolution to Alberta Health Services (AHS), Alberta Seniors, Community, and Social Services, and Children and Family Services. AHS declined to comment and directed attention to the Ministry of Seniors, Community, and Social Services. RMA will continue to advocate while awaiting additional responses. RMA assigns this resolution a status of Incomplete Information.
Provincial Ministries:
Provincial Boards and Organizations:
Internal Notes:
