Parent Link and Growing Great Kids Coalition Funding Changes

Summary

On November 4, 2019, the Town of Hinton was notified by Alberta Children’s Services that Parent Link and Growing Great Kids Coalition funding will end on March 31, 2020 and will not be renewed after the current budget year ends.  As of April 1, 2020, Children’s Services will no longer be funding these programs in their current state. The Town has been invited to submit an Expression of Interest under the new guidelines created by the Province.

This decision was made based on Children’s Services adoption of the Well-Being and Resiliency Framework, which strives to provide a consistent province-wide approach offering universal, targeted, and intensive services.

The adoption of this Framework resulted in Children’s Services redesigning its approach to service delivery. This redesign included eliminating current grants and agreements for approximately 450 grants and contracts across the province for services including parent link centres, home visitation services, family resource centres, and other prevention programs.

In lieu of renewing current grants and agreements, an Expression of Interest (EOI) was opened and organizations have been invited to submit funding proposals for the 2020 year.

EOI Details
The Town will be participating in this new process, and will prepare a proposal through the EOI, as released on November 7, 2019. The EOI includes important details, including service areas, funding, and structure.

Service Area
Hinton is part of the North Central Region along with Jasper, Grande Cache, Edson, and Yellowhead County (Evansburg, Wildwood, Marlboro, Peers).
 
Available Funding and Changes
Our region is designated as a “Medium-Sized Region,” meaning there is $500,000.00 - $749,999.00 available to the region. Previously, the Town of Hinton received approximately $195,000  from Provincial grants and contracts each year.
 
Structure
The EOI outlined a new model for service delivery, called the “Hub-and-Spokes” model. The “hub” is a physical centre and anchor organization that arranges direct and partnered service delivery; the “spokes” are the network of services, supports, and programming that offer child development and well-being support, caregiver capacity building support, and social connections and supports.

Next Steps
The Town of Hinton is committed to continuing to offer high-quality, responsive, and meaningful services to support early childhood and family development. The elimination of these two contracts does not currently impact the Town’s commitment to offering these essential services. In the coming months, the Town will work with other community and regional agencies to prepare a strong proposal.

In the meantime, Parent Link services and Growing Great Kids Coalition initiatives will continue as planned and scheduled.

Community Involvement
The Town will share more information as it becomes available. If members of the community have any questions or concerns, please contact Jenna Altrogge, FCSS Assistant Manager, at 780-865-6073 or by email.