The executive director of the High Level Parent Link Centre is optimistic the program will continue. Val Crosby was responding to the news of the Government of Alberta announcing in its budget that the 126 Parent Link Centres across the province will no longer receive funding after March 31st, 2020. “We do good work and our families need that support. I have faith the government will recognize that and that this will just be a realignment of a new framework and a realignment of the funding model,” says Crosby. Crosby mentioned the province is looking for expressions of interest to keep programs, like Parent Link, operating.
Province cancels funding contracts to Parent Link programs
Crosby adds that the High Level centre services the entire Mackenzie region, with services also available in: Rainbow Lake, La Crete, and Fort Vermillion. It also employs 11 people. Crosby points out that the parent link program has approximately 400 families, while the support program typically brings in 30-40 families a year. She explains how the new funding framework is expected to work. “The government has come up with a new funding model of family resource networks. They (the province) put out a tender and expression of interest and we are going to apply for that and hopefully that will continue the services we can offer to families.”
Crosby also discusses the support program and what it means for transient families in the Mackenzie region. “It’s incredibly important in our isolated communities but also because we have a lot of transient families who don’t have that family support; that extended family you would normally see. They have come here for work so it’s really important that we have that family support piece where they can come in and meet other families
– Kenny Trenton, Trending 55 Newsroom
