FCSS program awards funding for 2014

December 17, 2013 / For Immediate Release

AIRDRIE, ALBERTA – At their regular meeting on Monday, December 16, 2013, Airdrie City Council made a motion to allocate $759,000 of the Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) Program to preventive social programs.

“I’m a huge believer in helping our community partners provide quality preventive social services,” said Mayor Peter Brown. “We truly appreciate all of the hard work these organizations do and the tremendous value they add to our community.”

At Council, Clay Aragon, FCSS Coordinator, City of Airdrie briefly talked about the FCSS mandate of prevention, the six funding allocation options, and the process that the Community Services Advisory Board underwent to make their funding recommendation to Council.

“This year the City restructured how its Social Planning department is being funded. It lowered the City’s FCSS Plus (over contribution) in the FCSS Program. The net result of this realignment was an additional $64,500 in FCSS funds being reallocated in community preventive social programs,” said Aragon.

At a 25 per cent municipal contribution into the FCSS Program, the following preventive social programs will be receiving funding in 2014:

The FCSS Allocation Guide 2014 Edition is available online at:

http://issuu.com/airdriefcss/docs/fcss2014

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Media contact:

Clay Aragon
Social Planning Unit, City of Airdrie
403.948.8800 ext. 8457

Backgrounder—Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) Program

The Airdrie Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) Program is a funding partnership between the Government of Alberta and the City of Airdrie. 80% of the total cost of delivering the FCSS program is provided by the Government of Alberta and a minimum of 20% has to be contributed by the City. FCSS is designed to fund community social programs that enhance the social well-being of families and communities. The goal is to strengthen families and communities by preventing crises such as family violence, poverty and social exclusion.

Annually, community social programs who meet the FCSS mandate of prevention are encouraged to apply for FCSS funds. The City’s Community Services Advisory Board reviews all of the applications and sets priorities for funding allocation. They make funding recommendations to Council for final budget approval.

Once approved, successful applicants are funded from January 1st to December 31st 2014. AS a condition of their funding, FCSS funded programs are required to measure the effectiveness of the programs they deliver to community and report results to the City. These results are submitted to the Government of Albert and presented in the City’s Social Report.