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Family Resource Network COVID-19 programming winding down

“These programs were well used and have been impactful in our community. They supported families in these stressful times and provided a place for children to go and parents to have their questions answered. Children had opportunities to gain and maintain social skills in a time of isolation and parents had a safe space to drop off their child so they could manage some of the stress in their life. These services have been available to families when they have most needed it.”
Town of Canmore
Town of Canmore civic centre

A series of programs designed to help families with young children during the COVID-19 pandemic will be ending by the end of the year.

The COVID-19 relief programs, which were funded by the Town of Canmore, were run through the Family Resource Network (FRN) and had 330 participants use the services.

“These programs were well used and have been impactful in our community. They supported families in these stressful times and provided a place for children to go and parents to have their questions answered,” said Christine deMontigny, the supervisor of FRN.

“Children had opportunities to gain and maintain social skills in a time of isolation and parents had a safe space to drop off their child so they could manage some of the stress in their life. These services have been available to families when they have most needed it.”

The programs were free play/free time that allows kids three to five years old to play with one another, and the play without parents program that is parent free and fully supervised for kids six to 12 to connect with one another.

The school support program is for kids nine to 12 years old who need additional help with school work.

The three programs ran under the FRN portfolio and Canmore council approved funding in June 2020. The money was directed to the Community Social Development (CSD) department and saw $42,000 come from grants and $355,000 from the tax stabilization fund.

The COVID-19 specific programs cost $30,000 to run, while the remainder went to help normal operating municipal programs.

The municipally funded programs had 601 people take part and the provincially funded ones had 125 people participating.

“This is a significant amount of individuals who have accessed these services. … This is a staggering number of parents and children we have seen through our drop-in program in 2021, especially considering these services have been impacted by the health and gather restrictions due to COVID,” deMontigny said.

A report to council stated all programs have been well received and had several hundred participants between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30.

“I know when we put our hand in the air for the COVID-19 response it would have impact, but I don’t think I realized the impact,” said Coun. Joanna McCallum, who was on the prior council that voted in favour of the funding.

The province announced in November 2019 that its funding for the Parent Link Services (PLS) would end on March 31, 2020. The FRN would have funding available for municipalities, but programs would have to be amended.

Whereas the PLS was for childhood development programs for kids up to six years old, the FRN is designed to help with early intervention services for kids up to 18.

The FRN was launched to follow provincial guidelines at the early stages of the pandemic and the Town funded the Social Connection program, which was funded under PLS but not under FRN.

Among the Social Connection programs are babies and blankets – to help new parents with babies under 12 months old – and toys together, which is a drop-in program that allows kids six and under to play and socialize. Recreation activities for teens is a program that gives pre-teenagers and teenagers a safe area to socialize.

The province funded its programs to the tune of $360,000, while the municipal ones were about $56,000 and the COVID-19 programs were $30,000.

“Early in the pandemic we heard families were struggling with childcare, school support, finances and isolation among several other concerns,” deMontigny said. “This service was meant to provide a relief during the pandemic for short duration childcare to address these struggles.

“Families are aware the services are winding down, but it has been a great help for families to have that support, being able to drop their children off so they can deal with some of the stresses they’re managing.”

Though some of the programming is about to end, they helped fill a need by many residents in the community, said Lisa Brown, the manager of CSD.

“All of the programs will be missed, but I think it filled a very unique gap where we don’t have any respite care in the Bow Valley. This was something needed typically, but the need was amplified during COVID, especially when our childcare facilities were closed for some time and parents had different comfort levels sending kids to daycare or summer camps. … They filled that unique space of temporary short-term respite care.”

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