Answering questions about FCSS

the FCSS Grant Review Committee

 

One of the questions that arose during the FCSS transition to a Municipal Department was whether the Town’s decision to retain their own FCSS funding is the first step towards becoming a city. There are certain distinctive steps that a municipality must follow in order to become a city, and creating a municipal FCSS department is not one of the steps. There is no connection between city status and a municipal FCSS department. In fact, prior to the FCSS decision being made, the decision to suspend pursuing city status was already in effect.

Prior to the resolution to retain the Provincial FCSS funding allocated to the Town of Strathmore for our own programming, administration began researching how other municipalities administered their FCSS Funding from the Province. Administration met with other municipalities of a similar size to Strathmore, as well as consulting with the FCSS Association of Alberta and the Ministry of Human Services, and from that research it was discovered that in most municipalities, FCSS is a municipally run department from within existing staff levels.  

One of the key principals of the FCSS Program is local responsibility in priority-setting and resource allocation, and therefore, each municipality is best able to determine how the dollars they receive should be allocated to best meet local needs. Our research pointed to the fact that most municipalities of Strathmore’s size withdrew from multi-municipal programs so as to allow for local autonomy and resource/priority setting. This allows for strategic cost savings to be made in various areas and is in keeping with the FCSS mandate and legislation.

Out of all of the FCSS Programs in Alberta, less than eight are multi-municipal agreements through non profit societies, with the balance being municipal departments under the authority and jurisdiction of the municipality. As previously stated, it is typical for adjacent jurisdictions to run joint programs or collaborate on special projects where the program benefits the citizens of each municipality. These partnerships have had great success for the mutual benefit of residents, and we hope to partner with our neighbouring FCSS Programs when there is a need.

There are two ways that a Municipality can deliver FCSS Programs; the first is via direct service delivery, where the FCSS staff are Municipal employees, and/or contracted full or part time employees, and the Municipality delivers the services and programs within the parameters of FCSS Legislation. 

The second is via external grants, where the Municipality grants their FCSS Funds to local organizations and groups, referred to as “FCSS funded agencies”, which was the method used by the Town of Strathmore in the past; ie the Town “granted” WFCSS our Municipal portion of the FCSS funds, and WFCSS decided on the services that would be delivered to the community. In addition, WFCSS “granted” funds to outside agencies and groups for the delivery of services, (WFCSS described this as indirect funding).  

The FCSS Act and Alberta Regulation are quite clear in the requirements to determine eligibility for funding programs. For example, Section 2.1(2) states that: Services provided under a program must not:

• (a) provide primarily for the recreational needs or leisure time pursuits of individuals;

• (b) offer direct assistance, including money, food, clothing or shelter, to sustain an individual or family;

• (c) be primarily rehabilitative in nature, or

• (d) duplicate services that are ordinarily provided by a government or government agency (It is important to recognize that there are grants available through other government sources that will subsidize many of the programs that may have been funded in the past; this information is available at the Town Office if anyone would like access to it).

The legislation also states, (under clause 11 (b) ) if the audited financial statement of a municipality:

• (iii) shows that the municipality has wrongfully used funds provided to it under the Act, the Minister may withhold amounts of funding under any new agreement or require the municipality to repay the amounts of funding that in the opinion of the Minister are equivalent to the value of the program components not met or the funds wrongfully used.

FCSS promotes, encourages and facilitates the involvement of volunteers, the efficient use of resources, cooperation and coordination with allied service agencies operating within the municipality by promoting public awareness, and promotes and encourages the development of stronger communities.

When reviewing the grant applications, it is important to note that some applications may comply with the Legislation in part, but not in all areas, or there has been a need for this type of program identified by the community. For example, an application may not meet the FCSS Mandate and Legislation and is therefore ineligible for funding, (i.e. is funded through another government agency, or is primarily rehabilitative in nature), however, it may be determined that the applicant has proven that there is a need for the program that has been identified by the community through (for example) a Needs Assessment. In this case, the application may be eligible for “services in kind”, such as the promotion of public awareness, or a one-time fee for a guest speaker, etc., but the applicant would not be eligible for core operating costs such as staff wages, supplies, etc.  

FCSS has been provided with a Program Advice Inventory Listing that has been prepared by Alberta and Children Youth Services and the FCSS Association of Alberta to assist FCSS departments in determining the eligibility of programs. The Grant Review Committee has depended on this information greatly in making decisions on the eligibility of programs requesting funding through FCSS. A number of the grant applicants may be disappointed to learn that they may not be receiving funding from FCSS in the future, as they are not in keeping with the rules and guidelines of the Legislation. It is however our intent to fully fund the Town’s portion of the amounts that were given by WFCSS in 2012, which equates to 54 per cent, (the Town’s portion under the Funding Agreement with the Province), less a small percentage to wean the agencies off of the funding. WFCSS may or may not fund their portion of the grants they approved in 2012 for the 2013 year. In addition, as the structure of the FCSS Department will now be in keeping with the structures of other municipal FCSS departments, and grants to outside agencies will diminish in the future. Many of the Grants to outside agencies through FCSS funding are meant to be short term, with the objective being to enhance the program.  Funds are not intended to sustain an organization for long periods of time, as the program must be sustainable on its own.