Family resource centre has funding problems

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The province is investigating a Calgary Aboriginal assistance group's claims that their funding has been unjustly cut.

Since Jan. of this year, the Society for Calgary Aboriginal Community Services has been operating the Aboriginal Family Resource Center out of the Calgary Indian Friendship Center. The centre was designed by the society to assist Aboriginal people in dealing with the different agencies in Calgary. It gave them direction and information about agencies in the city where they could find varying assistance programs. The programs at the centre were geared at helping people deal with life in a large city. The program was also being used to strengthen family units.

Mike Heron, the society's president, said the assistance programs wre helping the individual and the family. He said the helping hand offered was making the city's growing Aboriginal population stronger.

An estimated 1,300 walk-in clients have used the resource center for referral service since it opened its doors in January.

To develop the center, the society received funding from the Commissioner of Services for Children and Families. The funding was to be evaluated at the end of a three-month period. The funding enabled the society to secure office space at the Friendship Center, office equipment, staff and begin developing programs.

The continuation of that funding, which was to be reviewed at the end of March was granted, said Heron. However, now, news had been received that the funding won't be coming.

Problems with the newly formed Calgary Rocky View Child and Family Services Authority may have put the program's future in jeopardy.

Bill Meade is the chief executive officer of the authority. Earlier this year, Meade was with the Office of the Commissioner of Services for Children and Families. It was in that capacity the Heron said Meade confirmed the funding would be continued for another three months.

Then, according to Heron, Meade reneged on the extension when he became acting CEO for the Calgary Rocky View Child and Family Services Authority.

Adding insult to injury, Heron alleges that the program will continue, but it won't be done by the Society for Calgary Aboriginal Community Services. Another group has been invited to take over the project, said Heron. He said his society's performance hasn't even been evaluated by the funding partners.

Huron said something isn't right.

"On Mar. 27, we got a letter from Bill Meade indicating that the contract is completed on Mar. 31 and that it was his intention to give this contract to another organization that was incorporated on Mar. 10 of this year," Heron said.

Meade confirmed that another group is ready to take over the program, but disagreed with Heron about a contract extension. He said there has been a misunderstanding.

"That's [Heron's] opinion but certainly not my opinion," Meade said. "My understanding is they are no longer involved with the operations. [Heron} wrote me a letter saying that they didn't want to do it anymore." .

Heron, however, said he has correspondence to Meade indicating their acceptance of the 90-day extension dated Mar. 4.

He said the centre was ready to go ahead with their latest initiative, which is a detailed evaluation sheet of each client. The information gathered on the client is based on the principle of the Medicine Wheel and modern philosophies. The data is stored into a computer, enabling referral agencies to contact the centre for copies of the information. The system was to save time and effort as a client travelled to one agency after another.

"What we wanted to develop here at the resource center, was a one-stop shopping deal where we would do the holistic assessment," said Pat Cardinal, the creator of the assessment program.

The future of that program is now in question.

The society has faxed letters of concern to Premier Ralph Klein and Klein has forwarded the matter for investigation to Dr. Lyle Oberg, Minister of Family and Social Services, and earl Calahasen, Minister Without Portfolio under Family and Social Services. Whatever the outcome will be, Heron said that the society and the resource center remain committed to the Calgary Aboriginal community and that they will seek alternative funding.