(Vantage Community Services Facebook page)

By Alessia Proietti

after 20 years

Red Deer’s Street Ties program for vulnerable youth will close this April due to lack of funding

Mar 20, 2024 | 5:03 PM

Red Deer’s Street Ties outreach program for youth experiencing homelessness will be closing at the end of the month due to a lack of funding.

The youth outreach drop-in program supports street-involved youth aged 13-21.

Vantage Community Services, the program organizers, made a one-time emergency funding request of $320,000 to city council on Monday for the period of April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025.

After the organization was unsuccessful in obtaining their usual provincial funding through a Children & Family Services procurement process, they reached out to the City for funding, stating they would determine over the year if alternative sustainable funding could be achieved for the future.

The request was denied by city council. They stated that while the decision was difficult and acknowledged the important work of the program in the community, the organization is meant to be provincially funded and highlighted the need for the Government of Alberta to ensure a proper transition plan is in place to continue meeting youth needs.

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“We have been operating Street Ties for over 20 years and it has been a highly valued program in the city, central Alberta and has even received national recognition. The Street Ties staff built strong bonds and relationship with our clients, and we provided access to clothing, showers and bathroom facility, hygiene products, computers, job searching/postings, art activities and resume building. We even celebrated holidays together such as Christmas, Easter, and more. We are grateful to our hard working, compassionate and dedicated staff at Street Ties who created a difference in our client’s lives, and we are sad to see Street Ties close down,” the organization wrote on social media on Wednesday.

The City said that in conversations with the Ministry of Children & Family Services, it is believed that services to achieve their objectives, relative to their Protection of Sexually Exploited Children Act, are actively being procured.

They said the province confirmed that while there may be a new service delivery model than previously implemented, there was no decrease in local funding. They added that the province couldn’t confirm who was the successful proponent or provide details for a transition plan.

Ashli Barrett, Press Secretary for the Minister of Children and Family Services, responded in a statement, “Children and Family Services released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for services under the Protection of Sexually Exploited Children Act (PSECA)/Youth Services in November 2023. The current contract with Vantage for PSECA services to serve the Red Deer area expires on March 31, 2024, but Vantage still holds other contracts to provide government-funded services for foster care, group care, counselling, assessment and therapeutic services for in-care children and youth.

The successful proponent has not been announced yet, however, they will begin providing services on April 1. The proponent will have drop-in locations throughout Red Deer, Lloydminster and Camrose, and provide outreach in all other Central Alberta communities when needed. They will be reaching out to community partners as part of their launch.

There will be no disruption to services in the Red Deer area.”

She added that, “government procures for services through a competitive process, ensuring an open, transparent and fair opportunity for service providers to participate.”

The City noted the emergency funding request also does not comply with the Community Development Grant Policy, approved in fall 2021 to ensure fairness and transparency in the community granting process.

Vantage Community Services says the program serves a specific youth segment that is in-between the age ranges of services offered at other agencies. They have three youth counsellors on site and an Indigenous Support Worker.

The clientele is youth involved in risky behaviours like drug addiction, unresolved anger and violence, criminal activity, and unaddressed mental health concerns, with lots stemming from family trauma.

According to their attendance statistics, the program has seen between 16-43 new youth per month since 2019.

The organization says they have also seen an increase in drug use in the last two years, particularly from fentanyl, and thus frequently administer Naloxone to prevent overdoses.

“Beyond the daily accomplishment of helping clients stay alive, other successes occur. Visiting with a past client who has come on site to share these successes (overcoming addiction, finding, and maintaining employment, finding housing) has an impact on everyone they see,” wrote Robecca Chahine, Chief Executive Officer of Vantage Community Services, in her letter to council.

The City says youth programming, specifically targeting those who are street-involved, may be lacking with the closure of the program. They did note that the implementation of the federal Building Safer Communities Fund, aimed at reducing youth gun and gang violence involvement, will start mid-April.

READ: Red Deer eligible for funding to prevent and intervene youth gun and gang violence

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