Flagstaff County Council defers FIRST request to cancel Community Resource Officer program
Due to a lack of sustainable funding, Flagstaff’s FIRST (Flagstaff Initiative to Relationship and Spousal Trauma) issued a written request to Flagstaff County Council on Sept. 23 to send a letter of cancellation to the RCMP for the Flagstaff Community Resource Officer Position.
The letter says, “After much thought and research, it has been determined that at this time, FIRST cannot access sustainable funding to keep this program going past October 2015.”
The board cites the lack of a complete breakdown of associated costs from the Solicitor General as one of the reasons why obtaining sustainable funding, or ongoing grant funds, is so difficult.
“That information is required to apply for any grants that may help us.
“Throughout the next year we will continue to seek and explore other methods to fund the program that is such a great benefit to our community.”
The board advises that they and their management team will continue to research funding streams for such a program, and hope to find sustainable funding in the future, adding, “but at this time it is just not a reality.”
Accompanying the letter was a copy of the program evaluation that was performed July 2014. The evaluation is positive overall.
The evaluation, prepared by a third party outside of the area, says, “The FIRST Board, school staff, community stakeholders and municipal partners overwhelmingly report that their understanding of the intent of the Community Resource Officer Program is to build relationships between children and youth so that they will make positive decisions about relationships, drugs and alcohol, and high risk behaviours.”
The report also talks about a lack of funding being the program’s number one concern.
Council deferred the request from the board, and asked administration to look into how other municipalities fund similar programs, and to look into any other options for funding.
They will review the request at their Oct. 8 regular meeting.
FFCS Executive Director Lynne Jenkinson says Flagstaff Municipalities fund the program per capita at present, with $7 per person budgeted; that accounts for about one-third of the program’s total funding, or $51,000. Another $35,000 is funded by the province, through a children’s services grant, but Jenkinson says that was originally $75,000.
The Battle River School Division funds another $20,000.
The total cost of the program is $150,000.
Going back to Flagstaff municipalities to sustain the program would increase the per capita cost to $18, something Jenkinson says is not realistic at all.
FIRST raises funds for programs from their annual dinner and auction, but that funding is put towards counsellors and other programming.
The FIRST board says, “We have not given up the possibility of accessing another contract with the RCMP for a Community Resource Officer; if we are successful in finding funding that could make this excellent program financially sustainable.”
Leslie Cholowsky
Editor
