In an open letter to council it intends to send later this month, the St. Albert Youth Centre board intends to challenge a report the city used to justify cutting the centre's funding.
In an open letter to council it intends to send later this month, the St. Albert Youth Centre board intends to challenge a report the city used to justify cutting the centre's funding.
City council decided in May to cut the centre's funding of around $114,000 a year, giving it city support only until the end of 2012.
Board Chair Doug Campbell, said the centre will continue to operate into the fall, but has yet to decide what to do after their funding expires in December.
Council initially released little information about the reasoning behind its decision, but after the Gazette pressed, more information was released his month.
The city's community services advisory board recommended the cut, saying the centre was serving few youth and that money could be more broadly spent.
Using the terminology of the city's asset development program, Campbell said targeting the money more broadly misses that not all St. Albert youth need help equally.
"They are going to take the dollars and aim them towards what we feel are a majority of kids, who tend to be asset rich," he said. "We see the shifting of the funding from the asset rich, away from the market which we believe we were helping, which might be asset poor."
Campbell said the centre has about 800 kids registered through its various programs, but admits there is a dedicated group of about 50 to 60 regulars.
The advisory board's other concern was a duplication of programs that exist elsewhere, but Campbell argues having more places where youth can get support is a benefit.
"I am concerned that if we start to put all of our eggs in one basket do we start to miss kids."
He said many kids feel comfortable looking for help at the youth centre, but might not feel the same way at other locations.
The grant the centre receives comes from Family and Community Support Services and the dollars are supposed to be targeted toward preventative programs. The advisory board argued the youth centre didn't fit that mandate, but Campbell said they believe their drop-in centre is a preventative program.
"Our contention philosophically is that the youth we have worked with since 1997 have in fact been participating in preventive activities, by just attending."
The youth coming to the centre often don't have other places to be, Campbell said.
"They would be wandering, they would be in the parkade, they might be over in Lions Park," he said. "Because they are with us we provide them with more opportunities to participate."
Mayor Nolan Crouse said he looks forward to the letter. He said the decision council has taken does not prevent them from giving the issue another look.
"Any member of council could bring forward a motion to revisit if there is something compelling in the youth centre's response."
Campbell said the centre is also exploring other funding options to keep the doors open after the end of the year. The centre has been successful getting grants in the past, but usually only for specific programs or renovations, not to keep the centre's door open.
"We can get project funding, special funding for special events, but it has always been a challenge to get a grant from whatever source, private or government, to support the ongoing operation of the youth centre."
Campbell said one of the other challenges around this has been the impression that the youth centre is now dead because the city pulled its funding.
"We had very poor results from our mayor's breakfast and we have had very poor results trying to get people registered in our programs."
Note: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that the amount of the funding that has been cut from the St. Albert Youth Centre was $225,000. The centre's 2012 grant for operating funds from Family and Community Support Services was $114,100. The city also pays the lease on the centre's space in Grandin Park Plaza and that funding currently remains in place. The Gazette apologizes for the error.
