Investing in Prevention: Strengthening FCSS and Community Well-Being

BACKGROUND:

Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) is Alberta's primary community-based prevention program. For 60 years, it has helped municipalities and Métis Settlements address social challenges before they become crises. However, communities are facing growing and more complex needs while provincial FCSS funding has remained relatively unchanged for the past decade. For example, between 2022 and 2024 homelessness in the City of Red Deer grew by 235 percent, and in 2024 one in nine of the calls that the City’s social diversion team responded to was for a lack of access to basic needs. Many rural, remote, and smaller communities have limited access to provincially funded social services, requiring residents to travel to neighbouring communities or regional centres for support. This can increase demand on service providers and municipal supports in those communities, while highlighting broader gaps in Alberta's prevention and social service system. As a result, municipalities are increasingly being asked to respond to needs that fall outside FCSS's mandate and available resources.

Communities across Alberta are experiencing increased demand for social supports and more complex social challenges. FCSS programs report growing needs related to housing instability, mental health, addictions, social isolation, food insecurity, and financial pressures. Many individuals and families require support for multiple issues at the same time, increasing pressure on local service providers and municipalities. Examples from both rural and urban communities show significant increases in demand for FCSS services, referrals, and support requests. For example, in 2023 the Kneehill Regional FCSS noted a general increase in referrals to Alberta Supports and local food, clothing and furniture banks, housing supports and mental health supports and in 2024 provided 23,795 service hours which is about a 22 percent increase over their benchmark. The City of Edmonton found in 2024 individuals accessing supports were facing multiple challenges at once: mental health, addiction, instable housing and financial difficulties which required more intensive and integrated support.  Based on discussions among municipalities, these specific examples represent the experience of many communities throughout Alberta.

Municipalities’ concerns about changes to Alberta's social and income support systems reflect broader concerns about growing service gaps, growing demand for local supports, and the resulting pressure on municipalities and community-based programs such as FCSS. FCSS programs are increasingly being asked to help residents navigate gaps in Alberta's broader social service system. In many communities, FCSS has become the first-place residents turn when they cannot access other supports. While FCSS plays an important prevention role, many of these needs fall outside its mandate or require services that FCSS is not permitted to fund directly. Transportation, case management, hands on service coordination, outreach, and practical supports are common examples of services that can prevent crises but may not fit within existing FCSS funding rules.

Municipalities and FCSS programs have identified opportunities for additional needs-based, prevention-focused investments that would complement, rather than replace, FCSS. Expanding access to practical community supports and early intervention services could help address emerging needs before they escalate, improve residents' quality of life, and reduce pressure on more costly health and social service systems. One potential model is Healthy Aging Alberta, which has demonstrated success in providing early intervention and community-based supports for older adults. Similar complementary programming could be adapted to serve Albertans of all ages and help address prevention-related gaps that municipalities and FCSS programs have consistently identified.

ABmunis is advocating for additional provincial investment in FCSS (See: ABmunis FCSS Advocacy Toolkit). During discussions with the former Minister of ALSS, opportunities were identified to explore complementary prevention programming that could address gaps not currently met through FCSS while strengthening outcomes for Albertans.

The Government of Alberta's June 2026 transfer of FCSS to the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Status of Women has created uncertainty about how these discussions and FCSS connections to Alberta's broader prevention and social service systems will continue. Municipalities remain committed to FCSS's locally driven prevention model and believe continued collaboration across ministries, service systems, municipalities, and community organizations is essential to ensure Albertans can access the right support at the right time.

This issue is being raised as an emergent resolution because the transfer of FCSS occurred after the resolutions deadline. There is a risk that momentum toward increased FCSS funding, recognition of FCSS's role within Alberta's continuum of care, and exploration of complementary prevention programming could be lost if this issue is not addressed urgently.

1. Red Deer & District FCSS, Trends in Review 2025: A Review of Social Trends in the Red Deer and District Area, p. 2-10.
2. Kneehill Regional FCSS, Annual Report 2023, p. 3.
3. Kneehill Regional FCSS, Counselling Report to Municipalities 2025, p. 3.
4. City of Edmonton, 2024 Family and Community Support Services Annual Report, p. 9.
5. See: University of Alberta and RMA, 2023, Understanding and Responding to the Challenges Faced by FCSS Programs in Rural Alberta, pp. 1-37.
6. University of Alberta and RMA, 2023, p. 12.
7. The definition of early intervention in the Government of Alberta often means addressing an issue at an early stage, after the issue has surfaced or presented itself, but before full blown crisis. These interventions tend to be intensive and directed at specific individuals experiencing significant adversity. See: Government of Alberta, March 2019, Well-being and Resiliency: A Framework for Supporting Safe and Healthy Children and Families, p. 22.