Future planning for family services and programs is going to be changing in the spring as the UCP government’s budget implications continue to trickle into communities. 

ParentLink Centres are just one example of the services that will cease to exist as they currently do, thanks to a change in the funding model. 

Funds that currently support these programs are going to be restructured as part of the family resources network, which is planned to support programming for children from newborns to 18 years old, whereas ParentLink services are currently only for children up to six.  

Cora Hoekstra of the Lacombe ParentLink group said it’s going to be difficult to see the elimination of the program as it’s known now. However, she added that it provides an opportunity to look at how more families can access services and supports. 

“It will be a hole, for lack of better words. The ParentLink Centre in Lacombe was a gathering place you went when you first became a parent or were new to town, it was a way of getting to know your neighbours and building community. And then, through that building community, you also developed a support network that we all need when we’re raising children,” she said. 

“However, I also know that there were some holes across the province and we have to look at how we can rectify that. There are communities that don’t even have a ParentLunk Centre and this new model will ensure that every part of the province falls under one of the resource networks. That, to me, as a citizen, is a valuable concept.”

The Central Parkland ParentLink network provides services to families in Blackfalds, Lacombe, Rimbey, Ponoka, Wetaskiwin, Clive, Mirror and Bentley. 

A letter was sent out to families within the ParentLink network, with many families stating it would be a great loss to see these programs end. 

Hoekstra said that while there has been an excellent service delivered to parents and families with young kids, there is a gap in the province that hasn’t fully addressed the needs of parents and families with children over six. 

She said she is hopeful that however the new funds are distributed and programs are carried on, they will help to encompass the needs of all families throughout the province. 

The funding model will change on March 31, 2020. Hoekstra said they will keep families updated with the changes as information gets settled. 

“The time of transition might be a bit awkward, but that’s how ParentLink started. We didn’t know how we were going to develop, but we did develop, first of all, to what we were mandated to do, and secondly, what families were showing us were their needs. I trust that that process will happen under this new framework as well,” she said.

"When I pull out the emotion and the attachment to ParentLink centres as they were, I understand that there is a need for change."

ParentLink programs will continue to run until the spring, and details on events and calendars for the various Central Parkland communities are available at centralparklandparentlink.ca.