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The provincial government is making changes to the delivery of support services for children and has selected four communities, including Kelowna, for its Family Connection Center (FCC) pilots.
In an email to Global News, the Ministry of Children and Family Development said, “In order to enhance and expand service available to families, the ministry launched a selection process inviting service providers to submit proposals that they How to provide services to families through Parivar Connection Kendra.” pilot.
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ARC Programs was selected as the successful operator in the Central Okanagan.
ARC is a private company that has provided support services to Okanagan children and youth for over 32 years.
“We’ve provided a full continuum of services for children and families during that period, and a variety of youth-specific services,” said Shane Picken, CEO of ARC Programs. “Over the last 10 years, we’ve focused a lot on children, youth with special needs, support needs, those kinds of services.”
Service delivery changes mean the Starbright Children’s Development Center will have to close for good after 57 years of serving Central Okanagan children, something Starbright management is not happy about.
“The definition of a pilot doesn’t mean that you destroy what’s currently there and put something else in there to see if it works,” said Rhonda Nelson, Starbright’s executive director. To see if there’s a better way to do it, a pilot has to be something in addition to what’s currently in place.” “And if it doesn’t work, I don’t know what will happen to parents and families.”
The non-profit organization, which serves children from birth to school entry age, applied for the contract and was shocked not to receive it and be part of the province’s new hub model system.
Nelson said, “We have the facilities, we have the background, we have the staff.” “In one department, our physiotherapy department, we have over 100 years of experience based on the people in that department.”
The new Family Connection Center, which will replace services currently offered on Starbright, is expected to be up and running in April or May.
“We have put together a coalition of agencies that have specific expertise in the different areas of service that are going to be needed, and we will work closely with all of the Family Connection Centers and other locations in the community,” Picken said.
ARC, which is receiving $14 million a year from the government to run the Family Connection Centers, will subcontract services to other private companies and non-profit organizations to help provide the services.
“You’re going to get the same or similar services through the new system, and it’s not going to be limited to zero to six,” Picken said. “Children have different needs which manifest in their lifetime, hence we are serving from zero to 18.”
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Picken assured families currently in the system that they would receive first priority to access services.
“We will not open to the public until everyone who is currently being represented at Starbright or other agencies has access to us,” he added.
Nelson said that Starbright submitted a very strong application for the contract, even outlining how it would have evolved its programs to meet the needs of older children.
“I can’t imagine that the proposal we provided would not be considered very, very practical, very remarkable, and would meet the needs of the Central Okanagan in an extraordinary way,” she said.
Starbright serves about 1,000 children every year.
Nelson said she is concerned about the infection now affecting children and families as a result of this decision.
“It’s not an easy thing for families who have children who rely on a team approach to services to start anew,” she said.
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