New support program will help struggling families become independent says PA Mobile Crisis executive director
Emokhare Paul Anthony
Daily Herald
PA Mobile Crisis has announced a new partnership with the provincial government to deliver a new intensive in-home support program for families in Prince Albert and Melfort.
The Ministry of Social Services has previously announced similar partnership agreements with organizations in Regina, Saskatoon, and Yorkton. On Wednesday, they announced one with Mobile Crisis in Prince Albert.
“This type of program is going to create a progressive, client-centric experience that offers support in the comfort of their own space,” Prince Albert Mobile Crisis Unit Co-operative’s Executive Director Vicki Stewart said in a press release. “This is something that has not been available in Prince Albert before.”
Stewart said the new service will operate 24-7, providing emergency intervention, family supports to mitigate risk to their children, cultural programming and knowledge, referrals to other community services and ongoing support services.
“It was an opportunity to work with people in the community and to help connect (them) to services that they’re needing,” Stewart said in an interview with the Daily Herald. “I like the idea that it is a volunteer program. If people are wanting some help or just needing some extra things—just some extra support in the community—I like that we can offer that.”
Stewart said this is one area where there was a “gap in services.” Previously, she said, some families couldn’t access these services unless they had a file with the Ministry of Social Services. She said PA Mobile Crisis wanted to offer some support without those barriers.
Stewart said the program will help families become independent and connect to ongoing services. She said the demand for these services has grown.
“When we think of the vulnerable sector, it’s hard for them,” she explained. “Everybody, I think, is finding things like groceries and even electricity and power, all of those things have gone up. Just beaning able to maneuver (around that) is even harder for those who maybe don’t have vehicles or maybe don’t have those connections.”
Ideally, Stewart said the partnership will be long-term. She added that it’s too soon to say how many families they can help.
“There is no cap, which is sometimes a little bit scary for an agency that’s community-based,” she said. “There is no cap, so there is no limit or the amount of referrals we’ll get or the amount of people coming forward saying they need help.”
The Ministry of Social Services is providing $750,000 in annual funding to bring these services to Prince Albert and Melfort.
Social Services Minister Terry Jensen said the partnership with Mobile Crisis meets the government’s goal of expanding intensive in-home support to communities where it did not exist.
“We are expanding prevention and intervention services to the Prince Albert and Melfort areas to help keep children and families together when they are experiencing a crisis,” Jenson said in a press release. “Services like these focus on strengthening and supporting families during crisis situations to decrease the likelihood of children having to come into care or minimizing the time that they are in care.”
–with files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald
