Alberta to give $1.7M to support victims

CALGARY Child advocacy centres across Alberta will receive $1.7 million to support programs for victims of sexual and physical abuse.

The money will bolster the work done with police, social workers and doctors to prevent violence and aid victims.

Human Services Minister Irfan Sabir said the grant will support three existing centres — the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre in Calgary, the Zebra Child Protection Centre in Edmonton and the Caribou Child and Youth Advocacy Centre in Grande Prairie — as well as four emerging centres in Fort McMurray, Lethbridge, Lloydminster and Red Deer.

“We’ll be able to provide supports to vulnerable children throughout the province,” Sabir told reporters Thursday at Mount Royal University.

The existing centres will collaborate with community partners at the emerging centres to “essentially replicate the model,” he added.

Sheldon Kennedy, director of the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre and former NHL star-turned-child-rights-advocate, said he is pleased the government is making the issue a priority in Alberta.

“We cannot fiscally afford to keep trying to put the fire out downstream,” Kennedy said. “We know that if we can reach kids early, we’ve got a better chance of turning around their lives there than we do down the road.”

Zebra Centre CEO Bob Hassel was also thrilled with the announcement.

“We really need consistency in the province as to how we deal with child abuse,” he said. “No matter where they are in this province, they deserve the same service delivery model.

The Zebra Centre is seeing an increasing caseload, Hassel added.