Last week the Government of Saskatchewan announced funding for the creation of a new early years family resource centre in Estevan, and it is planned to open as early as September.
The new centre will be developed through community partnerships led by the South East Cornerstone School Division (SECPSD). The divisions will be responsible for leading a community planning team that will grow the local centre.
The exciting news came as a surprise for the community. The SECPSD also received this news not that long ago and is just starting to work on the project.
Director of education Lynn Little explained that the Ministry of Education works with the federal government to identify communities that may be a benefit to have programs such as these and then reaches out to those communities with an offer.
"They came to us suggesting the criteria for the programming, and then from there, (they asked if we) might be interested and if there's a way that we can move forward and become a part of that program. They came to us because they had identified that there may be a need in the community in terms of … overall supporting children," Little said.
Humboldt was chosen as the other location. The communities were selected following analysis based on a combination of population, vulnerability and community readiness required to successfully develop and operate a centre.
The new centres will help grow access to family resources in the regions. But since the news is still fresh, the firm plans for what they are going to look like are yet to be developed.
"We're just beginning to connect with our partners," Little said.
Funding for the Estevan and Humboldt centres is being provided through the Canada-Saskatchewan Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. The total allocation is $430,000 in start-up funding, with $215,000 going to each community.
"Our government is pleased to support families across Saskatchewan with record investments in early childhood education and childcare," Education Minister Dustin Duncan said. "These resource centres will go a long way toward supporting new parents as they balance this new role with the rest of their busy lives."
Other programs are running in several communities across the province, and what's to be created in Estevan will be similar to the existing ones.
"There are already programs there and the program that we will be developing will be very similar because there are expectations that are common to all of us, that are a part and parcel of the funding. So the processes and the availability of programming and the type of programming and the way in which it's focused around the child-centred approach is all a part of what comes with that funding," Little pointed out.
The early years family resource centre will offer a range of drop-in and scheduled programming for all families with young children aged zero to five, including activities for babies and toddlers, access to information and professionals and support groups where parents can share their experiences with others and seek advice.
The program will be developed and managed through multiple partner engagement.
"Many of us (will be) coming together and we'll be as part of that lead role due to the fact that we are the accountable partner," Little said.
"We are excited to work in co-ordination and collaboration with existing partners in the community. The family resource centre funding will complement existing services and build networks and linkages, and advocate for policies, services and systems that support families' abilities to raise healthy children. And I think when we all put our heads together, we'll come out in a really great place."
There are several programs in place in Estevan, and SECPSD is still reaching out to them to find the best way to serve the community.
"We are hoping to engage with those folks and see how we might be able to align and work together," Little said
SECPSD, alongside the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division, already provides the early childhood intervention program. There is also the regional Kids First program, which sees a liaison working with communities in the region to support children and families in the early years. And there is the Estevan Family Resource Centre.
All these initiatives will be taken into account when planning for the new centre. Besides, the plan is to try to engage other specialists in the field of early development.
The location for the centre is to be determined as well, however, Little expects they will start the search with talks with local schools.
"We do anticipate that we're going to engage in conversations with our partners regarding a strategic location. And really what we'd like to do is to ensure that we can allow the resources that would be directed towards programming as opposed to towards building costs or rental agreements. It's too early to comment on the outcome of those conversations and discussions, as we are not officially engaged in them at this point, but we will be beginning shortly," Little said.
SECPSD already began to reach out to partners and look for the location, to ensure that they can open the centre in about half a year.
"The expectation is that the program will be up and running effectively no later than September 1. So however that looks and however we're able to work with others that will come into play," Little said.
