ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: November 20, 1997

Author/Local: AKloppenborg/6031

CC File No. 2401

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Director of Community Services, Social Planning Department
SUBJECT:	Grant Allocation: Multicultural Family Support Project

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RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council approve a grant of $24,915 to the Immigrant Services Society, in partnership with MOSAIC, for a Multicultural Family Support Project; the source of funds to be a $25,000 reserve in the 1997 Community Services Grants budget.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services submits the foregoing for CONSIDERATION.

COUNCIL POLICY

Approval of a grant requires eight affirmative votes.

PURPOSE

This report recommends approval of a grant to Immigrant Services Society, in partnership with MOSAIC, to develop a model(s) for family support services to smaller ethnic communities which currently have little or no access to such service.

BACKGROUND

A Social Planning review of family support services in 1995-6 showed significant gaps and inequities in service access for families who have limited/no English. Over the past two years, staff have been liaising with other funders and, more recently, the Ministry of Children and Families, to better coordinate such services. As part of this work, an existing City grant to MOSAIC was re-focused to do community development work with the Vietnamese community, and a new family support worker was funded. The Province funded a new part-time Vietnamese youth worker, the need for which had been identified in the Social Planning review, and is funding a needs assessment and service plan for this community.

The reserve of $25,000 approved in the 1997 Community Services Grants Budget was to allow flexibility to continue coordination with other funders and with the newly-created Ministry of Children and Families, which has a stated objective of improving service to multicultural families.

DISCUSSION

The proposed Multicultural Family Support/Counselling Models project was developed by Immigrant Services Society and MOSAIC as a result of discussions involving Social Planning, the Ministry of Children and Families, Provincial and non-government funders and various immigrant-serving agencies. As detailed in Appendix A, the project will develop a model for expanding the role of existing bi-lingual settlement staff to provide preventive family support programs. The reason for wanting to make double use of these workers is simply that they are often the best and sometimes the only bi-lingual workers available for certain linguistic/cultural groups. Settlement support will continue to be funded by the federal/provincial governments.

The project will be complete by early Spring. Multiculturalism BC and United Way have expressed interest in assisting in steps which may be needed to implement the model(s). The development of the model(s) will provide a clear, workable framework which the Ministry of Children and Families and other funders can use to increase support to multicultural families.

CONCLUSION

Social Planning staff are recommending approval of a grant of $24,915 to the Immigrant Services Society, in partnership with MOSAIC. The development of a model(s) for multicultural family support/counselling will facilitate much-needed service improvements for families from some of the City’s smaller ethnic communities who need preventative family counselling/support.

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(c) 1997 City of Vancouver