EDMONTON – Vulnerable children and families are being targeted by further cuts by the Alberta government.
In Budget 2025, the government is axing a health-benefit program for families and guardians looking to adopt or care for at-risk children. It was due to begin this year.
The government claims any money saved would go to another program called Child Intervention (CI), but the budget shows no increase to CI funding.
Meanwhile, the government will also implement means testing for families applying for money from the Supports for Permanency program.
“When kinship carers or foster families apply to adopt or care for children, they are faced with thousands of dollars of costs, including the cost of assessments,” says Sandra Azocar, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which represents government workers in the department of Children and Family Services.
“These moves will make kinship caring and adopting more expensive. The added costs will likely mean that some applications won’t proceed or will be delayed,” says Azocar.
In a message sent to families, the government says these programs are to “support early intervention for children, youth and families and assist Albertans who experience family violence and sexual violence.”
These are the latest in a string of cuts aimed at Alberta’s most vulnerable.
“There are 12,000 families with severely disabled family members on a waiting list to be assessed for support because the government cut jobs in the departments where assessments are handled. Some have been waiting for more than two years,” says Azocar.
Jason Nixon, the minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services, recently cut all funding, to four disability advocacy groups: The Self Advocacy Federation in Edmonton; Disability Action Hall in Calgary; the Southern Alberta Individualized Planning Association (SAIPA) in Lethbridge; and Inclusion Alberta.
“This government has made it clear it doesn’t care for vulnerable Albertans. It has chosen to make these families pay for a tax cut it promised in the last election. The government is buying votes with money it’s taking from those who can least afford to lose it,” she says.
“There is no justification for these cruel cuts. Alberta isn’t broke, despite what the government claims in Budget 2025. If it used the same oil-price forecasts that experts use, Alberta would have surpluses in the next three years totalling $15.7 billion.”
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AUPE VP Sandra Azocar is available for comment.
To arrange an interview, contact Terry Inigo-Jones, Communications Officer, at t.inigo-jones@aupe.org or 780-863-7850.