Edmonton invests $5M into youth, family intervention

Youth intervention and family intervention will be getting a small boost in Edmonton after city council announced a grant of $5 million Wednesday afternoon.

The money is expected to be shared amongst 27 different recipients and organizations say they’ve seen a huge increase of need over the last five years.

“We have definitely seen a greater number of families struggling. And a lot of it has to do with the increase in cost for everything, lack of access to services,” explained Karen Mottershead, the executive director of Terra Centre.

Edmonton city councillor Micheal Janz also made an appearance at the announcement saying this grant is expected to help some of the most vulnerable in the city.

Janz also agreed with Edmonton’s Police Chief Dale McFee, who said recently that it’s important to help youth through intervention before they commit crimes or end up on the streets.

“These sorts of investments will hopefully help before they get to encampments. This is way earlier in the stage. It’s really about building that foundation before we ever get to that encampment conversation,” explained Janz.