| September 15, 2003 | ||
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News from the Legislature Alana DeLong, MLA Well it’s been quite a summer! Our active communities in Calgary Bow held some wonderful events. As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Stampede and Bowness Community Parades in early July! Now that Summer holidays have ended, I want to welcome our students, parents and teachers back to school, and wish everyone a great Fall season. The Community Initiatives Program Celebrates One Year: $30 Million Invested In More Than 1,200 Initiatives: Over the last year, the Community Initiatives Program distributed $30 million to 1,202 volunteer and community-based initiatives in 264 Alberta communities. Projects ranged in size from $230 to $75,000, the maximum grant allowed under the grant guidelines. 240 projects were under $5,000. 226 projects were approved this year over $50,000. Long Term Care Facilities: Alberta’s long-term care facilities provide a variety of services for many senior citizens and other individuals who need a high level of continuing care. All residents of long-term care facilities pay for their room and board through accommodation charges. With the exception of an increase to offset inflation in 2002, those charges have remained the same since 1994. To have accommodation charges reflect today’s costs, the Government of Alberta increased rates by $12 per day effective August 1, 2003. Income Increases For SFI Families With Children: In July, the Government announced that about 12,000 families receiving Supports for Independence (SFI) benefits will have more money for their children due to Alberta's decision not to offset a federal increase under the National Child Benefit (NCB) program. This is the second phase of a two-stage increase for families with children included in Budget 2003. Alberta is striking the right balance between helping families meet basic needs and providing supports to help parents find and keep jobs. I personally feel that Albertans will continue to be better off working. As a direct result of the Government’s previous NCB reinvestments, we have good programs in place that encourage parents to work rather than rely on social assistance. This year the best way to help families is to have the federal NCB Supplement increase flow directly to parents. The increases for families with children receiving SFI benefits are: · Approximately $14 per month, per child from the federal NCB Supplement increase effective July, 2003. Families will receive their federal payment around July 18. · A $20 per month provincial SFI increase came into effect June 1, and families began receiving the increase on their June payment. Under the NCB, provinces and territories may reduce social assistance benefits by the amount of the federal NCB Supplement increase and reinvest the savings into programs that reduce the depth of child poverty and help parents support their families through employment. Alberta has taken this approach in previous years. Through programs such as the Alberta Child Health Benefit, Alberta's NCB reinvestments will continue to help low-income families. More than 69,000 children receive premium-free health benefits through the Alberta Child Health Benefit. In 2003/04 about $4 million federal dollars will flow directly to families receiving SFI benefits as a result of the decision not to offset the federal NCB Supplement increase. The increase has always flowed through to families receiving Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) benefits and will continue to do so. AISH families with children also have access to about $186 per month, per child through Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D) benefits. The provincial government expects to spend more than $263 million dollars this year on benefits for the approximately 30,000 households receiving SFI assistance.
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