Council approves Community Wellbeing, Safety Strategy updates

Lethbridge is changing – and our strategies must evolve to meet new challenges and diverse community needs. A comprehensive update of the Community Wellbeing and Safety Strategy (CWSS) has recently been completed and will serve as an important guiding document in the advancement of community wellbeing and safety.   

As a guiding document, the CWSS identifies community needs, gaps in service provision, priority populations and other strategic actions.  The CWSS is utilized most directly by the City of Lethbridge to inform the funding disbursements from Federal Reaching Home (RH) and Provincial Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) funding sources.   

At its May 28 meeting, Lethbridge City Council approved a recommendation from the Safety and Social Standing Policy Committee (SPC) regarding the CWSS updates and funding disbursement process.

“The safety and wellbeing of our residents is always Council’s number one priority,” says Mayor Blaine Hyggen. “Through several presentations in the past few months, we have had the opportunity to hear from our Community Social Development team on the need to make some strategic changes to serve our city more efficiently and responsibly. We are encouraged by their dedication and Council is certainly optimistic for these positive changes.”

In Q1 and Q2 2024, City Administration worked closely with the existing CWSS Advisory Committee, community partners, City Council, and other levels of government funders to re-access and make strategic changes. Dating back to April 11, the Community Social Development (CSD) department made a series of presentations to SPCs, including:

• April 11 Economic SPC - Overview of series of interrelated presentations and recommendations pertaining to the advancement of community safety and wellbeing
• April 25 Governance SPC - Proposed changes to Community Advisory Board Governance and Council’s interim decision making authority
• May 16 Safety & Social SPC - Proposed updates to the CWSS and Federal RH and Provincial FCSS funding disbursement process. Full presentation here

“We are pleased to receive Council’s support on these important initiatives,” says Andrew Malcolm, General Manager of CSD. “Some of the previous processes were challenging to implement, so these changes will have significant benefits to the community, Administration and Council.”

One of the primary next steps will involve a Community Wellbeing Advisory Board (CWAB) Recruitment Campaign. The City of Lethbridge is now in need of community leaders with experience in community wellbeing, governance and decision-making to fulfill the nine community member positions on the CWAB. We value Indigenous perspectives and have dedicated positions for Indigenous members on the CWAB because their representation is essential to this work. Applications will remain open until July. Details will be made available at www.lethbridge.ca/csd.

The City of Lethbridge is also opening a Call for Proposals (CFP) to solicit requests for investments into innovative programs and services that align with the funding parameters of RH and FCSS to advance community wellbeing and safety outcomes by addressing those needs, gaps and strategic priorities identified in the updated CWSS. This CFP funding is available for a two-year period starting January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2026/March 2027, dependent on funding source timelines. Interested applicants are encouraged to review this document in its entirety before completing a proposal submission. 

As a grant application process, the CFP will allow for a competitive approach that maximizes community-feedback while maintaining alignment with grant funding requirements from the Governments of Canada and Alberta. Inspiration for the proposed process is taken from Provincial and Federal governments who both utilize grant agreements as their chosen method to make financial distributions.

While Administration manages the RH and FCSS grant agreements and ensures all requirements are met by the City of Lethbridge, the program-level funding distributions require community engagement and endorsement from the CWAB.