PART I

Centre:   Family Outreach Resource Centre Corner Brook, NF Artist:   Stephanie, Age 4 Description:   Mom and me coloring at playgroup.

PART I: COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN

1.0 BACKGROUND

At the September 1990 World Summit for Children, the leaders of 71 countries met with the aim of improving the future for the world’s children. The Summit participants prepared two documents, a World Declaration on the Survival, Protection, and Development of Children and a Plan of Action, both of which detail the need for initiatives to better the lives of children in all countries.

The focus of the World Summit was to motivate governments, organizations, parents, and even children to act on a broad range of issues that were having negative effects on children. It challenged everyone to work collectively toward significantly improving the circumstances of all the world’s children.

The Brighter Futures Initiative was the specific response of the Government of Canada. Described as an action plan for children, it defined key roles for children, parents, and caregivers in both setting the broad agenda and implementing specific programs.

The Community Action Program for Children (CAPC) was one of Brighter Futures’ initial components. Announced in May 1992, its primary focus is children age 0 - 6 who are considered "at risk¹" or to be a priority because of their life circumstances.

In Atlantic Canada, the allocation for the region for 1996-97 and ongoing was $8,392,000 ($2,736,000 for Nova Scotia; $1,220,000 for Prince Edward Island; $2,070,000 for Newfoundland and Labrador; and $2,366,000 for New Brunswick). However, an overall budget reduction to CAPC of 51.9% was announced in the February 1995 budget and was scheduled to take effect on April 1, 1997.

Two years later, the federal government re-established Canada’s commitment to community-based programs for children, notably CAPC and the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP), by announcing additional funding to both programs. The Liberal government highlighted the strength of both programs in its February 1997 budget speech. In doing so, the importance placed by Canadians on improving the circumstances of young children age 0 - 6 years was affirmed. The speech also acknowledged the importance of providing community groups with the financial resources necessary to sustain programs that improve the health and social development of young children and families in difficult life circumstances.

CAPC provides financial assistance to community groups that develop programs promoting the health and social development of young children and their families. To accomplish this goal, CAPC projects work with parents, volunteers, and community groups and organizations.

Partnerships and collaborative activities at the community level are considered an essential component of CAPC. CAPC aims to facilitate the empowerment of communities and families as they try to put into place and maintain programs that promote the health and well-being of their children. Placing the community at the centre of decision making and action ensures an effective and coordinated approach. The broad national goals and guiding principles of the Program are listed in Appendix I.

1.1 DEVELOPMENT OF CAPC IN THE ATLANTIC REGION

The Community Action Program for Children was established in the Atlantic region in 1993, when each of the four provincial governments signed a protocol agreement with the Government of Canada to provide direction for implementing the Program in the Atlantic provinces.

Provincially based Joint Management Committees or Program Advisory Committee (JMC/PAC) comprising federal and provincial government representatives were set up to review proposals and to manage and support CAPC projects operating within provincial jurisdictions.

While each province developed with the federal government its own protocol based on its priorities to address the needs of at risk children and families, they all recognized that

• there is a need to address the complex and multi-faceted problems of children age 0-6 at risk;
• these children may be at risk for social, health, and emotional problems, as well as for injury and disability;
• because of the widespread nature of the problem of children at risk, developing specific priorities and direct programs to priority children would be most effective;
• these programs should co-operate with and complement pre-existing programs developed in accordance with the priorities of each province; and
• they should avoid duplication of services and programs.

To respect provincial priorities, projects were selected for funding based on their intent to address gaps in programs and services by developing new programs or by complementing existing ones rather than duplicating existing ones, such as those provided under New Brunswick’s Early Childhood Initiatives, for example.

Provinces took different approaches to the early implementation phase and application process of CAPC. These included needs assessments; service and programs review; community consultations;information sessions; training; and funding developmental projects. Some provinces chose a non-competitive application process, targeting identified communities or areas; others opted for a call for proposals approach.

In keeping with CAPC’s collaborative focus, projects in each province were established through community coalitions. Proposal guidelines for CAPC projects were designed to be flexible within broad framework to enable communities to develop projects that addressed their unique needs. Each project developed specific goals and objectives that related to the parents and children it served. At the time of the evaluation, 40 CAPC projects in Atlantic Canada were being funded: 13 in New Brunswick; 9 in Newfoundland; 12 in Nova Scotia; and 6 in Prince Edward Island. Projects with a strong linguistic or cultural diversity were analyzed separately to ensure that data collected was reflected in the analysis. One project was Francophone in focus, and five were bilingual. Two projects specifically reached children in the Black population. Three projects focused on the needs of Aboriginal children living off-reserve: two of these served Aboriginal children on a province-wide basis and one was located in an urban area.

 

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