Alberta changes grant process for homelessness, creates new panel [Video]

Alberta is looking to cut out the middleman when it comes to how social agencies are funded.

On Friday, the province announced incoming changes to how services for Alberta’s homeless population are funded.

Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services Jason Nixon said the province will now provide funding directly to front-line agencies, rather than have them distributed through community-based organizations.

It will also increase data gathering on homelessness and create a new panel to inform and assess its approach to homelessness.

The change, he said, will “increase accountability and oversight of supports” and address the growing issues of homelessness in rural areas.

The current funding system was designed around seven community-based organizations in Alberta’s seven largest cities.

That system, Nixon said, no longer works as homelessness has risen across the province.

“(For) the very first time in my career as an MLA we’re starting to have these homeless questions …