Safe Couch will continue running, with help from the Town of Cochrane.
The Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area (BGCC) Safe Couch program will now be run in partnership with Family & Community Support Services (FCSS) starting April 1.
“We want to look at the whole picture and have a wrap around in services focusing on the youth and adults – together we will be a strong partnership and be able to serve more people,” said Susan Flowers, manager of FCSS.
The Safe Couch program started last April, focusing on helping homeless youth in Cochrane. Since its inception, program organizers have helped successfully transition eight youths into better situations, including reintegration back home or into independent living.
“There are a lot of these kids that leave home that are not on the spectrum of severe abuse so CFS (child and family services) won’t get involved but there is still something that is not OK,” explained Jeff Gray, manager of BGCC youth programs.
“If the kids are left independently to deal with these things, they don’t always guide themselves to the right spots. So if they don’t find supports quickly, they could dig themselves into a deeper hole that has lasting effects.”
After more than half a year of the program running, there was a realization among staff that while most of the supports were in place for the youth, the adult supports for the caretakers and Safe Couch providers was lacking. In November, BGCC staff began to approach different organizations to find more support programs for the adults involved in the program and also more support for the youth.
Then in December it was reported BGCC suffered a financial loss of $95,000 in the 2014/2015 operating year and the decision was made to lay off six employees.
“We were running it independently for a long time and we hit a wall, not only financially but in manpower to support these kids,” Gray said. “(Now) the Boys and Girls Club will still be a supporting partner and try to meet the basic needs of the youth at the club first so they don’t need to get into the program but once into Safe Couch, FCSS can help provide support.”
With FCSS taking over the program, more support programs will be offered for the adults (parents, caretakers or Safe Couch providers), and FCSS is planning to hire a youth worker, to be based at the BGCC clubhouse and for outreach work at the local schools.
“It is going to be a solid partnership,” Flowers said.
While Safe Couch has helped eight youths in town, with three currently in the program, organizers said the number of local homeless youth is approximately 24 teens.
“I’ve worked with homeless teens and adults for almost 10 years now but being in a rural setting, the supports that are there and the people in the community caring about these kids without knowing them personally is a new thing for me – it is pretty cool to see how a small town can band together to help their own,” Gray said.
While the youth come into the program for a variety of reasons, the average stay of a youth in Safe Couch is three months, with organizers focused on working to reintegrate the youth back into their homes.
“The number 1 support is family, even if the family is dysfunctional, and reintegration is going to be a lot more successful with FCSS involved, that is the one really exciting thing about this partnership,” Gray said.
“We want to keep transparency for any misconceptions that come, especially negative ones, if we can include the public in these messages they can help us push the positive and dispel misconception.”
There will be an information meeting about the changes to the Safe Couch program on March 10 at the Boys and Girls Club. For more information on the meeting or Safe Couch program call 403-932-4747 or 403-851-2250.
