The MP for St. John’s East is responding to Choices for Youth, which has had to cut jobs and programs after failing to come to an arrangement on a funding application to the federal government.
Choices for Youth was seeking funding of $20 million dollars over the next four years, but was instead notified that it would receive a total of $4 million over that period of time.
Choices then sought the total $4 million allotment up front to continue their programs for the remainder of the year, but that was not possible.
Joanne Thompson spent years in the not-for-profit sector prior to being elected. She told the Tim Powers Show on VOCM that the federal government does not provide core funding to organizations, and while Choices for Youth did receive a total of $16 million over four years in 2020. That program no longer exists.
“There is no guarantee that funding will continue from one cycle to another,” says Thompson and an organization cannot be guaranteed that it will be successful in a program application until it receives acceptance.
Thompson says she’s working with Choices to find the appropriate support for its programming.
“The federal government does not provide core funding, that’s the province, and the housing funding, that sits with the province. Many times, as you well know, it’s federal funding, but it goes to the province and the province is responsible for how the funding is allocated.”
Choices for Youth meanwhile says it was informed in April that it would be receiving Youth Employment and Skills Strategy funding and they were advised to hold off on making operational changes will awaiting final funding amounts.
On June 20, Choices for Youth was notified that $4 million in funding had been approved over a four year period, 20 per cent of what Choices for Youth had requested.
Choices for Youth says for the federal government to even consider providing them with the full $4 million up-front to allow them to continue existing programming, they would need to submit an updated revised work scope, updated detailed, budget, job descriptions, project objectives, activities, timelines and results and it would still take weeks to consider a one-year allocation.
Choices says even in that scenario, the request could be denied. It is now working to provide those documents, but financially, it does not have the ability to maintain programming without a finalized federal funding agreement.
