Expanding Impact in CUPS Family and Child Development Centre

This year, CUPS has been dedicated to enhancing the impact of our Family and Child Development Centre (FCDC) and transforming our service delivery model to provide evidence-based and two-generational focused support to children and families in our community.

In early 2023, CUPS made the strategic decision to suspend operations at the existing Child Development Center, previously funded by Alberta Education. This move was part of our long-term vision to adopt a more collaborative and integrated two-generational approach to child and family development and a response to the valuable feedback received from clients, staff, stakeholders, and funders.

Building on our strategic direction, we have integrated our child and family development teams into our Family and Child Development Center which operates in a newly renovated, shared space. This significantly increases our community presence and enables us to reach more children and families with complex needs who might not have otherwise sought support from CUPS. We are now better positioned to engage with families who access other services across the organization, and meet the unique needs of each child and family at every stage of their journey.

In focusing on feedback received and our commitment to providing trauma-informed care, we have also implemented a few new innovations to our Family and Child Development Centre, including outreach services into community, an increase in the age limit and collaboration with community partners to deliver programming and offer supports.

“We saw the need to engage with kiddos and their parents directly in their homes and familiar environments,” says Jessie Young, Manager of the Family and Child Development Centre. “We’re really excited to now offer home outreach services, where our Child Development Specialists can work with kiddos and parents in their homes to help strengthen parenting skills, connect families to networks of support within their communities, and equip them with the tools they need to nurture healthy child development and improve day to day functioning.”

Alongside the move to providing outreach services, we’ve also expanded our service delivery age limit threshold from 0-6 years to 0-12 years.

“Increasing the age limit in the FCDC is really going to help support families with children that have aged out of similar early childhood development programs and allow them to maintain the same level of support, community and education, especially as they move towards those formative adolescent years,” says Jessie.

Collaboration is a core value at CUPS, and we want to ensure it is rooted in our service delivery. With that in mind, we will collaborate more closely with daycares and schools to provide support to children with complex needs and work with families to better navigate these systems.

Additionally, we’ll be enhancing our relationships with partner agencies to fill gaps in services, to ensure a more robust and diverse support system for our clients.

Grounded in brain science, our innovative service delivery model extends beyond parent education. By expanding the types of services offered through the FCDC, intentionally working with partners in this space, and offering our services in the communities where our families live, we support them more comprehensively and foster their engagement, sustainability, and integration within their communities.

As we look to the future, we are excited to build on our successes and remain committed to providing high-quality care and education at the CUPS Family and Child Development Centre. We will continue to stay responsive to the evolving needs of our community and embrace innovative and integrated approaches to family and child development.