Rural access questioned as Alberta increases family support funding

For families in rural Alberta, getting help during a crisis can be about more than knowing where to turn — it can also depend on how far they have to travel.

That concern was raised with Children and Family Services Minister Searle Turton during a rural media roundtable Thursday, as the province highlighted new funding for services supporting children, families and survivors of sexual violence.

Alberta is investing nearly $21 million in sexual assault centres and child advocacy centres, and making another $3.2 million available for Family Resource Networks that provide prevention and early-intervention services.

But with most specialized sexual assault services based in larger communities, reporters pressed Turton on how the province will ensure people in smaller and more remote areas can access the help they need.

Sexual assault services concentrated in hubs

The $21 million includes $17 million for 15 sexual assault centres and the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services, along with $3.7 million a year for eight child advocacy centres.

Most are based in regional hubs  — Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, Lloydminster, alongside Calgary and Edmonton — with a handful in smaller centres such as Bonnyville, Hinton, Stettler and Banff.

The money is part of a provincial commitment to increase sexual assault centre funding by $10 million by 2028-29. Alberta says $6.3 million will be delivered by the end of the current fiscal year, and Budget 2026 includes more than $93 million for the prevention of family and sexual violence.

Asked whether the province plans to open sexual assault centres in smaller communities, Turton said the specialized nature of the work makes that difficult. Spreading trained counsellors too thin across roughly 360 communities, he said, risks diluting the expertise survivors need.

Sexual assault centres provide crisis response, counselling and long-term therapeutic care to people of all ages affected by sexual violence.

Turton pointed to the Alberta One Line for Sexual Violence as a provincewide service and said sexual assault centres also conduct outreach and education beyond the communities where they are based.

Prevention through Family Resource Networks

For rural families, Turton said, the province is trying to close the gap through its Family Resource Networks, which he described as refocused to target the areas of greatest need.

The province provides $66.7 million annually to the networks, which operate in urban, rural and Indigenous communities. Free services include parenting and caregiver education, home-based supports, child and youth development programs and short-term community-based mental health support.

Launched in 2020, the networks are meant to help families before their challenges become crises, as part of the province’s early-intervention approach to reduce the need for child intervention. In 2024-25, about 52,400 caregivers and 76,500 children and youth used Family Resource Network services, according to the province.

The latest $3.2-million grant call, announced Aug. 18, targets identified areas of need, including support for youth and caregivers, child development and in-home services. Applications are open until Sept. 29.

‘No family left behind’

Turton said making rural families aware of those supports is just as important as providing them and called on rural media to help spread the word.

“We have our Family Resource Networks and those preventative services in every corner of the province,” he said.

Turton said the province recognizes rural challenges, including geographic and distance concerns, and a perceived lack of access to specialized services.

For Turton, the focus is on making sure families can find support before their circumstances become more difficult, while maintaining specialized services for those who need them.

“I want to make sure that there’s no family left behind, and everyone has access to these supports when they need them,” he said.

Support for anyone affected by sexual violence is available through Alberta’s One Line for Sexual Violence at 1-866-403-8000, by phone or text, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Online chat is available at aasas.ca during those hours. In an emergency, call 911.

By Somya Lohia, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Original Published on Sep 02, 2026 at 15:23