What's New > Ministry of Education Grants
Two FSA Toronto programs receive grants from the Ministry of Education
FSA Toronto - Counselling has received $250,000 over two years to expand its Community Parenting Education Program (COPE).
About COPE:
COPE offers two-hour, concurrent weekly workshops for parents and children/youth (age 4-14). The program is carried out twice a year over eight weeks and the curriculum includes video clips to stimulate group discussions, role plays, and other learning exercises designed to encourage participants to share ideas about parenting approaches that encourage healthy and culturally relevant family relationships.
Many of the family participants are newcomers to Canada and need support and education about parenting in the Canadian context and how to adapt to their new home country. The parent and children groups are carried out at the same time to promote a sense of the family working together to enrich their relationships.
The feedback received from program participants shows that parents benefit from the emotional support derived from learning and sharing among peers and gain awareness that other families face similar challenges. They also gain self-confidence in their role as parents; exchange suggestions for handling difficulties at home; and start supportive relationships with other parents that often continue after the end of the program.
The FSA COPE model includes a train-the-trainer component that involves training local parents to help deliver the program and do outreach in their local community. It also provides opportunities for volunteers to work in the Children’s Program in collaboration with highly skilled FSA Children’s Program Staff.
The new funding will enable COPE to:
- extend its outreach component within underserved communities with high levels of poverty and increasing population growth of newcomers and school aged children and youth (communities identified by the United Way Toronto and City of Toronto as requiring social investment and support);
- develop a new series: Father’s seminar to make parent education accessible to fathers.
- provide more language and ethnic specific groups to increase accessibility to some language and ethnic communities; and
- strengthen collaborative partnerships with local school communities.
FSA Toronto – Community Neighbourhood Development (CND) program also received a $100,000 grant from the Ministry of Education
The grant will allow CND to implement a new program for children: the KIDS (Knowledge, Imagination, Diversity, Social Skills) Homework Clubs. With these new funds, CND will set up four Homework clubs in marginalized communities.
The idea for Homework Clubs arose from CND’s meetings with community members who felt that their children are not successfully working within the school system and they don’t do as well as they could. At the same time, their parents are not engaged with the school in a way that feels inclusive and uses their skills appropriately. Committed to its mission to increase community and capacity building, CND will make sure that each club will be planned and implemented by the community.
The Homework Clubs will be carried out once or twice a week in a space donated by a school or library with the help of skilled community members who will volunteer their time and expertise. The clubs will offer the children the opportunity to improve their skills in English and math and receive extra ESL training if needed. Each child will also receive a healthy snack. The grant provides for volunteers’ capacity building training and small honorariums, club resources and snacks.
The Homework Clubs program will take place in conjunction with the COPE Outreach program to ensure that parents can build their skills in several crucial areas at the same time.
