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Kids in Shape
Kids in Shape consists of community organizations and institutions (schools, community organizations, city departments) partnering in a governance structure called a Local Action Committee (LAC; comité d'action local or CAL in French) in order to: 1) establish the needs and resources of a specific community; and 2) to intervene and coordinate required physical activities and sports programs for kids aged 4 to 12, at no cost to the children’s families. Kids in Shape is not a turnkey program, but rather a community project trat seeks to develop and consolidate local intersectoral partnerships. The partners assembled in a LAC have to:
Community partners assembled in the LAC determine, according to the needs of the community, what form the activities will take, as well as when these activities are to be held. Kids in Shape does not duplicate existing activities, but instead helps broaden the scope and range of activities offered. Not only are activities fun, but they help kids to become aware of the importance of leading an active life, to choose healthy habits that encourage their well-being, and to develop social and life skills that will follow them in all spheres of their life (e.g., school, leisure/sport, work). Kids in Shape started in 2005 as an initiative of the Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society (RCSCS) at the University of Ottawa, thanks to a $300,000 grant from Sears Canada. The main goal, at that time, was to implement in a different institutional setting the model developed by Québec en Forme, an initiative of the Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon and the Government of Québec.
The Rideau-Vanier Local Action Committee The pilot phase started in the fall of 2005 with the mobilization of French-language and bilingual organizations and agencies in the neighbourhood of the City of Ottawa. The first meeting of the CAL Vanier was held on December 8, 2005. The mobilization has proved contagious to neighbouring wards: CAL Rideau-Vanier currently comprises five French-language elementary schools and five community organizations from the Vanier, Lowertown and Overbrook-Forbes neighbourhoods, as well as the City of Ottawa’s Public Health and Parks and Recreation departments and the two French-language school boards (CECLFCE and CEPEO). In 2007-2008, the Rideau-Vanier LAC benefited from additional financial support from the Ministry of Health Promotion of Ontario and the Ottawa Senators Foundation. The pilot phase ended in September 2008, the LAC being well-established. On February 3, 2009, Minister Madeleine Meilleur announced that the Rideau-Vanier LAChad been awarded a two-year grant totalling $100,000 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The funds are administered by the Centre de services communautaires Vanier (CSCV), which has provided administrative services to the Rideau-Vanier LAC since 2006 (click here for the Press Release, in French Only). The Rideau-Vanier LAC partner organizations have demonstrated ongoing success with the Kids in Shape model with 908 children participating in 18 sport and physical activity programs in 2008-2009. A major asset of the Kids in Shape model is the high level of in-kind contributions made by community partners. It is estimated that for each dollar provided to the LAC through the Sears Canada grant in 2006-2007, community partners contributed over two dollars. In-kind contributions include:
The role of the Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society (RCSCS) The Centre’s involvement in Kids in Shape has been two-fold: 1. Start-up and administration of Rideau-Vanier LAC during the pilot phase (2005-2008);
The RCSCS conducts research activities that seek to evaluate these partnerships in terms of their management and the social capital created. The contribution to the literature of these research activities will consist in deepening and broadening the body of knowledge related to community-based partnerships that focus on physical activity programs for youth. These research activities are informed by the expertise the RCSCS has gained since 2003 through its research involvement with the Québec en Forme organization. Research and Evaluation Team (2009)
Two data collection methods used: 1.The analysis of organizational documents collected throughout the project as they are produced by the LAC; and
2. Three sets of semi-structured interviews with LAC partners: at Time 1 (2006), Time 2 (2008) and Time 3 (2010).
Two methods used: a. Application of a New Management Model for Partnerships It is used to code: b. Measuring Changes in Social Capital It is used to: Publications Faubert, C. (2009). "Tensions and dilemmas experienced by a change agent in a community–university physical activity initiative". Critical Public Health 19 (1), 71-86. DocumentsAnnual Reports2010-2011 We acknowledge the financial support of:
This project is supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Rideau-Vanier LAC is administered by the Vanier Community Service Centre. |
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