More than 700 families have reached out to WestNet News with urgent pleas: their children with disabilities are waiting years for provincial support, and the human cost is devastating.
Alexandra Bejarano watches her daughter Amelie regress each month. Once receiving speech therapy in British Columbia, the child with Down syndrome has grown less verbal, her words increasingly difficult to understand. Her Alberta file sits dormant on a waiting list.
Syeda Zehra abandoned her accounting career to become her own therapist, learning from YouTube tutorials to help her six-year-old son. She regrets leaving behind the consistent therapy he received in Oman before the family moved to Canada.
Carissa Campbell is contemplating separation from her husband as they struggle to support their 10-year-old daughter with ADHD and Tourette syndrome. The girl has attended school just twice in the past month.
"It's putting a lot of strain on us. Something has to give," Campbell said.
The Crisis by the Numbers
Alberta's Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) program exists to help families manage the "extraordinary costs" of raising children with disabilities—covering specialized respite care, therapy, one-on-one daycare aids, and other critical support.
The system has effectively stopped working.
Provincial records show 18,584 active cases as of 2026—a decline from 20,033 two years earlier, despite a $44-million budget increase. But here's the troubling part: an estimated 20,000 Alberta children are now stuck somewhere in the waiting queue, according to unions representing FSCD caseworkers.
To access individualized therapy and support, families must first be assigned a caseworker. Many children are deemed eligible and have signed contracts, but services remain out of reach while they languish on waiting lists.
The Ripple Effect Destroying Families
The CBC survey revealed a pattern of cascading crises across Alberta households:
Employment destroyed. Parents are forced to quit jobs or cannot secure work because their children face repeated daycare expulsions. Without access to a one-on-one aid through FSCD, many facilities won't accept children with significant support needs.
Education interrupted. Some children are being sent home after just one or two hours of school each day. Parents resort to homeschooling by necessity, not choice.
Debt mounting. Families are maxing out credit cards and exhausting private insurance benefits to fund therapy their children desperately need. When private coverage ends, so does the therapy—and children regress.
Health declining. Parents report stress reaching burnout levels. Marriages strain under the weight. Grandparents like Susan Rose, caring for her grandson with autism in retirement, struggle without respite support.
A System Under Siege
More than 300 survey respondents submitted applications in 2023 or 2024—meaning families have been waiting two to three years with no end in sight. The union representing caseworkers estimates the real waitlist has swollen to 20,000 children, yet the number of active cases has shrunk.
Alberta's population continues to grow, particularly in Calgary and the Greater Edmonton area, yet the FSCD program has not scaled to meet demand.
"It's putting a lot of strain on us. Something has to give."
The human stories behind these statistics are heartbreaking. Children who could be learning and developing are instead regressing. Parents who want to work cannot. Marriages crumble under the pressure. And the province's response—budget increases that have not translated into faster service—rings hollow to families in crisis.
This is Part 2 of WestNet News' coverage of Alberta's disability support crisis. Families deserve answers about when this critical program will function again.
This article is based on reporting from CBC News Calgary. Read the full investigation at CBC.ca.