National Crime Prevention Centre
(NCPC)
- Ontario Region ~ Promoting and Implementing Effective Crime Prevention
Practices ~
Community Crime Prevention Conference
Saturday, September 11th, 2010
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Overview of Presentation
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Background
Priorities
Rationale
Funding Programs
Youth Gang Prevention Fund
Definition of Model and Promising Program
Programs for Addressing Youth Gang Involvement
Ontario Projects
Evaluation
Strategic Work and Horizontality
Application and Approval Process
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Organization
• Established in 1998 (Department of Justice/Solicitor
General)
• Currently within the Community Safety and
Partnerships Branch in Public Safety Canada
• Headquarters (NHQ) is located in Ottawa and there
are 6 regional offices
• Program management; policy analysis and advice;
evaluation; research and knowledge dissemination
• Administers the National Crime Prevention Strategy
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Background
• Public Safety Canada's National Crime Prevention Centre
(NCPC) is responsible for implementing the National Crime
Prevention Strategy (NCPS). NCPC:
 Provides national leadership on effective and cost-effective
ways to prevent and reduce crime by intervening on the risk
factors before crime happens
 Promotes the implementation of effective crime prevention
practices.
 Works closely with partners and stakeholders in the
provinces and territories to develop and implement resultsdriven programs that target specific crime issues in regions
and communities across Canada.
 Provides communities with tools, knowledge and support to
undertake crime prevention initiatives in communities large
and small across Canada.
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Priorities
• Reduce offending among those most at-risk: children (aged 6 to
11), youth (aged 12 to 17) and adults (aged 18 to 24)
• Supporting targeted interventions in local communities
• Building and sharing practical knowledge with policy makers and
practitioners
• Crime prevention in Aboriginal Communities
• Prevent recidivism among high-risk groups
• Priority crime issues (youth gang, drug-related crimes and gun
violence)
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Rationale
• In keeping with NCPC’s mandate, crime prevention practices
should:
 Be integrated with the activities of existing community
programs and services
 Build on the knowledge of risk and protective factors
 Use evidence-based practices
 Address one or more risk or protective factors associated
with delinquency, substance abuse or violence
 Intervene at developmentally appropriate ages as it relates to
priority groups established by the NCPC
 Be found to have positive effects on delinquency, substance
abuse and violence based on evaluation
 Be available for implementation within the community
 Be measurable
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Purpose of Evaluation for the NCPS
• Builds the knowledge base of “what works” in crime prevention
in Canada
• Increases confidence that observed impacts can be attributed to
the program
• Multi-site evaluations increase knowledge about contextual
factors. Can the program be effective:
 With different target groups (i.e. cultural settings)
 Within different settings (regions, economic variation)
 With different time periods
• Increases the ability to identify what aspects of the program are
contributing to the outcomes of interest (i.e. reducing violence,
recidivism , drug use etc..)
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Funding Programs
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Through time-limited grants and contributions, the
NCPC funds communities and organizations to assist
them in developing and implementing targeted,
evidence-based crime prevention initiatives
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The NCPS has three streams:
1) Crime Prevention Action Fund (CPAF)
2) Northern and Aboriginal Crime Prevention Fund
(NACPF)
3) Youth Gang Prevention Fund (YGPF)
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Funding Programs
• Crime Prevention Action Fund (CPAF)
• Focus:
 Supports effective interventions to address known risk and
protective factors associated with crime in order to reduce
offending among at-risk children and youth, aboriginal and
northern populations and high-risk offenders in communities
 Develops and implements knowledge transfer initiatives that
focus on the application of research-based evidence to
inform crime prevention practice
 Projects may take the form of tool and resource
development, testing and dissemination, conferences,
workshops, colloquiums, other training or innovative
approaches to the transfer of knowledge about crime
prevention
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Funding Programs
• Northern and Aboriginal Crime Prevention Fund
(NACPF)
• Focus:
 Assists communities experiencing multiple risk factors and
other challenges that affect their ability to respond to crime
issues, such as remote geographical location and limited
capacity
 Supports culturally sensitive initiatives that foster the
development and implementation of crime prevention
approaches in Aboriginal communities, both on-and offreserve and in the North
 Assists in building the knowledge and capacity required to
develop or adapt culturally sensitive, effective ways to
prevent crime
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Funding Programs
• Youth Gang Prevention Fund (YGPF)
 Invests in communities where youth gangs are an
existing or emerging threat and supports initiatives that
clearly target youth in gangs or at greatest risk of
joining gangs
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Youth Gang Prevention Fund
• The Youth Gang Prevention Fund (YGPF) was created in
January 2007 to address the specific risk factors associated with
youth violence and gang membership and to provide alternatives
to gangs for youth
• The YPGF provides time-limited funding for evidence-based
promising or model prevention initiatives in communities where
youth gangs are an existing or emerging threat
• Under this fund, the National Crime Prevention Centre works
with the provinces and territories to identify municipalities and
community-based organizations that are tackling gang issues,
and provides grants/contributions to support youth gang
prevention
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Youth Gang Prevention Fund
• This Fund allows the NCPC to:
 Clearly identify the parameters for funding including the
desired outcomes and the measurement of results and
change for the identified risk factors
 Focus efforts on disseminating specific knowledge,
tools and resources to Canadians so that they can plan
and implement the best possible activities and
approaches for gang prevention
 Deliver results and develop expertise on how to deal
with youth gang issues by supporting rigorous third
party evaluations of funded projects
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Youth Gang Prevention Fund
• 19 projects have been funded under the YGPF in cities across
the country
• These projects have reached over 1400 at-risk youth from
communities that have been identified as having a current or
emerging youth gang issue. Participants are generally between
the ages of 12 to 24
• Funded projects are based on intervention models that have
shown positive results in the U.S., and that have been adapted
to the Canadian context. Interventions with the youth include
mentorship, substance abuse prevention, and educational and
job support
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Youth Gang Prevention Fund
• The 2009 Interim Evaluation Report of the Youth Gang
Prevention Fund concluded that:
 Canada’s youth gang problem has escalated and
continues to escalate
 At-risk youth are using the services offered through the
YGPF
 Positive changes related to risk factors have been
observed among YGPF recipients
 The YGPF is not being duplicated elsewhere by other
levels of government, and
 The YGPF is in line current government priorities
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Definitions
• Model Program:
 A prevention program that meets the highest
scientific standard for effectiveness as evidenced
in published evaluations;
 has a significant, sustained preventive or deterrent
effect or reduction of problem behaviour, the
reduction of risk factors related to problem
behaviour;
 or the enhancement of protective factors related to
problem behaviour and has been replicated in
different communities or settings.
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Definitions
• Promising Program:
 Prevention programs that meet scientific standards
for effectiveness; but they do not meet all of the
rigorous standards of Model programs.
 They are recognized and encouraged with the
caution that they be carefully evaluated.
 In general, when implemented with minimal fidelity
these programs demonstrate promising empirical
findings using a reasonable conceptual framework
and a limited evaluation design.
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Programs for Addressing Youth Gang
Involvement
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Boston Gun Project and Operation Ceasefire
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Program Rating: Promising program
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Gang Prevention through Targeted Outreach / Gang Intervention through Targeted
Outreach
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Program Rating: Promising program
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Target Population: Youth aged 6 to 18 who are at risk of gang membership
OJJDP Comprehensive Gang (or "Spergel") Model
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Program Rating: Promising program
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Target Population: Youth aged 6 to 18 involved in gang and gun violence
Target Population: Youth aged 12 to 25 involved in gangs
Philadelphia Youth Violence Reduction Partnership
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Program Rating: Promising program
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Target Population: Youth at-risk of violence under the age of 24
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Ontario Projects
• City of Toronto – Community Safety Secretariat
 Preventing Youth Gang Activity in Toronto
 OJJDP/Wraparound
• Target Population: Youth at-risk of joining gangs 13 – 24;
Youth engaged in gangs 13 – 24
• Durham Family Court Clinic
 Early Gang Intervention Program
 Wraparound
• Target Population: Youth (12-18); Community at large
• Niagara Citizens Advisory Committee Inc.
 Youth Options for Success – Project Y.O.S
• Target Population: Youth (12-18); Community at large
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Evaluation in the Ontario Region
Type of Evaluation & Fund
Projects
Total #
Youth Gang Prevention Fund
• Process and Outcome Evaluations
• Moderately rigorous
• Under the contribution agreement
• Durham Family Court Clinic
• Living Rock Ministries
• San Romanoway
• Niagara Citizens Advisory Committee
• City of Toronto
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Strategic Work and Horizontality
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MOU with Province of Ontario
Urban Aboriginal Strategy
NADS (National Anti-Drug Strategy)
Ontario Federal Council
TYPPP (Toronto-area Youth Pluralism Pilot Project)
Other federal departments
Provincial Ministries
NGOs, e.g. United Way
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Application and Approval Process
• Two-stage application process begins with requests
for Letter of Intent (LOI) on the Public Safety Canada
web site
• LOI’s are screened for eligibility using a standardized
screening tool
• Applications are then completed and developed with
applicants who meet the eligibility criteria
• Following the review, the NCPC presents projects for
consideration to the Project Review Committee (PRC)
• PRC reviews and recommends proposals:
 The committee provides advice and recommends
proposals for ministerial approval taking into
consideration the objectives and priorities of the project
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Application and Approval Process
Continued…
• Proposals recommended by the PRC are forwarded
to the NCPC Ottawa (headquarters) office for final
review and approval
• Contribution agreement (or grants) are prepared and
sent to recipient organizations
• Agreements are managed and monitored by NCPC
regional staff
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For more detailed information on youth gang prevention
projects funded by the NCPC please see the
publication:
Crime Prevention in Action:
Youth Gang Prevention Fund
www.publicsafety.gc.ca
Nicola Epprecht
National Crime Prevention Centre
Ontario Region
Nicola.Epprecht@ps-sp.gc.ca
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