Grande Prairie Community Youth
Intervention Program
A Safe Communities Initiative
Crystal Hincks
Research Associate
Centre for Criminology and Justice
Research- Mount Royal University
Safe Communities Initiatives
• Collaborative effort between provincial and
municipal governments, law enforcement
agencies, community groups, the business
sector, and social agencies in Alberta
• Focus on developing long-term solutions to
reduce crime and create safer communities
▫ Prevention, enforcement, treatment
• $60 million dollars distributed annually to 30
programs in order to address multiple crime
issues and target groups
Target Issues & Groups
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
14 (47%) projects deal with at-risk youth and 6 (20%) deal with at-risk families
7 (23%) projects respond to those with addictions and mental health problems
4 (13%) projects utilize multi-disciplinary response teams
6 (20%) projects focus on community engagement in high needs areas
14 (47%) projects have an Aboriginal focus (both on and off reserve)
12 (40%) projects are using a model (proven) program to preventing crime
6 (20%) projects address family violence and 3 (10%) deal with sexual violence
4 (13%) projects address the needs of offenders
11 (37%) projects enhance access to treatment services
9 (30%) projects respond to at-risk students
3 (10%) projects respond to crises in the community
9 (30%) projects focus on the needs of diverse cultures and 3 (10%) deal with
immigrant and refugee needs
25 (83%) projects focus on crime prevention and 4 (13%) deal with enforcement
5 (17%) projects focus on gang prevention
2 (7%) projects focus on at-risk homeless populations
3 (10%) projects are developing Safe Community plans
Grande Prairie Program Overview
• Restorative measures modeled after the
Ottawa Community Youth Diversion Program
(est. 1975)
• Goal: implement a community led program which will
provide police officers with the tools to identify youth
who are at risk to offend…[and] direct the youths to
community resources that best address the factors that
fuel their conduct/behaviour as well as addressing
reparation needs when applicable
• Scope: offering non-punitive justice options
for youth aged 12-17 who come into contact
with the Grande Prairie RCMP
Program Continued…
• Addresses the needs of youth and their families
by referring them to various resources
▫
▫
▫
▫
Mental health
Addictions
Learning services
Family services
• Referrals typically come from the RCMP, but
have started to come from schools and the
families themselves.
• All youth and their families are served by a
single program coordinator
▫ Completes assessment, referral, follow-up
Evaluation of Year One
• Goals for Year One:
▫ 50 participants
▫ Train RCMP officers to complete referrals
▫ Network with relevant agencies
• Methodology
▫ Qualitative interviews- program staff,
stakeholders, parents
▫ Quantitative data analysis- statistics on
participants
▫ Social return on investment- social value created
Successes
• Positive feedback from interviews with
stakeholders, program staff, and parents
▫ Overall impression was that Grande Prairie
was in definite need of a youth
intervention/diversion program
• Creation of a unified network within the city
• Referral of 101 youth to various community
resources (just over double their anticipated
goal)
▫ Change in scope and mandate
Number of Youth Referred to Each Intevention Method
Mental Health (20)
12
20
Counselling (62)
Support Groups (18)
29
Drug / Alcohol Issues (12)
Cognitive Disabilities (4)
Recreation (2)
4
62
18
School Support - Educational (1)
Employment (1)
Restorative Justice (18)
School Support- Emotional (4)
1
1
2
4
No Intervention (29)
12
18
Intervention Not Grouped (12)
Social Return on Investment
(SROI)
• Achieved a return of $4.96 for every $1
invested
▫ Program budget of $304,204 saved
$1,509,256 in the long run
▫ $464,416 in police costs
▫ $730,000 in correctional service costs
• Not to be compared with other programs
▫ Individual program narrative
• Goals for future years is simply growth
from each previous year
Growing Pains
• Constant changes to mandate
and goals
• Utilization of all programs and
services
• Lack of knowledge about
program
• Partnership with the RCMP
▫ Movement from detachment
• Preparing for sustainability
▫ Program is clearly needed
Future of SCIF programs…
• Avoidance of ‘death by pilot program’
▫ Creating sustainability
• Development of new and unique projects
▫ Overlapping of services
• Funding of research initiatives to
determine current and future needs