Posted on: December 22nd, 2010 by Smart on Crime
As people hear and learn about Smart on Crime in Waterloo Region, they often have a few things to say. We’re happy to share what’s been said to us since it’s helpful to know and understand the perspective of others people from the community. If you have comments to share, feel free to add them below or email us.
“Smart on Crime is just what it sounds like. It’s having programs that work at the root causes of crime rather than using retribution and simplistic solutions. Smart on Crime is about using taxpayers money responsibly to make our communities safer. It fits into our Community Safety programs at Conestoga College which teach students to make evidence based decisions.”
Wayne Morris, WRCPC Member
Chair, Community Safety and Human Service Programs, Conestoga College
“The Correctional Service of Canada contributes to safer communities by addressing the factors that led to someone committing a crime. Most of our inmates will be released back into the community. Being “Smart on Crime” for us means we need to provide evidence based programs, education and training that will reduce those risks. Education and skills training make it more likely they can obtain employment. Other programs address substance abuse, anger and emotions issues and basic life skills. As a women’s institution, Grand Valley also provides programs, counselling and support for women who have been impacted by both physical and emotional trauma. While women at Grand Valley have already committed a crime, we can help them break that pattern and contribute to a safer community when they are released.”
David Dick, WRCPC Ex-Officio Member
Warden, Grand Valley Institution for Women, Correctional Service of Canada
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“Smart on Crime means investing at a neighbourhood and grassroots level before more costly interventions are required.”
Bill Davidson, WRCPC Member
Executive Director,
Langs Farm Village Association
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“The staff of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council couldn’t be more pleased about Smart on Crime in Waterloo Region. We are inspired, encouraged and excited. We feel fortunate to work within a context of strong local government, community and police collaboration guided by a shared vision. Smart on Crime in Waterloo Region will help us to build on the ‘made in Waterloo Region’ smart approach to crime prevention.”
Christiane Sadeler and the WRCPC Team
“The definition of “smart” is to show mental alertness and resourcefulness – so to be smart on crime means to to be mentally alert to the truth about crime, crime rates, and crime related issues and to be resourceful in the way in which we deal with crime. To be “resourceful” means to be creative in ones thinking and in the implementation of new and different approaches to an issue. At ROOF (Reaching our Outdoor Friends), we are smart on crime because we investigate the truth about crime and we challenge the myths that surround it (mental alertness). We are also smart on crime in terms of the way we ‘think outside the box’ (resourcefulness) regarding our programming – keeping it relevant and real for the youth we serve.”
Sandy Dietrich-Bell, WRCPC Member
Executive Director, ROOF
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is the wise old saying. How true that is when examining the costs of crime in our community. Investing in our citizens to address the root causes of crime is smart! Incarceration costs over $100,000 annually. If our programs keep even 5 people from entering the justice system, think of the benefits to our community!”
Kathryn McGarry
Community Representative, WRCPC
Posted on: December 2nd, 2010 by Smart on Crime
Lunch programs, after-school groups and homework clubs do more than give kids full bellies, friends and better marks.
Years later, they may also keep them from committing crimes and make those children less likely to need costly special education programs.
Those conclusions are among the latest findings of a nearly 20-year-long study that has tracked hundreds of kids from disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Ontario.
The project, Better Beginnings, Better Futures, is a massive undertaking that has involved researchers from universities across the province, including three from Wilfrid Laurier University.
WLU psychology professors Geoff Nelson, Mark Pancer and Colleen Loomis hope the province takes notice of their ongoing project’s latest findings — piling more evidence onto their argument that at-risk children who participate in early prevention programs are more likely to succeed later in life.
“When we first started, we weren’t sure if this kind of approach would work. But the striking thing is we find some pretty significant impacts, not only on the children, but on their families and on whole neighbourhoods,” Pancer said.
At the time, it was a four-year program that spanned junior kindergarten to Grade 2, and gave children things like in-school help, nutrition and behavioural programs. Their parents and neighbourhoods got to choose what was offered, hired staff, and received programs ranging from job search help, parenting and language training.
In the latest findings, children in three participating neighbourhoods — Cornwall, west-end Toronto and Sudbury — were compared with kids from two communities with similar economic conditions and characteristics who did not go through the program.
The result? Years later, the kids who went through the Better Beginnings programs were less likely to commit property crime, more likely to have success in school and socially, and had better-functioning families. They had fewer emotional and behavioural problems, too.
The program also saved governments money on things like special education programs, child welfare and youth court expenses, Pancer said. Later on, he expects those savings will grow, as the participating kids stay out of the welfare system and criminal careers.
At a cost of about $1,000 per child, that’s money well spent, the researchers say, considering it costs over $100,000 a year to incarcerate a person in Canada.
“It just makes economic sense,” Pancer said. “We’re already seeing significant financial savings.”
The findings come as no surprise to people who work closely with young children.
The school system, they say, has long played a large role in determining success later in life, including crime prevention. They say a struggling child who never gets help in those early years has a much greater chance of having a troubled life later on.
“The earlier you can intervene and spot the difficulties students are having, the better off they’ll be down the road. You’ll have people who are better equipped to survive in today’s world,” said John Shewchuk, chair of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council and spokesperson for the local Catholic school board.
“There are many, many thousands sitting in prison right now because those kind of early intervention programs were never there for them when they needed them.”
But it’s not just schools that have a role, Pancer said. Community-based programs like those offered by the Lang’s Farm Village Association can also make the kind of differences the Better Beginnings projects illustrates.
Bill Davidson, Lang’s Farm executive director, said this kind of study is important because it proves claims long made by childhood programs — from recreational to social — that say they set kids up for better lives, he said.
He’d like to see the Better Beginnings program expanded across the province.
“It’s making the kind of difference that it should,” he said. “But I think most countries are slow to adapt to this kind of thinking. Part of the problem is we haven’t had the evidence, prior to now, to demonstrate that.”
Advocates say expanding Better Beginnings into Waterloo Region wouldn’t be that difficult. It could be added to programs already in place here to make a more comprehensive approach to early childhood prevention, said Natalie Brown, co-ordinator of the Alliance for Children and Youth of Waterloo Region.
From the Waterloo Region Record, Thursday December 2, 2010
gmercer@therecord.com
