News

Vice President Jamieson and I met recently with Mike Weightman of ICBC. Mike is a former RCMP Officer who pioneered Restorative Justice Family Group conferencing in the Surrey Detachment. ICBC is interested in several initiatives in crime prevention, but admitted that they had never thought about partnering with Probation Officers, who probably know car thieves the best. Although ICBC is considered by the Justice system as a large corporate victim he pointed out the principle of an insurance company is a large group of people joining together to share the loss. The theft and damage of a motorvehicle is a crime against everyone, and it is a major factor in the rising cost of car insurance. We explored the possibility of a partnership with ICBC for our next Probation Officer's symposium, to be held April 28-30, 2005. We will be meeting with Keith Barnard of MCFD and Rob Watts & Steve Howell of PSSG to work out an interesting and stimulating event that will challenge PO's while at the same time complementing the direction of our two ministries.

On Wednesday May 26th I had the pleasure of accepting an initiation from Glenn Angus to attend a small reception and dinner with Willie Gibbs, president of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association in New Westminster. Glenn stated in the invitation that "Willie is making a concerted push on behalf of the CCJA and its affiliate to rebuild its membership and its relevance. To do so, he is travelling throughout the country to meet with leaders in the field. He'll be in BC for 3 days and we're setting up various opportunities for him to meet people with leadership roles in the justice/corrections field."

It was a wonderful evening and a chance to catch up with many of my former colleagues from Solicitor General and Public Safety from across the province. I had dinner with the two Parole Board members who had attended our BCPOA Justice Conference. They thought the conference was really informative and look forward to attending again.

Glenn Angus again invited me to participate in a meeting In September. He wrote that "We (the BCCJA) is going to be holding a meeting to which we're going to invite a number of people, primarily from the corrections field, but also with some representation of other facets of the justice system. At this meeting we'll be leading discussions about the place/role of an association such as BCCJA, its value and challenges. From that meeting we hope to identify people who would want to become active in the association in such capacities as serving on the board, serving on particular committees, undertaking particular tasks, etc. It is our intention to ask for representation from BCPOA at that meeting. Jeff Christian is quite involved in the planning of this meeting.

As a Probation Officer and vice president of the BCPOA, I believe it is important for all aspect of the Justice System to work together. There are a number of worthy organizations that are working on the similar issues. So where would we like to see the BCPOA and the BCCJA want to go?

Back in 1995, the BCPOA warned that Youth Probation Officers would be hindered from career advancement in the Ministry for Children and Families, because they would not be qualified to supervise delegated Child Protection workers. We are pleased to learn that Management is working at a plan to address that with a training course that will qualify Youth Probation officers to become acting team leaders of multidisciplinary teams of probation officers. Social workers and mental health professionals.

We have learned that management is working "to develop a tailored curriculum for Team Leader candidates who would not be delgate-able under the current delegation requirements". (a short course in Child protection social work) They hope to have a recommendation for a draft curriculum to the deputy ministers by the end of August. In addition, Human Resources staff are working on changes to recruitment, posting and selection process for Team Leader vacancies.

~by Paul Harvey~

What's mainly wrong with society today is that too many Dirt Roads have been paved.

There's not a problem in Canada today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that wouldn't be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads, because Dirt Roads give character.

People that live at the end of Dirt Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride. That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it's worth it, if at the end is home.

We wouldn't have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along.

There was less crime in our streets before they were paved.

Criminals didn't walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they'd be welcomed by 5 barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun.

And there were no drive by shootings.

Our values were better when our roads were worse!

People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous, they didn't tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks.

Dirt Roads taught patience.

Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you didn't hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk.

For your mail, you walked to the mail box.

What if it rained and the Dirt Road got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy's shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody.

At the end of Dirt Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap.

Most paved roads lead to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole.

At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn't some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini.

At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you'd have to hitch up a team and pull them out.

Usually you got a dollar...always you got a new friend...at the end of a Dirt Road!

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Examples of information rec'd via the bceyelist include from the McCreary Centre

Provincial results from the 2003 Adolescent Health Survey are available in a new report, Healthy Youth Development: Highlights from the 2003 Adolescent Health Survey III. The report highlights the results from the latest AHS as well as draws on findings from AHS I (1992) and AHS II (1998) to create a profile of the health of BC youth over the past decade. http://www.mcs.bc.ca/rs_ahs.htm

On April 20, 2004 the McCreary Youth Foundation initiated requests for proposals from community organizations in British Columbia for CSEP. Seed grants (up to $5,000), Extension grants (up to $10,000) and Special Project grants (up to $25,000) would be made available to deal with the issue of the commercial sexual exploitation of youth. A total of 53 applications were received (19 Seed; 6 Extension; 28 Special Project). Each application received was reviewed by Foundation staff and then subjected to a set of objective screening criteria. Successful applications were reviewed by the CSEP Advisory Committee and their recommendations presented to the Board of the Foundation on July 8, 2004. The Board approved 21 projects totaling $205,695. The funding period for Seed and Extension grants is July 15 - November 15, 2004 and for Special Projects is July 15 - January 15, 2005.

Boys R Us/ Department of Pediatrics (UBC) (Vancouver): ($5,000) To foster and build practical skills training as an exiting strategy to young male sex trade workers. In BC, the law requires restaurants and hotels to employ staff who have completed FoodSafe Certification. FoodSafe is a one-day, eight hour course for food service operators, kitchen and serving staff. Through FoodSafe certification, this special population will possess skills, which will make them more qualified as potential employees within a wide range of food service industries, as it is recognized by many employers as a valuable and necessary qualification.

Port Alberni Women's Resource Society: ($5,000) Needs assessment to identify the incidence of sexual exploitation in the Alberni Valley and to identify current resources and services (and gaps) for sexually exploited children and youth; increase community and service provider awareness and understanding of the issues specific to rural communities. Establish a forum where the youth perspective can be voiced, by having youth participation in the creation of support programs that assist youth in exiting the sex trade.

Crisis Centre (Vancouver): (5,000) Expand information and support services on www.YouthINBC.com to deal with the issue of sexual exploitation.

Laichwiltach Family Life Society (Campbell River): ($5,000) "Girl Talk" workshop series will provide education on what sexual exploitation is. The focus will be on intervention and prevention. Intervene in the recruitment into the sex trade through increasing youth self-awareness, and personal self-regard/knowledge. Sea to Sky Community Services Society (Squamish). ($5000) Community awareness through the activities of a youth theatre group "Explore the Floor" to develop and perform skits dealing with sexual exploitation.

Downtown Neighbourhood Safety Office (Vancouver): ($5,000) The Vancouver Youth Visions Project will provide awareness workshops for community members about sexually exploited youth and the services needed for prevention and protection of children and youth being exploited. A core group of 16 - 19 year old past street involved Vancouver youth will receive training and support to deliver these public awareness workshops.

Servants Anonymous Surrey (SAS): ($5,000) Develop and deliver training to parents, youth, service providers and educators that will be a forum for personal development. This training will facilitate the creation of greater problem-solving skills, while building the relationship skills and resources that ultimately facilitate the ability to exit the sex trade.

The John Howard Society of the Lower Mainland of BC: ($5,000): To enable the existing "Choices Education Engagement Program" to provide workshops to specifically address the commercial sexual exploitation of youth. Workshops will be facilitated by experiential youth. Provide resources and develop resource cards for participants of workshops.

Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Association of BC: ($5,000) Delivery of six educational workshops to increase awareness and capacity amongst Aboriginal youth to prevent sexual exploitation in their communities. The education workshops will be a key component of the Aboriginal Athletes in Action Program.

South Peace Community Resources Society (Dawson Creek): ($5,000) Support `train the trainer' session provided by Streets Spirits (Prince George). Art form is based on "theatre of the oppressed" model.

Victoria Native Friendship Centre: ($5,000) Provide workshops and activities relevant to Two-Spirited youth and the development of posters to illustrate positive identity for Two-Spirited youth. Powell River Youth Advisory Council: ($5,000) Provide workshops for youth in partnership with Options for Sexual Health regarding healthy sexuality, including sexual exploitation and Internet abduction. Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Society: ($5,000) Provide activities, including basketball; outdoor activities, including hiking and cultural activities designed specifically for male Aboriginal youth involved in the sex trade.

Yekooche First Nation (Fort St. James): ($5,000) Identify and assess girls that are currently in vulnerable situations and work directly with them. Deliver community workshops around various issues related to sexual exploitation.

CASEY (Prince George) ($5,000) In Phase One of the CSEP initiative, CASEY (Prince George) conducted a series of in-depth interviews with six young experiential women to obtain a youth voice and perspective for appropriate research development. Due to the sensitive nature imbedded in research that captures the experiences of youth involved in the sex trade, CASEY applied for funds to continue their work with these six women and to help initiate a relationship between these women to develop their research capacity and CASEY members, in order to implement a community-based research initiative.

Cranbrook Youth Working for Youth ($10,000) In Phase one of the CSEP initiative, Cranbrook Youth Working for Youth conduced a public forum and a one day workshop to find out what are the issues of sexual exploitation in their community. Phase 2 builds on this needs assessment. This group of youth (with the support of mentoring adults) will conduct of series of awareness workshops throughout the communities surrounding Cranbrook. The objectives of the workshops will be to raise awareness; educate service providers and to them in developing a strategy to deal with issues around sexual exploitation. Workshops will also engage city and education administrators.

Katzie First Nation (Pitt Meadows): ($10,000) In Phase one of the CSEP initiative, Katzie First Nation conducted a series of awareness workshops; developed a resource centre and provided capacity training to the community's youth worker. Out of this phase, many issues were raised with respect to gaps that existed within the community and at the individual level that may prevent sexual exploitation and/or assist in its intervention. Phase two of this initiative implements a comprehensive strategy that builds on the community capacity developed through the education and prevention workshops provided in phase one. The four gaps this phase deals with through training workshops are: conflict/management/effective communication skills; youth peer support; extremely poor self image paralleled by lacking self-esteem; and extremely diverse mental health challenges.

North Okanagan Youth and Family Services Society (Vernon): ($9, 980) In Phase one of the CSEP, NOYFSS conducted an awareness campaign through a series of newspaper articles, posters and an online anonymous survey. Four young adults were interviewed about their experiences of sexual exploitation during their adolescents. Building on what was learned in phase one, NOYFSS will work with local secondary school and develop a youth drama project that will deal with the issues of sexual exploitation. Also will develop curriculum for sexual exploitation awareness workshops; develop community protocols for sexual exploitation response; facilitate a community forum and continue with the collection and analysis of on line surveys and in-person youth interviews.

NOW Canada (Kelowna): ($8,965) In Phase one of the CSEP initiative, NOW Canada conducted a pilot program of "Equine Assisted Therapy" for survivors of sexual abuse. Phase two of this initiative builds on the project by including employment readiness in the equine industry. In addition, a mentorship component will be implemented, which allows senior participants the opportunity to assist in weekly lessons.

Safe Online Outreach Society (Mission): ($24, 350) Train-the-trainer model. Design a CD that will be an annually launched project for youth to teach other youth online safety skills. CD will be piloted in two communities (Smithers and Cranbrook) in BC.

Surrey Delta Immigrant Services Society: ($25,000) Through outreach to parents and youth, workshops, seminars, live TV talk show and radio, this project will raise awareness in three ethnic communities (South Asian, Philippine and Vietnamese) regarding the risk factors, recruitment techniques of offenders, the risks to children and youth and how and when to access services ad support.

FASD Community Circle (Victoria): ($25,000) Develop a peer support group and assist FASD affected male youth at risk, or already in, the sex trade. The Circle will assist these youth in creating their strategies on prevention and support. There will be two groups a week; an art therapy group and peer mentorship group. Ages 14-19.

Children of the Street Society (Coquitlam): ($17,400) Train-the- trainer model. Develop and deliver workshops to service providers who work directly with parents and caregivers of youth who are being sexually exploited or who are at-risk of sexual exploitation. Train services providers in developing a "plan of care".

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