Transcript Making Alberta Communities Safer

Making Alberta Communities Safer
The Challenges of Sustainability
Crystal Hincks
Impact & Evaluation Research Services
Prof. John Winterdyk
Dept. of Justice Studies, Mount Royal University
Overview
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Crime Prevention
Alberta’s Crime Prevention Framework
Safe Communities Innovation Fund
Lessons Learned from Evaluations
Addressing Sustainability
Crime Prevention
• Crime prevention refers to the reduction of
future risks of crime through actions, initiatives
or policies
• Accomplished through three main actions:
▫ Traditional Methods
 Law enforcement, courts, corrections
▫ Situational Methods
 Security precautions, environmental design
▫ Social Development Methods
 Targeting of at-risk groups
Risk and Protective Factors
RISK FACTORS
Anything, including personal
behaviours or environmental
conditions, that increases the
likelihood of criminal
involvement
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Substance abuse
Mental health issues
Low literacy
Witnesses or experiencing
violence
Unemployment
Neighbourhood crime
Family dysfunction
Early anti-social behaviour
PROTECTIVE FACTORS
A positive influence that can
reduce the risk of criminality
and improve the lives and
safety of individuals
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Success at school
Positive parenting
Adult role models
Strong social supports
Steady employment
Stable housing
Access to health, social,
recreational and cultural
services
Social Development
Extra Taxes Needed for a 10% Reduction in Crime
$228
$118
$48
Extended
Incarceration for
Repeat Offenders
Delinquent
Probation
Parent Training
$32
Incentive for Youth
to Complete High
School
International Successes
• United Kingdom
▫ 10 hours of activity to 50 of the most at-risk youth
▫ Reduced youth arrests by 65%, expulsions by 30%
• United States
▫ Incentives for high school completion for youth
▫ Decreased arrests by 72%
• Canada
▫ Home visits to at-risk mothers- parenting skills taught
▫ Decreased CFS interventions from 25% to 2.3%
▫ Reduced youth arrests by 67%
Alberta’s Crime Prevention Strategy
• 2007- Crime Reduction and Safe Communities Task
Force
▫ Create a comprehensive, long-term provincial crime
prevention strategy
▫ Led by 9 partnering ministries, community partners,
and stakeholders
 Goals:
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Shift policy focus from enforcement to prevention
Collaboration and integration among agencies
Align appropriate programs, services, and funding
Engage communities and stakeholders
Establish Alberta as a leader in crime prevention
• $60 million
dollars
• 88 pilot projects
province-wide
• Various levels
of crime
prevention
• 3 year mandate
Primary
• Universal Prevention
• Entire populations
Secondary
• Targeted Prevention
• High-risk subgroups
Tertiary
• Indicated Prevention
• High-risk individuals
Safe Communities Innovation Fund (SCIF)
• $60 million dollars
• 88 pilot projects province-wide
• Various levels of crime prevention
At-risk youth and at-risk
families
Addictions and mental health
Community engagement
Aboriginal focused
Family violence
Sexual violence
Offender needs
At-risk students
Sex-trade workers
Homeless populations
Gang interventions
Community crisis
response
Assessing the Framework
• Evaluation
▫ Measuring outcomes
• Inconsistencies in evaluation strategies
▫ Internal/external agencies
• Methodologies
▫ Social Return on Investment (SROI)
 Cost-benefit ratio
Social Return on Investment (SROI)
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PROS
Monetizing social impact
Illustrating cost savings
Highlighting success
Future funding
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CONS
The ratio itself
Methodology
Proxy accuracy
Comparison of programs
Challenges of Implementation
• Poor implementation
▫ Changing program managers
▫ Inaccurate budgeting
• Inconsistent evaluation strategies
▫ Little to no preparation
▫ Uneducated re: methods
• Inappropriate utilization of SROI
▫ Sustainable funding
• Failed partnerships
▫ Loss of funding
▫ Changes in mandates
SCIF Today
• Recent budget cuts
• SafeCom still afloat
 Initiatives gone
 Is it working?
• Sustainable funding?
▫ Bridge funding
• Death by pilot project
▫ Big Brother
• Impacts
▫ Discontinuation of services
▫ Restart costs
▫ Loss of services to clients
Future of Alberta’s Framework
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Continuation of initiatives
Suspension of pilot projects
Future budgets
Partnerships
Change in government=unpredictable future
Government buy-in
Thank you!
C. Hincks: [email protected]
J. Winteredyk [email protected]