POLICE ASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA 127 officials, police, social services, mental health services and perhaps others. This group may also undertake other community responsibilities, such as providing public education for parents on youth violence. However, they will probably resist the participation of community groups given the confidentiality and information-sharing requirements for effective, coordinated case monitoring and management. 6.3 Three Community Mobilization Strategies The response strategies adopted in three communities are briefly described below. Each reflects a different approach to community mobilization. However, each has incorporated a comprehensive, collaborative and balanced approach. COQUITLAM, BRITISH COLUMBIA Several years ago, the Coquitlam area experienced an increase in youth violence. This ranged from minor incidents involving bullying or intimidation to more serious assaults. In order to address the community's growing concern, several communitybased initiatives were developed. One such initiative was the Active Youth Network. It is comprised of representatives from various youth-serving agencies in the community, including: local police services, the B.C. Transit Police; representatives from area schools; the Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam Probation Services; and the local Crown Counsel. The goals of the Active Youth Network are to facilitate improved, consistent and ongoing communication and information-sharing among representatives of the justice system and community agencies who work with active, high-risk youth. Meetings are held every six weeks. Committee members discuss areas of concentrated criminal activity, and surveillance of these areas. They consider programs and activities including case management, participation in public forums and community education sessions. CALGARY, ALBERTA Calgary developed the Community Resource Committee to address its youth violence concerns. The CRC has been developed in concert with a number of police-initiated youth-atrisk activities. These include the Serious Habitual Offender Program (SHOP), a school liaison program and a communitywide Safer Schools Task Force. The CRC consists of representatives of various organizations, including: the Calgary Police Service, public and separate school boards; the City of Calgary Social Services Department; the City's parks and recreation department; the Chamber of Commerce: the Boys and Girls Club; the Calgary Immigrant Aid Society; and the Calgary Association for Young Immigrants. The CRC's goal is to prevent the formation and limit the influence of youth violence and youth gangs. It is involved in a number of activities. For example, the CRC evaluates areas within the city where youth violence and youth gangs are a potential problem. It then provides support to community task groups or other organizations responding to these problems. The CRC encourages and coordinates programs, and regularly monitors their activities. One CRC initiative is PLAY (Participating and Liaising Actively with Youth). This program was designed to target youth at risk and provide alternatives to antisocial and criminal behaviour through outreach workers, supervised recreational activities and educational information. Another example is the Marlborough Mail initiative. The program brought together local business owners, community association representatives, parents and youth, police, and the social services and parks and recreation departments in a community task group to address and mitigate the effects of youth criminality. The group explored and developed alternatives for local youth at risk. OTTAWA, ONTARIO The nation's capital is one community which has used a more comprehensive community mobilization strategy. This consists of developing a comprehensive community plan for identifying high-risk youth, having youth-serving agencies collaborate to develop appropriate response strategies, violence-preventing actions by parent groups and young people, and developing programs specifically designed for aggressive or violent youth. It may include efforts to engage the public, young persons and local media to help change attitudes and influence behaviour. The Ottawa-Carleton Youth and Violence Initiative was started in 1992 to address a growing concern over highly publicized incidents of youth violence. A steering committee consisting of representatives from youth-serving agencies, the school system, the police and other community groups, coordinated a community-wide effort. A community conference was held in early 1993 to mobilize a broad base of support for the initiative. A report prepared from this conference was discussed at a follow-up community meeting held in the spring. Data was collected on the nature and extent of youth violence in the community. It was used to identify key issues for community action and to explore various ways of organizing the community to effectively address its youth violence concerns. The results of the data-gathering exercise were presented to the community at a fall conference. Workshops were organized on six key issues identified by the community. Those attending the conference were asked to select one of these issues, and be prepared to commit time and effort to it. Six task groups were formed, and each developed action plans. Currently, all six task groups are pursuing various short, medium and long term strategies. The task groups include representatives of youthserving agencies, members of the community and young people. The six issues addressed by the task groups include: the service system response; the youth justice response: safer schools; what are we teaching young people about violence?: community awareness and participation; and staff training and development. continued...
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