Document 2

August 2008

SUBJECT: Report on the Outcomes of the 2007 CPO Funded Projects

OBJET: Rapport sur les résultats du financement des projets de 2007

________________________________________________________________

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That the Board receive this report for information.

RECOMMENDATION

Que le conseil d’administration prenne connaissance du présent rapport.

Crime Prevention Ottawa is continuing with its innovative partnership with the City’s Community Funding Branch to support crime prevention programming in the community. This partnership has allowed Crime Prevention Ottawa to focus on the programming as the administrative procedures are already in place.

A total of 7 projects were funded from the initial round of grant allocations, 6 of which were completed on schedule. Overall the results of the funding were positive with some projects more successful than others. Regular contact between these organizations and CPO staff allowed for some general observations:

• Constant staff turnover is a challenge for many projects and agencies
• Agencies can vary in their capacity to evaluate their programming. CPO could assist in ensuring adequate resources, staff time and knowledge to support agencies in evaluating their programming.
• Community mobilization, whose value in the community has been recognized through the City’s “Community Development Framework”, is often a necessity for program implementation but is far more difficult to quantify.
• Program sustainability appears to be attainable, particularly if a program is demonstrating results. The quest for sustainable program funding though might well require assistance either from CPO or another intermediary. It also appears that agency sophistication and persistence is key.
• Some agencies welcomed the involvement of CPO; others seemed less comfortable with a close relationship between funder and funded.
• High quality individual services can have excellent outcomes but are very expensive.

See attached table for specific program results.

2007 Crime Prevention Ottawa Project Funding
Agency	Amount Awarded	Project title and description	Summary of Outcomes
Carlington Community and Health Services 900 Merivale Road, Ottawa, ON K1Z 5Z8	2007: $30,000 (2006: $45,000) (2008: Continue to work with CCHS and potential funders on sustainability.)	Keeping it Cool Keeping it Cool is an intensive, community-based anti-violence and anger management program designed to meet the needs of youth whose expressions of anger has a negative impact on themselves, their family and their community.	A Steering committee was formed in 2006 and continues to today. 137 youth were referred to the program in the last year, many of which are now on a waiting list. Over 500 referrals have been received in a 2-year period. Eight 10-week programs were delivered in six separate locations across the city. 32 clients were served (20 male/12 female). Some highlights: -All clients who had been suspended successfully completed their re-entry conditions and returned to school. -9 clients successfully completed diversion conditions thus avoiding further involvement in the criminal justice system. - The first two female groups were completed in partnership with the school board A formal pre- and post- evaluation was completed. The findings show that participants report overall improvement in the number of times they lose their cool when at school, home and when alone. Sustainability plans continue with the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and a purchase of service agreement completed with the Boys and Girls Club diversion program. Investigation into creating a culturally appropriate version of the program for the aboriginal community also underway.

Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre 2339 Ogilvie Road Gloucester, ON K1J 8M6	2007: $25,000 Other funder: the Ministry of Community and Social Services.	Neighbours, Friends and Families By building local response to domestic violence, Neighbours, Friends and Family undertakes community education and community building to increase awareness of victim’s issues and support women victims of violence.	A multi-stakeholder community steering committee was created for NFF in Ottawa. 37 NFF presentations were given to over 1,000 people. The presentations included a variety of groups including: police, victims services, education groups, multi-faith sector, resource centres to name a few. A successful program launch was held at city hall and included the police Chief and Mayor and over 100 attendees. There was extensive media coverage of the program. Through a partnership with a regional landlord association, over 600 landlords received information about NFF.
LASI World Skills Inc. 201-219 Argyle AvenueOttawa, ON K2P 2H4	2007: $30,000 (2006: $40,000)	LASI Newcomer Youth Initiative: Productivity Prevents Crime. This project is an employment service, which targets new immigrant and visible minority youth-at-risk. It focuses on preparing youth for employment with group work, counselling, industry involvement, mentorship, placement and education.	LASI Youth Project—Productivity Prevents Crime, ran for two days per week, 7 hours per day for nine months. Immigrant /New Canadian youth came from: East, Central and West Africa, Middle-East, India, China, Cuba, Eastern Europe The 32 targeted youth (ages 18-29) selected (17 male / 15 female) were battling multiple barriers including: lack of job search skills, low self-esteem, lack of direction, acculturation issues, financial stress, which had kept them from moving forward and becoming productive and open to negative influences. Results by the end of the project: 100% (32) Completed Lifeskills Training 66% (21) Employed 28% (9) Continuing Education 6% (2) Mentored Partners included: City of Ottawa, Pinecrest-Queensway: Youth Retailer Program and Michele Heights Drop-In, Somali Community Initiative; Glebe Collegiate, “The Door” at Dalhousie Community Center, Youth Services Bureau Drop-In for homeless youth, Youth Zone Jeunesse
Lowertown East Safety Committee 40 Cobourg Ottawa, ON K1N 8Z6	2007: $20,000	Safe and Healthy Community: Kick Start Project. This project is the formalization of 12 months of meetings and research, which identified the need to establish a program what, will actively engage residents in community building relationships with each other, the police and other services.	Over 70 residents attended a community forum to learn more about LESCO and to give feedback on their concerns within the community. More than 225 residents attended a number of information and community mobilization activities including: street BBQ, workshops, Christmas lunch and information sessions. These interactions allowed for increased engagement, information sharing and less isolation for some community members. Staff turnover throughout this project has been a major obstacle to moving the process forward. The steering committee remains committed to moving forward with this community mobilization effort.
Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre 230 McArthur Avenue Ottawa, ON K1L 6P5	$30,000 Other funders are the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Trillium Foundation	Strong Parents - Strong Families This program will provide support and education to families with Inuit children 0-13 years of age living in the Vanier area. The goal is to increase protective factors against future criminal involvement by supporting parents and strengthening families.	The Strong Parents – Strong families program successfully engaged the Inuit community in Ottawa. The children and youth activities averaged almost 20 participants per session and well over 400 attendees in total. Staff and participants reported increased skills (communication, cultural, theatrical etc.) and decreased inter-personal conflict over the course of the program. Parent support classes saw over 60 attendees and an average of 10 per class. Staff was able to increase parenting skills and act as a support/resource for parents especially when dealing with the Children’s Aid Society and other crisis intervention programs. Parents report using more positive approaches when dealing with conflicts with their children.
Pinecrest-Queensway Health and Community Services 1365 Richmond Road, 2nd Floor Ottawa, ON K2B 6R7	$30,000	United Neighbours This community mobilization initiative will engage all sectors of this west-end community in identifying factors that lead to unhealthy lifestyle choices and crime. This process will bring together community members, community leaders, service providers, law enforcement and local business in an effort to define goals and facilitate positive change	The United Neighbours project successfully created a multi-stakeholder and community steering committee consisting of 44 members (28 agencies/organizations represented). At the beginning of the process community distrust and anger resulted in additional time needed to engage, allow for venting and to begin rebuilding trust and relationships. This work created a solid foundation to move forward. Two community surveys (1 adult / 1 youth) were developed through a working group of the steering committee. It was distributed, in 4 languages, within the entire Pinecrest-Queensway catchment area. Over 800 surveys (300 youth / 500 adult) were completed and returned. This was a considerably higher number than expected. A community forum with over 80 attendees was held to report back to the community on the survey results and the priorities that came from that. 4 working groups were created to address the highest priorities.
South-East Ottawa Centre for a Healthy Community 1355 Bank Street Ottawa, ON K1H 8K7	30,000 2006: Youth component of NCLB, $20,000	No Communities Left Behind Through this process four South East Ottawa OCHC communities are developing comprehensive community-based strategies to reduce and prevent crime, coordinate existing activities, add new services as identified and promote and support effective communication between community members and law enforcement.	The CPO funding was used to expand partnership development and framework development (NCLB model) in four OCHC communities in southeast Ottawa. Youth councils were created and are now active in all communities. An assessment and reporting system has been put in place showing increased community engagement and increased feelings of safety in these communities. These assessments are now into year 4 in the original community of Banff. The increased community engagement, at all age levels, has allowed for community-specific projects and initiatives to take root. The NCLB model has been adopted by the City of Ottawa (CPS Department) as the process for their new Community Development Framework. A practitioners guide and additional resource material has been created.
Family Services à la famille Ottawa 312 Parkdale Avenue Ottawa ON K1Y 4X5	$35,000 N.B. (2006 Project but due to timing of school years, reporting with 2007 projects.)	In Love & In Danger Conferences are created for selected high school students from across a school board. The students then return to their schools to create working teams that look to increase awareness among high school students about the realities of dating violence, woman abuse, and child witnessing of abuse.	Two conferences of approximately 250 students each were held. These included 32 different high schools from both the public and catholic English boards. As students return to their schools they typically engage another 30 to 60 students as they work on their school-based action plan. Assistance, resources and referral information is made available to these working groups. Survey results of participants indicate that this programming is very much needed. Numbers of students that accept dating violence as “normal” and are negatively affected by peer pressure remains high. Sustainability of the program continues to be a challenge, however, under CPO’s direction, the possibility of linking to the “4th R” curriculum is being pursued.