CHAPTER 5: COMMUNITY SUPPORTS
Children and families are more likely to be healthy if the communities they live in are healthy. For optimal development, children need secure homes, violence-free family environments and protection from victimization. They also need healthy communities with safe neighbourhoods, play spaces and clean environments.
Research has shown that growing up in a community that is perceived to have higher levels of cohesion, stability and social supports will lead to healthier child development.
The Government of Canada makes significant investments in programs and services to strengthen communities and community supports. Many of these programs are featured in other chapters, including the Brighter Futures and Aboriginal Head Start programs (Chapter 6), the Community Action Plan for Children (Chapter 3) and the Understanding the Early Years pilot project (Chapter 7).
The programs described in this chapter also promote healthy early childhood development by strengthening supports for young children in communities.
ACTIVITIES AND EXPENDITURES
National Police Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
National Missing Children Services
National Missing Children Services (NMCS) is one component of a program called "Our Missing Children." The program dates back to 1986, when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officially opened the Missing Children's Registry. Over time, other federal partners joined the program, including the Canada Border Services Agency, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Department of Justice. Collectively, this partnership provides a unique and powerful force in locating and recovering missing children.
The role played by NMCS is to assist in the search, recovery and return of missing children, and to train police in these activities. In addition, NMCS conducts original research, which is shared with governments, non-governmental organizations, the legal community and the media, and also develops and distributes reader-friendly information to help Canadians keep their children safe.
What's New: In 2003, NMCS assisted with 142 investigations involving 191 children in Canada. Twenty-four of these missing children were under the age of six.
During 2003–2004, NMCS also published an important new research study, The Abduction of Children by Strangers in Canada: Nature and Scope, and produced new fact sheets to help parents protect their children. One example is Child Safety Tips for Families, which offers the following advice:
Never leave a small child unattended in a car or vehicle. Children have been known to perish in a car fire, wander away from the vehicle and become lost, and traumatized by an accidental abduction if the vehicle was stolen. Never justify to yourself that it is safe to leave your child 'just for a minute.'
This fact sheet and other reports and brochures from NMCS, including a colouring book with safety information for children, are available online at www.ourmissingchildren.ca/en/publications/brochures.html. NMCS also operates a toll-free information line (1 877 318–3576).
Expenditure: The 2003–2004 expenditure for young children under National Missing Children Services was estimated at $57,000. It is not possible to determine a precise figure related to children age zero to six and their families.
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
National Crime Prevention Strategy
The National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) focuses on crime prevention through social development. The approach is based on the principle that the surest way to reduce crime is to focus on the factors that put individuals at risk. The NCPS provides grants and contribution funding, along with tools, knowledge and expertise, to communities dealing with the root causes of crime at a local level.
NCPS has identified children, youth, Aboriginal people, and the personal security of women and girls among its key priorities for investing in community-based responses to crime. In the area of public outreach, NCPS has developed videos, public service announcements (e.g., on bullying), fact sheets and other publications for children, youth and their families. The NCPS Web site at www.prevention.gc.ca/en/index.asp features links to these and other resources.
What's New: In December 2003, the NCPS became part of the newly created department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada. Previously, the Strategy was part of the Department of Justice.
Throughout 2003–2004, the NCPS conducted comprehensive evaluations of a number of large-scale, multi-year projects funded by its Crime Prevention Investment Fund. The projects that are child-based tend to focus on reducing risk factors associated with future criminal behaviour, such as child abuse or neglect, exposure to domestic violence and parental criminality. Overall, the project evaluations showed interventions that targeted early childhood development by working closely with families had positive impacts on participants.
One example is a crime prevention pilot project targeting high-need, under-resourced families with children ages two to six. The project blended outdoor education with family therapy. Phase One of this multi-phase project took place at a wilderness facility near Ottawa, Ontario. The project evaluation showed that children demonstrated reduced levels of aggressive and defiant behaviour, and showed improved levels of confidence and social functioning. The parents also gained confidence and have reported feeling less isolated.
Another example of positive results came from the Strong Families, Strong Children project in New Brunswick. This project is helping families develop the necessary skills to stabilize family functioning. The evaluation conducted during 2003–2004 indicated that the children were displaying decreases in anxiety, inattention, anger, impulsiveness and aggression, while showing increases in their levels of happiness and their abilities to solve problems.
During 2003–2004, the NCPS also funded a new three-year pilot project involving 60 low-income single mothers and their children in Surrey, British Columbia. The participants have all suffered abuse in the home, and the objective of the program is to strengthen the protective factors in their lives by helping them connect with the broader community. In addition to home visits, this project will include field trips to community resources. The first report on the outcomes of this project is expected in 2006.
Expenditure: The 2003–2004 expenditure for related projects targeting children funded by the National Crime Prevention Strategy was $1,946,592. It is not possible to identify a precise sum related to children under six and their families.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
Kidz Printz
Kidz Printz is an easy-to-use identification kit for parents with children age 12 and under. The pocket-sized kit includes a non-toxic ink strip for fingerprinting, spaces for parents to keep a current photo and written description of their child, plus a spot to tape strands of hair (pulled from the root) as a DNA sample. If a child goes missing, the completed kit would provide investigators with the information they need to begin their search.
The RCMP launched a nation-wide Kidz Printz campaign in 2001, and has since worked with partners and sponsors (e.g., Global Profiles Inc., AOL Canada, Our Missing Children and Zellers) to make these kits available to parents free of charge at all RCMP detachments. An estimated 300 000 kits were distributed to families with children age zero to six during 2003–2004.
In some parts of the country, such as the Ottawa region, RCMP staff volunteer their time to take Kidz Printz kits to schools and also to community events, where they show parents how to do the fingerprinting. For more information about Kidz Printz, visit www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/html/kidzprintz_e.htm.
What's New: The RCMP's contract with the major sponsor of Kidz Printz ended in December 2003, and no new kits have been provided to RCMP detachments since then. However, the Mounted Police Foundation has begun to explore options that would allow this program to continue nation-wide.
Expenditure: There was no expenditure for the Kidz Printz program in 2003–2004. As in previous years, the identification kits were donated by sponsors and were distributed by RCMP staff acting as volunteers.
ACTIVITIES AND EXPENDITURES TABLES
Table 5.1: Programs Providing Direct Support
National Police Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
| Expenditures | Activity mediated by | The activity reaches | |
| 2000–2001 | $57,000 | Police | Canada's children and families |
| 2001–2002 | $57,000 | ||
| 2002–2003 | $57,000 | ||
| 2003–2004 | $57,000 | ||
| These expenditures are consistent every fiscal year and are allocations for operations and management costs based on what was spent in previous years. It is not possible to determine a precise figure related to children age 0 to 6 and their families. |
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Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
| Expenditures | Activity mediated by | The activity reaches | |
| 2000–2001 | $1,370,000 | Teachers, early childhood educators, police, health and recreation community | Canada's children and families |
| 2001–2002 | $1,378,000 | ||
| 2002–2003 | $2,628,000 | ||
| 2003–2004 | $1,946,592 | ||
| This program was formerly part of the Department of Justice. The amounts above represent the funding provided by the NCPS (through grants and contributions) for projects related to children age 0 to 12 years. It was difficult to distinguish the exact amount of money which went to children under 6 and their families, since the Strategy defines children as those from 0 to 12 years of age. 2002–2003: Increase in expenditures due to an increased number of projects funded. 2003–2004: Decrease in expenditures due to a decrease in number of projects funded or a decrease in funds required by funding recipients. |
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Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
| Expenditures | Activity mediated by | The activity reaches | |
| 2000–2001 | Not applicable | Royal Canadian Mounted Police | Parents, children |
| 2001–2002 | Not applicable | ||
| 2002–2003 | Not applicable | ||
| 2003–2004 | Not applicable | ||
| There are no costs associated with this program. RCMP personnel volunteer for activities related to this program. | |||