Federal Government Provides Funding Toward the Opening of a Child and Youth Advocacy Centre in Peel Region
(firmenpresse) - BRAMPTON, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 07/29/15 -- Department of Justice Canada
Today, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Peter MacKay, accompanied by Minister of State (Sport) Bal Gosal, announced $220,000 in funding to support the opening of a child and youth advocacy centre (CYAC) in Peel Region, Ontario.
The funding is being provided to the Catholic Family Services of Peel-Dufferin, which will develop and implement a Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC) in Peel Region. The Centre will provide a seamless response to the specific needs of children and youth victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse, or maltreatment, and their families.
Child advocacy centres (CACs) and CYACs help child and youth victims and their families navigate the criminal justice system. They provide a safe child- and youth-friendly environment where a coordinated team of professionals work to meet the specific needs of each person. The work of a multidisciplinary team in a CYAC or a CAC can greatly reduce the emotional and mental harm to child and youth victims involved in the criminal justice system.
In Economic Action Plan 2015, the Government committed to provide additional funding to CACs and CYACs. Starting in 2016-17, the Government will provide $5.25 million over four years, and $2.1 million on an annual basis thereafter, to make the support and services provided by CACs and CYACs more accessible in communities across the country.
Quick Facts
Quotes
"Our Government recognizes that child and youth victims of crime have unique needs. We are pleased to provide funding that will assist Catholic Family Services of Peel-Dufferin in developing a child and youth advocacy centre for Peel Region. These centres create safe, child-focused environments where victims and their families can go to receive the services they need to both navigate the criminal justice system and heal."
Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
"Protection and support for children and youth is an important part of building safer communities for all of us. Building a CYAC into the Safe Centre of Peel not only creates safe space for victims and their families, it creates even stronger links between the CYAC''s services and other services those victims and families may need."
Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport)
"We are very pleased with this announcement today. This investment will enable us to move forward with establishing the very first Child and Youth Advocacy Centre in the region of Peel."
Sharon Mayne Devine, Executive Director, Catholic Family Services Peel-Dufferin
Related Products
Associated Links
-
-
Follow Department of Justice Canada on Twitter (), join us on or visit our .
Backgrounder
Federal Victims Strategy and Victims Fund
The Federal Victims Strategy brings together federal efforts to give victims of crime a more effective voice in the criminal justice system. It was created in 2007 and made permanent in 2011. The objective of the Strategy, which is led by the Department of Justice Canada, is to give victims a more effective voice in the criminal justice system. The Department works in close collaboration with other federal departments and agencies, as well as victims, victim advocates, provincial and territorial governments, service providers, and others involved in the criminal justice system. The Department develops policy and criminal law reform, funds various programs to meet the needs of victims of crime, explores best practices to address victims'' needs, and raises awareness about the concerns of victims of crime and their role in the criminal justice system.
Within the Federal Victims Strategy, the Victims Fund is a grants and contributions program administered by the Department of Justice. More than $13M is available each year to provinces, territories and non-governmental organizations whose projects, activities and operations support the objectives of the Federal Victims Strategy.
The Victims Fund provides funding to projects and activities that:
Since 2006, the Government of Canada has allocated more than $158 million to give victims a more effective voice in the criminal justice system through initiatives delivered by the Department of Justice Canada.
More information is available on the .
Backgrounder
Child Advocacy Centres and Child and Youth Advocacy Centres
The Victims Fund provides grants and contributions to support projects and activities to help support victims of crime. More specifically, the fund promotes access to justice, improves the capacity of service providers, fosters the establishment of referral networks, and increases awareness of services available to victims of crime and their families.
Child Advocacy Centres (CACs) are child-focused centres that provide a coordinated approach to investigation, intervention, treatment and prosecution, in child abuse cases. They adopt a seamless and collaborative approach to addressing the needs of child and youth victims or witnesses of abuse to minimize system-induced trauma by providing a child-friendly setting for young victims and their families. Child and Youth Advocacy Centres (CYACs) offer the same services as CACs, but to a broader age-range of victims. Both CACs and CYACs receive funding under the CAC portion of the Victims Fund.
Child Advocacy Centres bring together a multidisciplinary team of police, child protection, medical services, mental health services, victim services, and prosecutors in a child-friendly environment. Professional services offered by CACs include coordinated forensic interviews; examination of the child by a medical professional; victim advocacy, including court preparation and support; trauma assessment; and counselling.
CACs help children and their families navigate the justice system in a number of ways. For example, CACs provide a child or youth with a safe and comfortable environment in which to be interviewed by criminal justice professionals, and they seek to reduce the number of interviews and questions directed at a child. CACs may also provide education and training to justice professionals on best practices for interviewing child victims and witnesses. Ultimately, CACs lead to better communication between agencies supporting young victims and to increased access to services for young victims and their families or caregivers.
It has been shown that investigations conducted by CACs are cost-effective and can expedite decision making by Crown prosecutors laying criminal charges. Parents whose children receive services from CACs are more satisfied with the investigation process and interview procedures, and those children who attend CACs are more likely to say that they were not scared during the forensic interviewing process.
Since 2010, the Government of Canada has allocated a total of $10.3 million to new or enhanced CACs and CYACs. In Economic Action Plan 2015, the Government committed to providing additional funding to CACs and CYACs. It will provide $5.25 million over four years starting in 2016-17, along with $2.1 million on an annual basis thereafter, to make the support and services provided by CACs and CYACs more accessible in communities across the country.
CACs and CYACs that have benefited from Government of Canada funding, either directly or through funding provided to one of their partners, include the following:
Nova Scotia
Sea Star Child and Youth Advocacy Centre Demonstration Project, Halifax
Quebec
Centre d''expertise Marie-Vincent, Montreal
Ontario
Child Advocacy Centre of Simcoe/Muskoka, Orillia
Boost Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, Toronto
Koala Place Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, Cornwall
Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre Niagara, St. Catharine''s
Manitoba
Snowflake Place for Children and Youth Inc., Winnipeg
Saskatchewan
Regina Children''s Justice Centre, Regina
Saskatoon Centre for Children''s Justice, Saskatoon
Alberta
Caribou Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, Grand Prairie
Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre, Calgary
British Columbia
Alisa''s Wish Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows
Sophie''s Place Child Advocacy Centre, Surrey
Vancouver Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, Pilot Project, Vancouver
The Government has also provided funding for projects that explore the creation, development or adaptation of the CAC model in the following communities:
Ontario
Brampton
Kitchener
Ottawa
Sioux Lookout
British Columbia
Vernon (North Okanagan Child and Youth Advocacy Centre project)
Victoria (ORCA)
West Kootenay Boundary (Safe Kids & Youth (SKY) Coordinated Response)
Yukon
Whitehorse (Project Lynx)
Northwest Territories
Yellowknife
Nunavut
Iqaluit (Umingmak Child and Youth Protection Centre)
Contacts:
Clarissa Lamb
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Justice
613-992-4621
Media Relations Office
Department of Justice
613-957-4207
Themen in dieser Pressemitteilung:
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 29.07.2015 - 08:13 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 1375441
Anzahl Zeichen: 0
contact information:
Contact person:
Town:
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO
Phone:
Kategorie:
Government & Administration
Anmerkungen:
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 212 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"Federal Government Provides Funding Toward the Opening of a Child and Youth Advocacy Centre in Peel Region
"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
Department of Justice Canada (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
