Federal Government Funds Sophie''s Place Child Advocacy Centre
Support will fund child advocacy centre servicing the Lower Mainland
(firmenpresse) - SURREY, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/31/15 -- Department of Justice Canada
Today, the Honourable Kerry-Lynne Findlay, P.C., Q.C., MP for Delta-Richmond East and Minister of National Revenue, on behalf of Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Peter MacKay, announced funding of $220,000 over two years to the Centre for Child Development of the Lower Mainland to support Sophie''s Place Child Advocacy Centre.
The investment will help provide a community-based program with a coordinated approach to addressing the needs of children and youth who are implicated in the criminal justice system, either as victims of or witnesses to physical or sexual abuse.
Child advocacy centres (CACs) and child and youth advocacy centres (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 works to meet the specific needs of each person. The work of a multidisciplinary team in a CAC or a CYAC 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 of Canada 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 is proud of our accomplishments to help victims of crime. The youngest victims of crime need even more attention. That is why we have taken steps to fund child advocacy centres and child and youth advocacy centres to recognize these needs and improve services. Sophie''s Place will serve children from across the Lower Mainland with a one-stop, child-friendly centre where young victims and their families can get much-needed support and services."
Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
"Sophie''s Place serves some of the most vulnerable in our society; young victims of crime. Our Government is taking the needs of victims seriously. Today''s investment demonstrates our commitment to helping communities like Surrey assist victims in their time of need."
Hon. Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, Minister of National Revenue and MP for Delta-Richmond East
"I would like to express our sincere thanks to Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay for personally visiting Sophie''s Place Child Advocacy Centre and announcing the provision of $220,000 in funding to Sophie''s Place, furthering the Prime Minister''s commitment to child advocacy centres as announced in Economic Action Plan 2015. The support from the Department of Justice has been, and continues to be, pivotal to realizing the dream of creating Sophie''s Place Child Advocacy Centre as the Lower Mainland''s first child advocacy centre and only the second National Children''s Alliance affiliated child advocacy centre in Canada. The Centre brings together multiple key law enforcement and victim support resources all in one child-friendly place to reduce the traumatization of children who have been mentally, physically or sexually abused."
Gerard Bremault, CEO, The Centre for Child Development, Child Development Foundation of British Columbia and Sophie''s Place
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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:
The Government has also provided funding for projects that explore the creation, development or adaptation of the CAC model in the following communities:
Backgrounder
Child Sexual Offenders
The Government of Canada remains committed to protecting Canadians and keeping our streets and communities safe.
In Canada, over 4,200 sexual violations against children were reported to police in 2013, a six percent increase in the rate from 2012(1).That is why the Government has brought forward legislation that better protects children from sexual predators at home and abroad.
The Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act came into force on July 17, 2015. The new measures build on the significant work that has already been done to combat child sexual exploitation and protect Canadians from online crime. The new measures:
Since 2006, our Government has taken strong actions to better protect children, including:
(1) Statistics Canada. Table 252-0051 - Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, annual (number unless otherwise noted), CANSIM (database).
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Contacts:
Clarissa Lamb
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Justice
613-992-4621
Media Relations Office
Department of Justice
613-957-4207
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Datum: 31.07.2015 - 11:44 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 1376180
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