Child and Youth Advocacy Centre will enhance services provided to the Cornwall region
CORNWALL, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 31, 2015) - Department of Justice Canada
Today, Guy Lauzon, Member of Parliament for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, on behalf of Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Peter MacKay, announced funding of $160,000 over two years to the Koala Place CYAC Advancement Project.
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 work 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 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 understands that Canada's youngest victims of crime need special services and support. I am proud to announce funding to Cornwall's Koala Child and Youth Advocacy Centre as they provide much-needed, specialized care to the Cornwall Region."
Guy Lauzon, Member of Parliament for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry
"Child and Youth Advocacy Centres play a new and vital role in helping victims receive services within safe, child-focused environments. Victims deserve the support of Government and community agencies as they heal and navigate the criminal justice system."
Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
"We are extremely pleased to receive ongoing support from Justice Canada. Koala Place would not have come so far, so quickly, to address the critical issue of child abuse if not for the support. This investment will allow us to further enhance and improve our Centre to ensure that children, youth and families receive services that are coordinated, consistent, child/youth friendly, culturally relevant, age appropriate, and not duplicated. We share a responsibility to ensure children, youth and their families have the support they need to move forward and lead healthy lives. Helping to give every child and youth the chance to live a safe, healthy and happy life is the most important work we can do."
Elyse Lauzon-Alguire, Executive Director - Koala Place, Child and Youth Advocacy Centre
Related Products
Associated Links
Department of Justice Canada's Policy Centre for Victim Issues
Department of Justice Canada's Victims Fund
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 Department of Justice Canada's website.
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, Montréal |
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) |
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).
Follow Department of Justice Canada on Twitter (@JusticeCanadaEn), join us on Facebook or visit our YouTube channel.
Contact Information: