Two dozen representatives from community organizations and four local municipalities met on January 16 at the Madawaska Valley Township offices to launch their collaboration planning for Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) in the area. Dr. Meara Sullivan, consultant, is facilitating the process on behalf of the municipalities. Above from left: Holly Hayes CAO/Clerk-Treasurer South Algonquin, Suzanne Klatt CAO/Clerk Madawaska Valley; Tammy Gorgerat Deputy CAO/Clerk Killaloe, Hagarty, Richards; Dr. Meara Sullivan CSWB coordinator; Susan Sheridan CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Killaloe-Hagarty-Richards; Gwen Dombroski Deputy Clerk Madawaska Valley; Michelle Mantifel Clerk/Treasurer Brudenell, Lyndoch, Raglan.
CSWB plans are mandated by the Ontario Police Services Act 2019 and every municipality is required to have one in place by January 1, 2021. Dr. Sullivan explained that 65 to 85 percent of 911 calls are non-criminal, social disturbance calls that place a burden on Emergency Response personnel.
Holly Hayes of South Algonquin said, “From my perspective as a CAO/Clerk I think that this is an opportunity for people that have been invited to this group to really speak specifically to municipalities. My hope is that this plan, once we start to implement it, will speak to our strategic plans within the municipalities so that we can start to think about – I always say we often just think about roads and bridges and facilities in municipalities. I think this is our step in the door to start to think about mental health and how it affects our communities and how what we’re doing as municipalities needs to consider those things.”
Referring to the above graphic, Dr. Sullivan said the CSWB process fits within the outer, green circle: Promoting and maintaining safety and well-being. She said a CSWB plan is a long term strategy for social development that uses an integrated approach to address complex social issues and ensure awareness of services available in the community.
She pointed out that while four municipalities are collaborating in this exercise, “This is not about councils. Council is ultimately responsible but this is about getting input from the experts and it’s about community consultation.” The other sectors represented at the meeting included Child and Youth Services, Community and Social Services, Health, Housing and Justice. Dr. Sullivan said Education representatives will also be involved. She said the next process is a survey of the advisory committee and asked attendees to share it as widely as possible to ensure that all community organizations could have a say in the first stage of the process.
Greg Lubimiv of Phoenix Centre for Children & Families, cited examples from service organizations at provincial, county and regional levels and said, “There are other things happening that this needs to be aligned to…. Whatever is happening for municipalities can’t be in isolation to what is happening outside.” He said, for example, Madawaska Valley is a high risk area for pediatric and mental health services because it does not enjoy the same level of service as other parts of region so this effort would be helpful. Dr. Sullivan emphasized that input from all these organizations is very important: “We don’t want to diminish that; that is something we want to take advantage of and highlight throughout the planning.”
She explained the phases of the CSWB planning process which are generally to identify priorities, determine outcomes, select strategies, and implement and review the plan. Dr. Sullivan said that after the advisory committee reviewed its Terms of Reference at the January 16 meeting, the service providers should return the survey by February 13 identifying vulnerable groups and risk factors. After analysing the data, she will call another meeting prior to community consultations.
Dr. Sullivan asked if all present were happy to take on the challenge. In response, Lynn Smith of Child Poverty Action Network (CPAN) said, “I always think everything is a bit too much, but you have to look at the fact that when you’re doing things like this that … you are being proactive about saving things from getting worse in the future.”
Note: The Current’s publisher, Roger Paul, is a member of the advisory group in his capacity as a Director of Renfrew County Legal Clinic.
