Anti-gang programs to close

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Jesse Gair works with at-risk teens at the Magnus Eliason recreation centre, where outreach workers are keeping in touch with as many as 190 youths. ( PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

Four successful anti-gang programs will shut their doors in March when federal funding runs out, leaving at least 65 kids at the mercy of the streets again.

One program that helps refugees steer clear of gangs like the Mad Cowz is the only one of its kind in Canada. Another program helped teens with gang connections get jobs at grocery stores and gas stations.

Staff from the four mentorship and outreach programs that are destined to close say they've dramatically reduced the number of new criminal offences.

"It's not cost-effective, it's not ethically effective and it doesn't reduce crime to close these programs," said New Directions program manager Liz Wolff.

The programs started up in the fall of 2007, but were announced by the Harper government in April 2009 at a splashy press conference in Winnipeg attended by aboriginal elders, then-provincial justice minister Dave Chomiak, Manitoba's senior federal cabinet minister Vic Toews and then-federal public safety minister Peter Van Loan.

At the time, Van Loan called the four programs "a critical component of addressing crime."

But the funding came with a sunset clause of March 31, 2011, which means some of the city's best-known social agencies, like New Directions and Ndinawe, will lay off a total of 18 staff and shut their anti-gang pilot programs in two months.

Some groups were hopeful a surplus in the funding program, the Youth Gang Prevention Fund, could be used to extend the programs by a year.

Other agencies have peppered the province with grant applications hoping the NDP government will pick up Ottawa's funding slack.

Late last year, provincial Justice Minister Andrew Swan wrote a letter to Toews asking him to keep the programs going for another year.

"...The serious nature of the gang issue obliges us to ensure we do not close down programs that are successful," wrote Swan.

A spokesperson for Public Safety Canada said they could not speculate on the contents of the spring budget but said the government supports programs that demonstrate results that help at-risk individuals develop positive life skills and avoid a life of crime.

Critics, including the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, have noted Ottawa is allowing prevention programs to peter out while spending millions building new prison beds in Manitoba and passing tough-on-crime laws. It says evidence shows anti-gang programs are cheaper and more effective at combating crime than incarceration.

Several inner-city activists praised the original Youth Gang Prevention Fund because it was focused on building trust with kids wary of the system and beyond the reach of existing social services.

But the temporary nature of the fund highlights a perennial problem. Endless rounds of grant applications and paperwork are needed to get a youth program off the ground, only to see the program fizzle and the kids disperse once the photo ops are over and the fund is depleted.

"Project funding doesn't work," said Jamil Mahmood, co-executive director of the Spence Neighbourhood Association. "There has to be a way to not have us change our programming every week based on what fad is out there."

If they get a last-minute reprieve, staff from the four agencies say they could quickly ramp back up by rehiring staff and putting out the word to their participants.

"We'll keep our doors open to the bitter end," said Ka Ni Kanichihk executive director Leslie Spillett. "We're optimistic people will see this a good thing."

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca

Gang busters

Five programs got $3.1 million over three years to keep kids out of gangs. Four are shutting down.

CIRCLE OF COURAGE

Run by: Ka Ni Kanichihk, an inner-city aboriginal agency.

For: Aboriginal boys between 12 and 17 with criminal involvement. There are 18 youths in the program now and about 75 who have come through in past years.

What: Mentorship, job and life skills, school tutoring, recreation like basketball and boxing, cultural activities like sweat lodges, volunteering and help completing community service, help with housing, social services, counselling. There are programs five days a week and often on weekends.

What's next: Shut down. Five staff will be laid off.

OASIS

Run by: New Directions.

For: Refugees and newcomers from war-torn countries. Youths must be between 12 and 21 and be in a gang or at risk of joining a gang. There are about 20 kids in the program now and as many that have finished.

What: Tailored services like academic and English-as-a-second-language classes, life-skills and job training, help finding employment, recreation, mental-health therapy, help navigating the courts and social services and help for families, especially mothers.

What's next: Shut down, with five staff laid off.

WEST CENTRAL YOUTH OUTREACH PROJECT

Run by: Spence Neighbourhood Association out of the Magnus Eliason recreation centre.

For: The project is technically supposed to have 16 kids at a time but outreach workers keep in touch with roughly 190 youths.

What: Intensive outreach and help with basic needs like housing, clothing and food, help co-ordinating and navigating schools, probation services and child welfare, job training, recreation programs.

What's next: Shut down. Four staff jobs will be lost. Some layoffs have already begun.

TURNING THE TIDES

Run by: Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre on Selkirk Avenue.

For: Youth 15-19 years old in gangs or at risk of joining gangs. There are about a dozen kids still in the program and 60 who have gone through it over the last three years.

What: Similar to the other programs, with a mentor-focused approach.

What's next: Shut down. Young people are already being transitioned out and four staff will be laid off.

JUST TV

Run by: Broadway Neighbourhood Centre.

For: Youths between 16 and 24 years old who are in gangs or at risk of joining gangs.What: Participants get many of the same services as the other programs but with a unique broadcast component where they can make videos and mini-documentaries.

What's next: The program will continue thanks to $150,000 from the city. Mayor Sam Katz pledged to fill the yearly funding gap during last fall's election.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 26, 2011 A3