January 16, 2014
The Honorable John Gerretsen,
Attorney General,
Ontario Province, Canada
Subject: Allocation of Funds to Community Based Services.
Dear Attorney General Gerretsen,
I plead with your esteemed office to assign more funds to community-based services in the upcoming 2014 federal budget.
Community-based agencies are non-profit organizations that participate in the delivery of victims through counseling and therapy. Great specialization is given to the reforming and delivering of victims who have been subjected to oppression. The major goals associated with the communities include addressing the special needs of the victims in their development and delivery and assisting in provision of educational opportunities to victims of violent crime. Working in collaboration with the police, social services and medical services and volunteering with the whole community to address proactively the special needs of these victims are also some of the driving factors.
In the recent years, there has been great recognition of the rights for the victims of justice. This has resulted to the developments and expansions of services provided to them. Many studies that have been carried out revealed that victims do not turn for help from the system-based agencies. Instead, majority of these victimized individuals come to community-based agencies. Hundreds of services to the assistance of thousands of crime victims are in existence every year. The community based agency carters for financial compensations, general information and counseling/health services.
According to the General Social Survey (GSS) report of 2004 on victimization, thirty three percent of violent victimization incidents were reported to the police and only nine percent of violent victimizations sought for assistance from a formal agency. The report revealed that most of the victims preferred the services of the community based agencies where they received counselors or psychologists’ assistance. Forty-eight percent of men and fifty five percent of women stated that they did not want or need help from a social service agency. Another study namely the Victim Services Survey carried out between the years 2007 and 2008 revealed that policed based and community based agencies were received the highest numbers of victimized people. The report indicated that
The cases that the agencies handle every year are too many and without enough resources, it becomes difficult to manage. The report further indicated that the community based agencies got their funds from volunteers. The seven hundred and forty victim agencies revealed that they had approximately three thousand and two hundred employees whom they paid with the funds raised by their eight thousand and seven hundred volunteers. The report further indicated that over one hundred and thirty million dollars had been used in the compensation program to the victims of crime between 2007 and 2008. Agencies are at most times strained and getting finances to enable them carry out their mandate.
With an assured way of funding from the government, the agencies are guaranteed to do a lot more and provide so many services for the victims. Provision of fifteen million dollars per month to the community-based agencies in the province will go a long way in aiding the justice victim. This money will carter for services such as provision of domestic shelters, provision of more witness assistance programs, provision of services to the sexually assaulted, corrections, parole compensation programs, counseling among others.
I look forward to your feedback on the allocation of the fifteen million dollars Funds to Community Based Services. Kindly include it in the funding for the 2014 budget cycle.
Sincerely,
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