Dear Editor:
RE: Break the cycle, Oct. 28.
Compass Community Services completely agrees with Tina Marques’ recent comments regarding public education and a zero tolerance for violence and discrimination in our communities and thinks our agency can be part of the solution.
Compass currently offers the Breaking Free: Better Choices + Better Relationships programs. It works with youth between the ages of 12 and 17 who have been abused or have witnessed abuse in the home and are heading down the same path in their lives – acting out with aggression, bullying and violence.
This proven option offers youth a chance to discover alternative methods to bullying and violence by learning how to make better, non-violent choices. Evidence-based research from University of Guelph demonstrated the success of this program, and the Ministry of the Attorney General awarded it in 2017.
However, after five years of campaigning for permanent funding, our organization continues to hit walls when asking for long-term financial support for the program, despite the veracity of the results. We have also developed a Train-the-Trainer manual for schools to offer the program on their own.
Combatting violence and discrimination and undoing learned behaviours and prejudices starts with youth. Compass believes the time for permanent funding is overdue and that funding preventative solutions now can save the cost of trauma counselling and criminal proceedings in the future.
Joanne Young Evans,
Executive director,
Compass Community Services