Local victim services advocates are optimistic the new regionalized model will provide stable funding for the program, despite concerns from others across Alberta about the new model that local units could lose their independence and ability to cater to specific community needs.
A provincial government decision has the clock ticking for regional victim services units to decommission themselves to make room for a centralized system. By April 1, 2024, the UCP government plans to switch over Alberta’s 60 regional victim services units to just four centralized regions, not counting a dozen or so cities with their own municipal victim service units (VSU) systems and a community model specific to Indigenous communities.
VSU support victims of crime in partnership with the RCMP, municipal police services and community-based programs. They often accompany victims to court or respond to calls to support a victim after a crime.
The move to amalgamate the regions is characterized by Alberta’s justice ministry as a move from “independent and dissimilar” organizations to “integrated and coordinated regional” organizations, the plan isn’t sitting well with everyone.
The controversial plan to restructure funding and administration around the province is getting varying degrees of support.
In St. Albert, Lyle Toop is taking an optimistic stance. The St. Albert Victim Services board chair believes will provide stable funding for a society that has chronically struggled for support.
“There are differing opinions across the province, from varying boards,” Toop said, adding that the St. Albert Victim Services board would characterize themselves as “optimistic.”
“From our perspective, the current position isn’t financially sustainable. It’s too demanding on employees and volunteers, and we feel that in some cases, unfortunately, victims are underserved,” Toop said.
The recently released 2022 annual report documents between 60-87 referrals a month in 2022, self and crown and RCMP referrals; it all took 9,800 board and advocate hours, and over 6,000 advocate on call hours in St. Albert. Sexual assault files were up in 2022, as well as domestic violence files, and there was an upward trend in Crown-related requests for victim services.
Court accompaniments from VSU increased as COVID restrictions eased.
In the current model, St. Albert Victim Services has employees and what they call ‘advocates.’ The volunteer advocates basically provide the front-line services, comfort or support in the moment, support going to court, referrals to additional resources. A nine-member board provides oversight.
Through the volunteer advocates, clients gain better understanding of the court process. When a court date looms, they can be accompanied to court.
Victim Services advocates provide updates on the status, and can liaise with the Crown’s office on the victim’s behalf.
Underfunding made providing service 24 hours a day, year-round challenging, Toop said, praising executive director Shelly de Tremaudan.
“Shelly and her team of staff and volunteer advocates have worked tirelessly to maintain a high level of service for our citizens in their time of need,” Toop wrote in the 2022 annual report.
In the report, de Tremaudan thanked RCMP Inspector Ryan Comaniuk, Cpl. Morgan Kyle and the St. Albert RCMP members for their ongoing support for the organization, while expressing hope in the restructure to come.
“We’re optimistic that this new model, in the long run, will be able to address some problems with the current structure … The services will continue, with the goal of having minimal to no disruption, but will be governed differently when the new model takes effect,” Toop said.
“What our board has determined is that what matters most to us is continued availability of sustainable and effective, quality services for victims of crime and tragedy in St. Albert and the area, as well as across the province of Alberta,” he said.
Opposition to amalgamation
A group calling themselves For All Albertans (For All Albertans) is asking members of the public to sign a petition to pause the transition set for April 1, 2024.
“The boards governing the more than 60 registered victim services units are being forced to consider the future of their organizations this year. They have been informed that they will not be permitted to work in police detachments as part of this redesign, and will not have access to case files to support their work with victims of crime. Their funding agreements with the Government of Alberta will not be extended once the redesign is implemented,” a spokesperson says on their website, www.forallalbertans.ca.
Urging the government to hit the pause button, Craig Beattie of For All Albertans is also board chair for the Victim Service Society of Stony Plain, Spruce Grove and District, which serves a region with more than 100,000 people.
In 2022, the society had about 1,200 client files. They have 18 volunteer advocates who put in about 10,000 volunteer hours in 2022.
“We want the government to pause implementation,” he said.
“This redesign is not the best way to provide needed service to victims,” Beattie said.
In most of the regions, the current system is working well, he said.
“Changing that doesn’t seem that it’s helpful to victims,” he said.
“We will have to dismantle ourselves, we won’t be able to operate in RCMP detachments … There’s all this kind of undoing and recreating in lots of areas where service to victims is high quality,” he said. “Why do we need to do this?”
For the 60 or so independent non-profit societies around the province, the maximum grant they can get from the long-established Victims of Crime fund is capped at $150,000.
For the larger units, that’s not enough to operate, so funds are sought from everything from municipalities to casinos to volunteer fundraisers to make up the gap.
Among the private donations, sometimes funds come in from crime victims who have themselves benefited from the societies’ work.
In most places, multiple good causes compete for charity dollars, and an organization whose advocates and board members are volunteers still have the burden of fundraising.
The roots of change may be found in the province’s 2016 Auditor General’s report, which noted a large surplus in the Victims of Crime fund. Some $40 million had accumulated. For those looking to provide monetary support for victims, that was a good thing.
In 2020, the UCP government set up a review board to evaluate options for the province’s victim services systems.
One analyst with Alberta Municipalities asked not to be named.
The UCP government arriving at the decision to centralize was a leap, they said.
“It’s a bit of a head-scratcher … They’ve not gone in collaboratively. The government somehow adopted a more heavy-handed approach. Instead of helping, they’ve shut some units down,” they said.
Sure, some victim services units have struggled, they said—but that’s no different than any system, where some outlets will struggle more for resources than others.
“There’s been a lot of miscommunication and changes in direction over the redesign. We felt the Victim Service units and municipalities weren’t adequately consulted when these decisions were made,” the analyst said.
Those who question the move to centralize say there’s been a few missteps on the government’s part.
When first announced, the government’s plan was to limit VSUs only to victims of crime, not to victims of other kinds of traumas—think traffic examples. That was disappointing, as by some estimates more than half of the VSU clients were victims of trauma.
After some outcry, the scope was later revisited, and the trauma victims were once again included, the analyst said.
Legislation was passed by the UCP government to allow Victims of Crime fund dollars to be used for other public safety initiatives, such as policing or prosecution.
“We advocated against that change, as it made us the only province in Canada that didn’t restrict those funds only to victims,” the analyst said.
Justice Minister Tyler Shandro announced the government would walk that decision back, but there has yet to be a corresponding change back in legislation, the analyst said.
“We’re happy the scopes have been clarified. We’d like to see them slow down and make sure they’re taking time to talk to stakeholders in the implementation process,” they said.
One welcome change is taking away the burden of annual grant writing for ongoing funding, a time consumer for staff.
While centralization, standardization and more support aren’t bad things, differing communities have differing needs, the analyst said.
“We’re worried about some communities losing their voice. We’re concerned that the government shouldn’t just consult to check a box, but that they’re listening to what works for people on the ground,” they said.
Another source close to the provincial situation said there are rumblings about implementation a year away but lacking specifics even as victim services units mull about how to shut themselves down.
“Concerns of funding come down to a lack of trust of the government at this time. We have to take them at their word now, and that comes down to whether you trust this government or not,” the source said.
A big challenge for anyone involved in the tug-of-war? The public doesn’t always understand the need for these organizations that work behind the scenes in moments of individual crisis, Beattie said.
“I don’t think it’s very broadly understood by the public. It’s only understood by someone who has a crisis occur and then receives support,” he said.
