Feds announce $1M for Toronto violence-prevention program
Funding for collaborative initiative FOCUS Toronto will come over 3 years
The federal government has announced that it will provide more than $1 million in funding over three years to help prevent violence and radicalization in Canada's largest city.
Toronto police Sgt. Brian Smith told CBC Toronto that a significant part of the announced funding will go towards multi-discipline, multi-agency "violent threat risk assessment training."
He added that FOCUS aims to help those who may be most at risk of committing crimes but have not yet crossed the line. It also helps a wide range of professionals, including nurses, mental health professionals, police, youth outreach workers, get on the same page on understanding violence and its causes.
The program now operates at four sites in the city after opening in Rexdale in 2013 and expanding to north Scarborough and to two separate areas in the downtown core in 2016.
85% success rate
It could soon make its way to other Toronto neighbourhoods too.
"It is possible in the future that we will expand to other areas," Smith said. "But there definitely is a willingness and a need amongst a lot of people in the city to see this model expand."
The program is unique as each week a team in each region meets to identify those who are at risk at becoming involved in or are at risk of becoming victims of anti-social or criminal behaviour.
The city says that the first steps taken to respond to identified risks happen within 48 hours of a meeting.
FOCUS reportedly has an 85 per cent success rate of matching people to services, and Mayor John Tory praised the program in a press conference Thursday.
"It's something to behold because what you have there is some of the most smartest, most dedicated, most sensitive, most informed people from all walks of professional life focusing themselves on individual cases," Tory said.
With files from Natalie Nanowski