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Cold Lake Victim Services sees spike in clients but lack of funding

Over 200 more victims in the area received support from Cold Lake Victim Services in 2015, causing the group to stretch their resources even further. "It puts a lot of problems on us.
The Cold Lake Victim Services Unit had over 200 more files in 2015. They’re hoping changes to the Victims of Crime Fund will result in additional dollars locally.
The Cold Lake Victim Services Unit had over 200 more files in 2015. They’re hoping changes to the Victims of Crime Fund will result in additional dollars locally.

Over 200 more victims in the area received support from Cold Lake Victim Services in 2015, causing the group to stretch their resources even further.

"It puts a lot of problems on us. Victim services is a volunteer program; we're ran by three staff - a program manager, assistant manager and a court worker. Our volunteer advocates, most of them are either in school or work full-time jobs," said Dave Zimmerman, Cold Lake victim services program manager. "It puts a lot of pressure on our staff to delegate (the cases) to either our volunteers, or take them on ourselves."

In 2015, the local victim services unit (VSU) responded to 885 files, up from the 648 they received in 2014. Of those, 197 were for domestic violence and 147 cases were domestic and family related.

"Domestic and family related, there's no criminal charges but the police would ask us to help. A couple is arguing or a couple might be having child custody issues, so we're asked to give them a call and support them," explained Zimmerman, noting that the category is new for the 2015 stats.

There was a significant increase in fraud and theft files between 2013 and 2015. Victim services reported only 38 related files in 2013, that rose to 59 in 2014, and jumped to 92 last year. While Zimmerman isn't 100 per cent certain of the cause, he does have a hunch.

"We're kind of in a recession, in economic problems there tends to be more arguments and fights when there's financial problems centered around their family...it makes sense that there's more fights because there's more tension. Definitely there's more thefts because money isn't as available as it used to be."

Zimmerman also attributes the increase in files to the work of the Cold Lake RCMP, who have been actively referring their cases to victim services to ensure victims get the help they require.

Other areas that saw an increase in the number of files last year includes mischief/property damage, threats and harassment, break and enters, and fire/arson. Out of the 885 files in 2015, the majority (527) came from Cold Lake. However, there was also an increase in files from residents of the MD of Bonnyville, who live between Fort Kent and the Saskatchewan border, they accounted for 109 files. Cold Lake First Nations residents relied on victim services 149 times and Elizabeth Métis Settlement made up 56 of the files.

There were close to 2,000 people assisted through those files, with just over 1,500 being adults.

With only six security-cleared volunteers and three in training, the steady increase presents a dilemma for the victim services unit.

"Eventually, if this is the way it's going to be going, I'm going to have to look at strategies for getting more money to hire more staff, or hire my assistant and court worker full-time," said Zimmerman.

More employees would mean more fundraising and applying to grants, as the funding for the Cold Lake Victim Services has been capped at $150,000 per year until the end of September 2017. Coming from the Alberta Solicitor General Victim Service Program, that money only covers the amount needed for two employees, leasing a vehicle, and miscellaneous items. The salary for their court worker, who is contracted at 16 hours per week, currently comes from a Lakeland United Way grant. Zimmerman explained that they're left to fundraise to cover the cost of volunteer training and anything they host, such as volunteer appreciation.

"We do come up short on funding, so we have to fundraise or look for donations or other sources of funding. If they were to increase the funding to even $175,000 or $200,000 per year, that would definitely help our program out and not put additional stresses on us to go out, fundraise and look for donations."

Victims of Crime fund seeing massive surpluses

Zimmerman's wish may be in reach now more than ever. Last week, Alberta's Auditor General Merwan Saher released his February 2016 report. In the report, Saher identifies concerns surrounding the Victims of Crime Fund and the reserves it has been accumulating.

"I thank the Auditor General for his careful consideration of the Victims of Crime Fund and his thoughtful recommendations. It is clear the fund can be better used to support victims of crime," Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Kathleen Ganley said in a statement.

Ganley added, "First and foremost, our goal is to maximize the fund's potential for the benefits of victims, which is key to better achieving the results set out in the Victims of Crime Act."

The fund is financed from a 15 per cent surcharge that is collected from all provincial statute fines and selected federal statute convictions. In the 2014-'15 fiscal year, the fund received $33.5 million from the provincial surcharge and just under $2.2 million in federal surcharges. During that same time frame, the fund paid $16.9 million in financial benefits to victims and $14 million in grants to assist community organizations, leaving $4.8 million in surplus from 2014-'15 fiscal year alone.

The report states that over the last several years, revenues for the fund have been increasing at a faster rate then the expenses, causing the accumulated surplus. This surplus is projected to grow to $56 million in 2016, an increase of $23 million since 2012.

"This is something that myself and my research staff were responsible for identifying and bringing this to the minister's attention. The fact that the auditor general has confirmed what we had suspected is a huge move forward," said Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Scott Cyr, who serves as the Wildrose Shadow Justice Minister.

Cyr added, "Our local victim services have been affected by the fact that they haven't been able to utilize some of these surpluses that should be available to them."

Disappointed with the findings, Cyr expressed concerns over the fact that victim services units have to resort to fundraising and applying for grants, time that he says could be better used serving their clients.

"The question is, is that appropriate now that we're seeing massive reserves being accumulated? I would challenge minister Ganley that this isn't appropriate and we need to start looking at better funding to support our victims."

As of 2014-'15, there were 76 victim services units in Alberta receiving provincial funding. Grants for police-based VSUs is capped at $300,000 per year for larger urban units and $150,000 for smaller rural units. According to the auditor general's report those funding models haven't been adjusted since 2009, despite the number of victims receiving service jumping by nearly 10,000 from the fiscal years 2011-'12 to 2014-'15.

"We need to, as a government, move forward and show that victims are being put before criminals. This is one of the best ways how, to make sure they have the appropriate funding in place," said Cyr.

Ganley has committed to creating an implementation plan, which will be submitted to the auditor general. There isn't any timeline for when, or if, changes will take effect but Cyr said those are the answers he'll be pressing for during the sitting of the public accounts committee.

As for Cold Lake Victim Services, Zimmerman expressed that he's thankful for each client they receive allowing them to be apart of their healing journey. While he'd like to see the number of people requiring that service go down, he doesn't see that happening.

"I don't see this being a fluke that we got 885 files last year," said Zimmerman. "Cold Lake continues to grow, even with the hard times we're facing. Our crime rate is going up."

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