Pubdate: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2009 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: David Eby Note: David Eby is executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association COMMUNITY COURT DUCKS AND WEAVES WITH STATS Birthdays are a time for reflection on the year past. Was it a good year or a bad year? Am I richer or poorer, fatter or skinnier, smarter or dumber? Birthdays are a time for statistics and evaluation. They can also be a time for self deception if the news isn't flattering. The Downtown Community Court is Vancouver's leading light to shine the way for the lost out of the root causes of crime: poverty, addiction and mental illness. It is facing one of those times of reflection after one year in operation. A recent media release from the Criminal Justice Reform branch of the provincial government that celebrates the court's first birthday picks and chooses some oddly worded statistics to illustrate the "success" of the court's first year. Beyond the weirdness of the stats chosen in the release, other statistics you would expect to find in the report on the court's work are simply missing. Really glaringly missing. Like you've asked your friends how your year went from their perspective, and they're going on and on about that sweater you bought eight months ago, and how that was a really good move because it really slims you out. Sure, you say, it's a great sweater, but what about my new fiance? What is not in dispute, looking at the court's analysis of its own stats, is that the staff there have churned through a lot of people -- 1,786 accused individuals appeared on 1,970 cases. That is no small accomplishment. What is also impossible to deny is that the court has squeezed a lot of free work hours out of the mentally ill and addicted, among others, amounting to more than 6,000 hours of community service time, largely for the benefit of non-profits on the Downtown Eastside. But start asking the tough questions when reading this release from the court's friends, and you'll find a lot of talk about the court's good-looking new sweater. How many repeat offenders have been steered onto the straight and narrow? "Some," or perhaps "many," depending on which quote you read. How many people have been offered and received drug treatment or mental health treatment? Well, 568 "attended social, health and mental health programming at DCC" where they got health information that is a "catalyst to receiving health services" and referrals "to appropriate community and residential resources." No, really, how many have been offered and received drug treatment or mental health treatment? No statistic provided. How many people applied for welfare, compared to the 35 who received it? No statistic provided. How many of the 209 people who received "shelter or housing" went into an emergency shelter with a mat on a gym floor, compared to receiving supportive housing or social housing? No statistic provided. What makes this dearth of statistics troubling is that this project is closely monitored. I mean, really, really closely monitored. The criminology department at SFU is evaluating the court's progress in detail. They've surely got stats that will make your head spin. What we need to evaluate this court's performance in addressing the root causes of crimes of poverty, mental health and addiction are real statistics, not sweater talk. With only one year down, nobody is expecting the court to have worked miracles, but a stat of at least, what, five people into drug treatment and supportive housing and out of a life of scraping by on the streets would be helpful news. Without the real numbers, these sweater statistics might just thin the court out for its first birthday, but they're not going to save it from some harsh comments on its second birthday. Sweaters begin to fray after a while, especially if you wear them every day. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake