A better profit?…

Aug 11, 2017

The Guardian – Rob Owen
Our pioneering project has cut reoffending – and paid a 3% dividend

They are called Social Impact Bonds or Sibs and this one is run by a UK trust of which Owen is the CEO.  Their return on investment is 3% and their focus is rehabilitating inmates.  The inmates are short sentenced and in HMP Peterborough, a group with a “stubbornly high re-offending rate.”  There were 17 investors.  “Market analysts Frontier Economics had evaluated our model and found that it delivered £10 for every £1 invested and reduced re-offending rates by an additional 40 percentage points. It seemed a bomb-proof approach to use for a SIB, which hinges on demonstrable results.”  https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2017/aug/09/social-impact-bond-reoffending-dividend?platform=hootsuite

National Justice Network Update
“Lancet Public Health” study of ACEs finds big impacts on violence, suicidality, and chronic disease in adults

ACE’s are Adverse Child Experiences.  The study looks at the impact of multiple childhood of adverse adolescent experiences and the impact on domestic violence and health throughout later life. https://crcvc.ca/enewsletter/summer-17/story01.html   Full Lancet Report:  Karen Hughes, Mark A Bellis, Katherine A Hardcastle, Dinesh Sethi, Alexander Butchart, Christopher Mikton, Lisa Jones, Michael P Dunne   The effect of multiple adverse childhood experiences on health: a systematic review and meta-analysis   (An 11 page downloadable pdf) http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanpub/PIIS2468-2667(17)30118-4.pdf   

Homelessness Hub – (Canada)
Child Welfare and Youth Homelessness in Canada: A Proposal for Action

Here’s a scary piece of research:Studies show youth experiencing homelessness are 193 times more likely to have been involved with the child welfare system. Additionally, youth facing structural and systemic disadvantage of poverty, racism, and homophobia are more likely to experience both child welfare involvement and homelessness.”  Child Welfare and Youth Homelessness in Canada: A Proposal for Action   (A 21 page policy brief / plan of action.)  http://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/ChildWelfare-PolicyBrief-final_0.pdf    Related article: Blogger Naomi Nichols   Child Welfare and Youth Homelessness in Canada: Who is Responsible?

http://homelesshub.ca/blog/child-welfare-and-youth-homelessness-canada-who-responsible

National Newswatch – Canadian Press

Federal justice minister seeks to beef up blood/alcohol levels for drivers

Current at .08, the legal blood alcohol rate of a driver may be changing soon.  Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould wants to lower the rate to .05.   The rationale for the change is that the risk of an incident, newly assessed, is twice as high at .05 and three times at .08.  Restaurants and the hospitality industries are resistant.   What is unclear is why there would be any acceptable level of alcohol consumption when driving. http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2017/08/08/federal-justice-minister-seeks-to-decrease-bloodalcohol-levels-for-drivers-2/#.WYoZoVWGOUk
Abacus – Bruce Anderson and David Coletto

Parties as Brands: How Canadians See the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP

Here an interesting survey by one of the nation’s leading political and social polling companies.  The aim was to see what the general public thought about when they thought about one of the three major political parties, what flavour the respondents were visiting.  For our interest, the tough-on-crime with its numbers may indicate some of the potential for change that may be supported or denied.   http://abacusdata.ca/parties-as-brands-how-canadians-see-the-conservatives-liberals-and-ndp/

Prisoner’s Justice Day

Aug 10 was Prisoner Justice Day and individuals and groups across the country marked the occasion in a variety of ways.  John Howard Society has collected a number of these events on a Twitter page:  https://twitter.com/hashtag/prisonersjusticeday?src=hash    Of special concern is the article on Deaths in Custody, reported earlier in Communiqué, which reveals that the bulk involve people denied bail.

Toronto Star – Scott Wheeler
Cop faces police hearing for use of ‘excessive force,’ as caught on bystander’s video

Despite increased criticism around police aggression with the public and despite the repeated public exposés by cell phone video, police appear impervious to public accountability.  The link to this Star article includes a number of other incidents.  The Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), Gerry McNeilly, found that there was “evidence of misconduct” during the arrest.  There is also an issue about the failure to activate police cameras on the arrest.  Besides Sgt. Eduardo Miranda, there are five other officers facing discipline.  https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/08/10/cop-faces-police-hearing-for-use-of-excessive-force-as-caught-on-bystanders-video.html   Related article: Toronto Star – Wendy Gillis   Teen testifies he stood up for himself, then got punched by a cop   https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2017/08/10/teen-testifies-he-stood-up-for-himself-then-got-punched-by-a-cop.html   (This link reports on the hearing for the Neptune Four happening almost 6 years after the incident.)