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Non-criminal VSU services remain under new delivery model

Questions remain following minister’s clarification but Town of Barrhead pleased overall with minister’s response
rod-klumph-dec-13-2022
Town of Barrhead Coun. Rod Klumph said he was cautiously optimistic about Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis' response that the province would not cut the services Victim Services Unit provide to the victim of non-criminal related traumas.

BARRHEAD – Town of Barrhead councillors are cautiously optimistic about the response the municipality received from Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis regarding concerns about how intended changes to Victim Services Units (VSU) will look going forward. 

However, council said during their Dec. 13 meeting they need to learn more about how the province's changes to the VSU service model will be implemented, and funded, before deciding if they need to take further action. 

Mayor Dave McKenzie said the province seems to be taking a "step back and review" its plans after several communities and VSUs voiced their concerns.  

VSUs are non-profit organizations that help support individuals who are the victims of crime, trauma, death or other emergencies. Most often, VSU and its volunteer advocates are dispatched at the request of the RCMP. However, they also receive referrals from other agencies such as fire services, the Crown prosecutor’s office, healthcare centres, and ambulance crews.  

In July, Justice Minister and Solicitor General Tyler Shandro announced the province will be enhancing services available to victims of crime accessible through VSUs. The changes were in response to a 20-page report by UCP MLAs Angela Pitt and Nate Neudorf and published in 2021, following a series of meetings with stakeholders. 

Among the changes the province has or will make include using the Victims of Crime and Public Safety Fund to pay for programs to help victims, such as counselling and reimbursement programs, while also increasing the length of time people can access the fund. 

The changes the Barrhead Community VSU and town councillors are concerned about are the province's plan to amalgamate the majority of the not-for-profit community VSU boards into four regional superboards as well as to focus primarily on events directly related to crime and not other non-criminal related traumas. 

In his letter, Ellis stated the Alberta government understands how important the non-criminal related services VSUs provide to victims of non-criminal trauma and tragedies are, and as such, will not be reduced under the new zonal model. 

"If legislative amendments to the Victims of Crime and Public Safety Act are required to assure this, then our government will pursue those," he said. 

Coun. Rod Klumph called Ellis' response "somewhat reassuring." 

"Whether he can carry that through and provide funding for those services is the bigger question," he said. "At least he has recognized those services are necessary for our community." 

McKenzie agreed with Klumph in saying that funding was the key. 

He noted in the response to communities such as the Town of Barrhead who voiced their concerns by losing representation on the board, it was not enough for the province to say that the local, professional frontline caseworkers would be those voices. 

"Not unless you guarantee that VSUs, and all the services they provide, would be fully funded by the province," he said. 

Currently, VSUs fundraise for many of the services, and McKenzie said it would be difficult for board members who are not from the community to organize and host a successful fundraising effort. 

"For example, for a board based in St. Paul it would be hard to give direction about a fundraising effort in Barrhead without having that local knowledge of the community and all the stakeholders," he said. "Now you would be relying on the victim advocates, who are all volunteers, taking away from their efforts. The advocates that are rolling out of bed at 2 a.m. should not have to fundraise so they can continue to provide the vital services they are doing." 

 


Barry Kerton

About the Author: Barry Kerton

Barry Kerton is the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, joining the paper in 2014. He covers news, municipal politics and sports.
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