海角社区官网

This summer, eight-year-old JahVai Roy聽was killed in bed with his mother by his side,聽in what should have been the safest place he could be.

Two decades ago, it was the Boxing Day death of Jane Creba that seized Toronto. The 15-year-old had walked out of a Pizza Pizza while shopping with her sister and found herself in the middle of a gunfight. Then, as now, outrage surged and leaders called for action.

The truth is, for nearly two decades, 海角社区官网has known what it takes to curb youth violence: address poverty, racism and inequality, not just gangs and guns.

The Star has reviewed 20 years of strategies, funding announcements and programs. Our analysis shows there has been progress. Despite heartbreaking headlines, homicides are not close to record highs. Some youth programs have saved lives. Community groups have created safe havens.

Too often, however, the commitments from governments have been short-term, the money has run dry and the momentum spurred by tragedy has faded.

As 海角社区官网again mourns a child lost to gunfire, the sense of d茅j脿 vu is unmistakable.

The question is no longer what must be done 鈥� that has long been clear 鈥� but why this city, this province and this country have struggled to follow through.

鈥楶revention鈥� is key 鈥� but enforcement gets the money

The 鈥� which was commissioned amid citywide outrage over youth violence after Toronto鈥檚 鈥淵ear of the Gun鈥� 鈥� laid out how crime is associated with societal factors, including unequal access to education, mental health care and other services.

It said: 鈥淯nless the roots of this violence are identified and addressed in a co-ordinated, collaborative and sustained way, violence will get worse. More people will be killed.鈥�

It took another four years until 2012 鈥� after the Danzig Street mass shooting 鈥� for the provincial government of Dalton McGuinty to introduce its 鈥淵outh Action Plan,鈥� with an investment of $20 million. But the preventative parts of these initiatives were derided by then-mayor Rob Ford as 鈥渉ug-a-thug鈥� programs, and the plan got no support from the federal government of Stephen Harper. The provincial money aimed at the recommendations of the Roots report largely dried up through the mid-2010s and has not been restored by Ford鈥檚 brother, Premier Doug Ford.

On the 10th anniversary of the Roots report in 2018, the Star reported the city鈥檚 violence-prevention office was chronically underfunded and unable to achieve its goals 鈥� it had been a 鈥渓ost decade.鈥�

That year, the federal government of Justin Trudeau pledged more than $325 million over five years to establish , which had a portfolio that reflected many of the priorities of the Roots report. That鈥檚 less than $15 million a year for Ontario 鈥� compared to the scope of the problems outlined in the Roots report, these were small totals.

鈥淔or every million dollars that we allocate to law enforcement, we probably allocate $5 or $10 to crime prevention,鈥� said Scot Wortley, a professor at the University of Toronto鈥檚 Centre of Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, who was consulted on the Roots report.

These days, when the Ford government pledges to attack gun and gang violence, the focus is largely on police investigation and enforcement. In 2021, the province invested $75 million over three years in a Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy. The funding announcement listed seven priorities, all related to policing, prosecution and intelligence-gathering. (On , the section on prevention is tacked on like a footnote.)

This year, the city said it has invested in 鈥渃ommunity-led violence prevention and interruption programs鈥� under SafeTO, the city鈥檚 current anti-violence strategy, since its adoption in 2021. By comparison, the police budget in 海角社区官网is $1.2 billion this year.

What officials and the public say they want 鈥� less violence 鈥� demands years of time, money and effort, said Wortley, but after tragedies such as the killing of Roy, in his mom’s bedroom, people want quick fixes.

海角社区官网police may get gang members off the street, but 鈥渋f the conditions remain the same, they鈥檙e just going to be replaced by the next generation.鈥�

We still don鈥檛 know enough about the problem

Is youth violence at a crisis level in this city? It sounds like it should be an easy question to answer with a 鈥測es,鈥� but it isn鈥檛.

Over the past 20 years, homicides and shootings in 海角社区官网have fluctuated. In absolute terms, they peaked just before the pandemic and have fallen since, with 32 people killed so far this year, according to . This is quite low compared to recent years; the number of people being injured in shootings is similarly down.

Statistics Canada publishes data, reported by 海角社区官网police, on how many and are charged with crimes in any given year. Those numbers 鈥� which go back to amalgamation in 1998 鈥� show a clear downward trend since the time of the Roots report. Broadly, fewer kids are being charged with a violent crime, even as the number of charged adults remains relatively stable.

Those numbers are encouraging, but it鈥檚 hard to be 100 per cent certain they reflect a clear trend in the overall rate of crimes committed by young people. Most crimes are not solved; charge data doesn鈥檛 necessarily shed light on key factors, such as whether an armed assault was committed with a gun; policing strategies 鈥� which have changed significantly around how often police stop and question racialized kids 鈥� can affect how often a charge is laid or if the young person is diverted away form the justice system; the data doesn鈥檛 break out trends for very young teens; and then there鈥檚 the secrecy inside youth court.

Young people under the age of 18 fall under . This law emphasizes rehabilitation with strict privacy rules that protect a young person鈥檚 identity but make it harder to identify trends around what鈥檚 behind high-profile acts of youth violence.听

In adult court, the public gets to see factors such as alcohol use, mental illness, drug trafficking, illegal firearms, racism, social media feuds, family relationships and organized crime play out every day. Court records are open to the public and judges鈥� decisions are often published. This makes it easier for reporters or academics to notice trends or highlight linked crimes.

Relatively speaking, youth court is a black box, which means public perceptions tend to be shaped by high-profile incidents, such as the rash of arrests of young teens in gun crimes across the GTA this summer. What, if anything, may connect those incidents often goes unexamined. For instance, it鈥檚 long been said by police that older criminals like to enlist young people to commit crimes, knowing their age will lead to lenient penalties under the YCJA. Is this phenomenon common? Is it getting worse? We just don鈥檛 know.

If the Roots report had an overarching policy takeaway in 2008, it was the need for better data. 鈥淲e must first know where we are going, how we will get there, how we will know whether we are making progress and how we will know when we have arrived,鈥� it said. Since then, report after report has emphasized the problem.听

鈥淭here are considerable limitations regarding data collection on gun and gang violence in Canada,鈥� noted Ottawa鈥檚 landmark 2022 report, 鈥�.鈥�

Still, the data we have says things are improving in the long term, not getting worse, said Scott McKean the city鈥檚 director of community safety and well-being. He points to the ongoing drop in police-reported violence to emphasize the strengths of SafeTO. The city鈥檚 program, he said, is a success story.

鈥淭hat 鈥楴o one鈥檚 doing anything鈥� narrative? There鈥檚 tons of people doing anything.鈥�

Crime is a matter of public health

The concept of taking a 鈥減ublic health鈥� approach to violence has risen to prominence in the last two decades. If youth violence is 鈥渟een as akin to a public health issue, then it makes no more sense for those not immediately affected to blame those who suffer from them, and otherwise ignore them, than it would to ignore an infectious disease outbreak in one community or neighbourhood,鈥� the Roots report argued in 2008.

鈥淲e know infections can spread.鈥澛�

Today, the public health concept is at the heart of many well-regarded violence plans across North America. For instance, in Baltimore, long one of the murder hot spots of the U.S., a focus on tackling each individual person鈥檚 risk factors on a case-by-case basis has led to a stunning drop in homicides 鈥� .听

A similar concept is behind SafeTO鈥檚 Violence Prevention 海角社区官网Office, an effort to link the city with police, TCHC, the TDSB, the TTC and other community groups, including hospitals.

Taking a 鈥減ublic health approach鈥� is about looking at the mix of factors behind each person鈥檚 story, said Ardavan Eizadirad, an assistant professor at Wilfrid Laurier University and the former executive director for Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education (YAAACE). For example, poverty. If somebody doesn鈥檛 make a stable income, they might resort to violence to get money to buy food; helping them access a food program might be the best way to lessen the risk 鈥� the best treatment. For the next person, the key risk factor might be how their drug addiction pushes them to commit robberies. For the person after that, it may be something acute: their home was just shot up.

One initiative under the office鈥檚 umbrella is the 海角社区官网Hospital-based Reducing Injury from Violence Intervention and Evaluation (THRIVE) program at St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital, which helps 14- to 29-year-olds who have been victims of violence get access to counselling, mental health care and coaches who are trained to support them as they recover.

Treating gun violence as a public health issue also means taking on the fact that we know that more than 80 per cent of the guns flowing into Canada come from the U.S., added Dr. Najma Ahmed, who is surgeon-in-chief at St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital, a professor at U of T and on the board of Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns.

Nearly two decades ago, the Roots report devoted a whole section to firearms. Today, the message remains much the same. If we don鈥檛 tackle guns, 鈥渢hese firearms that are in circulation will remain in circulation and can cause terrible harm to children and our communities,鈥� Ahmed said.

We haven鈥檛 made the money stable

A program is only as good as it is sustainable, the Roots report noted in 2008.

Former MPP and ex-speaker of the Legislative Assembly Alvin Curling co-authored the Roots report along with the late Roy McMurtry, motivated in part by Creba鈥檚 killing and the fatal shooting of fellow 15-year-old Jordan Manners inside his 海角社区官网school in 2007.

The five-volume report remains a landmark because the pair took the time to get it right. 鈥淲e did not just want to give you five little things and say, that is it,鈥� Curling explained in an interview.听

Today, Curling still emphasizes the need for an integrated approach from all levels of government, that U.S. guns need to be stopped, and that when youth services are offered in communities, they need to be provided by qualified people. But, he said, successive governments have failed to enact the kind of cohesive approach called for in the report.听

Since 2008, the money for the kinds of measures recommended in the Roots report has been anything but stable, and 鈥渙ften distributed in a way that leads to silos between different community organizations, the replication of services and a disorganized application of the programs,鈥� Wortley said.

Community-led programs often end up competing with each other for funding, pitting organizations against one another. And if the violence is out of the headlines for long, the money gets squeezed, said Serena Nudel, director of youth programming at The Neighbourhood Group (TNG) Community Services. As a large multi-service agency that helps more than 40,000 people, TNG gets funding from many levels of government for its services 鈥� but its youth programs need fundraising and donations to stay open.

鈥淲e always feel like we鈥檙e having to continually fight for this funding,鈥� she said, noting that when it does come, there might be a three-year cycle, 鈥渁nd then the program ends.鈥� (This is what happened to many youth initiatives after the McGuinty-era provincial funding dried up in the mid-2010s.)聽

If a program builds trust in a neighbourhood only to abruptly end because of a funding cut, the affected youth and community are likely to distrust the next group that attempts to do something similar, she said.

is the city鈥檚 attempt to solve this problem by bringing government representatives, police and community actors together under one, relatively stable umbrella.听

The city says the initiative is proving successful 鈥� but stable funding remains a key issue. McKean said the city received nearly $7 million in federal money to keep 鈥渁 whole pile鈥� of programs running, such as and the . But that money is set to run out by next year, putting some initiatives at risk.

Will it continue as Prime Minister Mark Carney eyes federal spending cuts is the question. 鈥淐ommunities will hurt if Ottawa walks away,鈥� said Mayor Olivia Chow.

We have to listen to young people

The Roots report recommended that all sectors working with youth in Ontario 鈥渁dopt meaningful and sustained measures to include the youth voice鈥� in plans to tackle violence. Similarly, SafeTO urges the city to 鈥渕eaningfully involve鈥� youth, including those 鈥渕ost vulnerable to involvement in serious violence and crime.鈥�

For Devon Jones, this is still a major weakness. Jones is a teacher and co-founder of the Youth Association for Academics, Athletics and Character Education (YAAACE), a community organization to help youth through social programs and activities.

We have to look at 鈥渢he anatomy鈥� of youth crimes, he said. 鈥淎ll the violence and all the homicides that we鈥檝e had over the past 20 years. Like, who are these kids?鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat are their postal codes? How old are they? What鈥檚 their socioeconomic status? Are they from single-parent homes, or are they from dual-parent homes?鈥�

Talking with youth is key to figuring out these things 鈥� but priorities are often elsewhere, like on the growing debate over bail reform, he said.

Last summer, Chow hosted a closed-door roundtable that brought together police, advocates, community voices and experts 鈥� but notably lacked representation from the federal Department of Justice and the province鈥檚 Ministry of the Solicitor General, which is responsible for policing the correctional system.

Nikai Palmer, a 19-year-old youth advocate, was one of the few teens who attended. His impression was that 鈥渢hey don鈥檛 really know where (the gun violence) is coming from.鈥� The experience left him with 鈥渁 sense that there鈥檚 no hope, (because) there鈥檚 no understanding of what鈥檚 going on.鈥�

The adults in the room need to talk to youth 鈥渂y actually connecting with them,鈥� he said, adding that it鈥檚 hard to reach someone when it鈥檚 this 鈥減rincipal鈥� figure who鈥檚 鈥渟peaking down to you all the time.鈥�

One reason talking to youth is so important is that the trends behind the violence change 鈥� often in ways that could never have been anticipated by the Roots report.

McKean noted a trend in youth gun violence that鈥檚 emerged in the past decade: The role of social media in romanticizing and fuelling violence. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe our service system and our education system or workers are even contemplating that,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow, (gun violence) is escalating online with thousands of people egging it on in real time.鈥�

The role that social media feuds play in violence has shown up in case after case in recent years 鈥� for example, in the bystander shootings of two young girls at a Scarborough playground 鈥� but again, there鈥檚 little hard data to know the true extent of this problem.

In his research, Wortley says that for a lot of young people in disadvantaged communities, the fall into a criminal lifestyle comes after high school. 鈥淲hat I鈥檓 finding is that a lot of young men in these communities try for a year or two after leaving high school to remain legit and, and law abiding and by the time they reach their early 20s, they are beaten down, discouraged, alienated, angry, frustrated, and those emotions and those realities are very much in sync with justifications for their own involvement in crime, right?鈥�

鈥淲hen your society is creating a population of disenfranchised, angry young people who really have no stake in law-abiding behaviour, you create a society where crime and violence are going to expand and exist.鈥欌��

Ultimately, the need to break the cycle of violence is a lesson we鈥檝e long known. 鈥淔rom a community perspective, many of the impacts of violence eventually become roots of more violence, creating a negative cycle,鈥� the Roots report said.