Site visits
CyberCap The Institute visits were kicked off with CyberCap, a Montreal-based not-for-profit organisation. It offers youth in distress the possibility of discovering and experimenting with ‘new economy’ trades to help them improve their personal, social and professional lives.
Targeted youth are usually between the ages of 18 and 25, without a high school diploma and unemployed. Candidates are required to undergo interviews to determine if they are interested in learning about the multimedia industry, and motivated to get their lives on track. Both of these are prerequisites for entry into the CyberCap program.
Successful candidates undergo six months of training in many aspects of multimedia production, with a particular emphasis on web site design and development. After learning the skills necessary to undertake a project, they are placed in teams and offered partnerships with private or public firms to design web sites. Partners include: The Quebec-American Office for Youth (l’Office Québec-Amérique pour la Jeunesse), the Quebec Walloon Agency for Youth (l’Agence Québec-Wallonie Bruxelles pour la Jeunesse), the Franco-Quebec Office for Youth (l’Office Franco-Québécois pour la Jeunesse), and VIA Rail. During their term with Cybercap, the youth also develop their own personal plan which helps them decide upon completion of their training whether to go back to school or find a job.
The visit demonstrated how CyberCap distinguishes itself for its ability to reintegrate youth in ways that are imaginative and practical. The project shows how kids can compete in the highly demanding field of web design, and gives them the self-confidence to move on to other productive projects.
Boscoville The second visit took participants to Boscoville, one of four campuses belonging to a provincial project, entitled D-Trois-Pierres. It is an initiative that aims to facilitate the social integration of at-risk youth and lasts eighteen months. Youth are provided with a safe place where they can work, gaining the requisite skills and experience to prepare them for future employment. The youth in training at Boscoville undertake activities in building maintenance, basic mechanics and woodworking. Two of the other sites focus primarily on farming and the last on the hotel and restaurant industry. The youth spend their last few months of the program working in the community with wages subsidised in part by the government of Quebec. By the end of the program, they are usually ready to enter the workforce, or go back to school. Montreal Police Service
The City of Montreal Police Service (CMPS) was next to welcome participants of the International Training Institute. During the visit, CMPS directors described the changes which have affected neighbourhood policing since its implementation in 1997. Over the years, the CMPS has been subject to continuous improvements, but an in-depth review of the programme was nevertheless required. The CMPS has achieved this by holding a series of consultations with elected officials, partners and citizens as well as by examining six broad issues and related themes. Meeting public expectations, consolidating neighbourhood police stations, integrating culture and putting the individual first formed the base of an integrated action plan to optimize the quality of its neighbourhood police services. Such was the scope of the CMPS's presentation to Institute participants.
Ottawa-Carleton Police Department Youth Centre
The Ottawa field trip was organised by the University of Ottawa. It took the participants on a tour of the Ottawa-Carleton Police Department Youth Centre. Located in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, the police service undertook the project following a drive-by shooting incident, which instigated a huge community outcry against the openness of drug use and abuse in the area. Increased ‘high’ policing served only to displace the problem and couldn’t be sustained. Therefore, a fire hall and youth worker was offered to placate the community. The fire hall is now a youth centre serving 1,400 youth of all ages and backgrounds, who participate in a wide variety of recreational activities, events and clubs. It is run by three full-time and several part-time staff members, as well as many volunteers. It is credited with revitalising the neighbourhood and providing a new model of preventive style community policing. Youth are encouraged to organise activities, and develop their leadership skills, and a Youth Council provides feedback to the staff. The Centre now provides consulting support and co-ordination with local schools and agencies.
|
