No one should ever have to go through an assault. Unfortunately, in Alberta, someone is a victim of assault almost every day.
When an assault happens, Victim Services is often the first place people go for help in the aftermath of a horrendous experience.
Being aided by compassionate and trained individuals during such an emotionally and physically volatile period can be a make or break for many victims.
Outside of big cities, these services have previously been delivered through grassroots non-profit organizations in Alberta.
Volunteer members often accompany local emergency services to crime or accident scenes to provide care and often operate out of RCMP or police detachments.
Funding to support these efforts comes from various grants and donations.
However, this system is getting an overhaul, but many people aren’t happy about it.
Victim Services Overhaul
The Alberta government completed a review of the victim services system in 2021.
In July 2022, the MLAs that led the review proposed moving to a regional model.
The regional model will shift government funding from 60 “independent and dissimilar victim-serving societies” to four “integrated and coordinated regional victim-serving societies.”
Then-Justice Minister Tyler Shandro said a four-zone model would “improve the reliability, continuity and uniformity of service delivery across the province.”
Sounds great, but many professionals aren’t on board with the plan.
Victim Services Alberta surveyed boards and program managers of currently operating victim services programs when the regional concept was rolled out. They found more than nine in ten of the people who responded did not favour the redesign.
It’s not a good sign when almost everyone actually doing a job, doesn’t support a change.
Hmmm, maybe it’s time for a rethink?
Input Ignored
Romesh Persaud, chairman of the recently closed Camrose and District Victim Services Society (CDVSS), opposed the overhaul.
Like many others, he felt the regionalization and more centralized bureaucratic system would leave rural Alberta without victim service volunteers rooted in their own communities.
But when he spoke out in opposition to the plan, he felt he was quite forcibly silenced.
“When (the regional model) was coming in, we said, ‘Listen, okay, just slow down for a second,’” Persaud said. “‘Can we meet and bring up some concerns as to how you’re moving forward?’”
But officials didn’t seem keen to discuss the new plan at all.
Rather than agreeing to hear local concerns, the government simply pulled the plug on Persaud’s program with no notice whatsoever.
CDVSS was forced to close its doors after its grant — slated to run through March 2024 with only a month’s notice on October 31.
“I truly feel that because I’ve been asking questions about where this is going and what the status is, that part of the result of that questioning was, ‘Oh well, we can show you guys. Here’s your six weeks’ notice,’” Persaud told the Edmonton Journal.
Local Concerns Ignored
Lori Rehill, past president of Victim Services Alberta and former executive director of the Airdrie program, said Persaud is not the only person feeling silenced on this topic.
Speaking on the survey mentioned above, she feels many people who opposed the regionalization plan may be feeling the need to keep their mouths shut for fear of losing their jobs.
“Now I think if you were to redo that survey, I don’t know that we would get much of a response because people are nervous,” she said. “If they speak out against the redesign or have questions about the redesign, they may not be hired back (in a regional system).”
One person who has been vocal about the potential benefits and concerns about the four-region plan is Patti Reid of Airdrie, former chairwoman of the District Victims Assistance Society and RCMP officer.
Reid said many victim service societies agree a regional model could have advantages — but its implementation must be far more collaborative with those working on the front lines.
“It wasn’t so much that people were speaking out against it,” said Reid. “We were speaking out to say, ‘Hey, can we collaborate?’ Not everything is broken. A lot of programs are running really smoothly.”
She also expressed concerns about voicing opposition but felt it must be done.
“I think we have to speak out because I don’t find it’s being done very fairly or very democratically.”
Smith Wades In
Danielle Smith addressed the restructuring recently at a convention for the Rural Municipalities of Alberta.
“I think perhaps we need to have a greater conversation about how we achieve our goal of ensuring greater coverage without wrecking the great work that has already been done over the 60 agencies but still make sure that we have some regional coordination,” she said.
Smith said she feels more discussions must occur, and at least double the proposed hubs may be necessary to adequately support victims living in smaller towns.
More collaboration would undoubtedly help establish a system that can give those struggling in the aftermath of assault all the support they so deserve.
In the most recent report by Statistics Canada, police-reported sexual assaults have jumped by almost a quarter in Alberta.
According to the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services, 1.8 million Albertans have reported being sexually assaulted at some point in their lives – that’s almost half of us!
Research shows that being a victim of assault is devastating, and people need more support, not less.
Silencing victims is wrong, and the same logic should apply to those who help them.
Centralizing services works when one solution works in all cases, but nothing beats a local, personalized approach when it comes to victims.
Surprisingly, silencing those with on-the-ground knowledge to help victims seems like the worst thing to do.
