Released on December 10, 2019
The Ministry of Corrections and Policing is investing $4.5 million over the next four years into two community-based organizations as part of its Gang-Violence Reduction Strategy.STR8 Up and Regina Treaty Status Indian Services Inc. (RT/SIS) will deliver the Community Intervention Model (CIM) in Saskatchewan. Through this model, STR8 UP and RT/SIS will provide outreach, intervention and prevention services to help people leave gangs, and reintegrate back into their communities. The CIM is a key pillar of the province’s Gang Violence Reduction Strategy.
“We believe the Community Intervention Model will help reduce gang crime in communities,” Corrections and Policing Minister Christine Tell said. “It will help clients reduce contact with the justice system and promote a connection to employment, educational or training opportunities, which helps them build positive life skills.”
STR8 Up will provide outreach services in the central and northern regions of the province. RT/SIS will provide outreach services in the southern regions. These two organizations are expected to provide services to approximately 100 gang-affiliated individuals over four years.
“When people are given appropriate opportunity, they can make true change, for themselves and their family,” RT/SIS Executive Director Erica Beaudin said. “The result is less crime and increased safety in our homes and communities which benefits all of us. We thank the Government of Saskatchewan for supporting our model of transformation which brings people beyond survival responses of poverty and violence.”
“STR8 UP is committed to helping gang members exit gang life,” STR8 UP founders Father Andre Poilièvre and Stan Tu'Inukuafe said. “This funding allows STR8 UP and its recovering members to work intensively with identified participants and will be delivered with the support of vital community organizations, notably: West Flat Citizens Group Inc. and Prince Albert Outreach Program Inc. in northern Saskatchewan.”
The provincial Gang Violence Reduction Strategy received $11.9 million last spring, as part of the federal government’s Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence initiative.
The strategy also includes expanding the Dedicated Substance Abuse Treatment Units into additional correctional facilities, reallocating provincially funded police units to Crime Reduction Teams in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert, and improving intelligence gathering and sharing between police agencies.
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For more information, contact:
Jennifer Graham
Corrections and Policing
Regina
Phone: 306-787-8621
Email: jennifer.graham@gov.sk.ca