Provincial funding will provide transitional housing for criminals
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The Alberta government announced $2.8M in funding for community based crime prevention programs in Edmonton on Wednesday.
The idea behind the funding is to prevent crime by addressing issues at the base level.
Included in this announcement is $435,500 to provide transitional housing for repeat violent or sexual offenders.
The program will help the Edmonton Police supervise such individuals, and help them reintegrate into the community.
While critics have raised the alarm about giving public dollars to help convicted criminals, advocates of the program argue that it will help make Edmonton a safer city in the long run.
"This is all about public safety." Detective Doug MacLeod of the Edmonton Police's Behavioural Assessment Unit says, "This isn't about providing an offender with a colour TV and a nice bed and that type of thing."
At this point, many offenders who are released from prison have nowhere to go. They often end up homeless, sleeping in on the streets, with no one to monitor them.
"If we see that they're back into that cycle of crime we'll be able to stop it immediately." MacLeod says, "As opposed to what will happen now when they don't have proper housing."
It's hoped that this funding announcement will help prevent those who may be preditory in nature from reoffending.
“To reduce crime, we are focusing on addressing the issues that cause crime in the first place,” said Yvonne Fritz, Minister of Children and Youth Services. “As part of Alberta’s Crime Prevention Framework, the community-based projects announced today will help at-risk adults and youth choose a different path by helping ensure they have the supports they need to turn away from crime.”
The housing will be the first of it's kind in the region.
In addition to the housing initiative, funding from Wednesday's announcement will also go to support programs that help at risk Somali and immigrant youth, drug treatment support, and housing for those who have been sexually exploited.
The funding will be distributed over three years.
With files from Vinesh Pratap.
