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THE JOHN HOWARD SOCIETY
OF NOVA SCOTIA
64th
Annual General Meeting
2013-2014 ANNUAL REPORT
Wednesday, June 18th
, 2014
“Improving through Collaboration”
Find us on the web: www.ns.johnhoward.ca
The John Howard Society of Nova Scotia
http://www.ns.johnhoward.ca Since 1950 1- 541Sackville Dr., Lr Sackville, NS B4C 2S1 Certified
E-mail [email protected] Phone (902) 429-6429 Fax (902) 406-7619
*Member Society of
The John Howard Society of Canada
Board of Directors:
President
Flora MacLeod
Past President
Janis Aitken
Vice President
Dana Bowden
Secretary/Treasurer
Bob MacDonald
Board Members:
Terry Hatcher
Oscar Miller
Angela Power
Don Clairmont
Ivan Wyse
Cheryl Fraser
Executive Director:
John Peach
Programs & Services:
- Restorative Justice
- Educational Workshops
- Community Assessments
- Community Maintenance Program
- Community Workplace Program
- Aftercare
- Crime Prevention
- Employment Readiness Program
- Anger Management & Emotional
Intelligence
- Healthy Lifestyles
- Creative Writing Workshop
(CNSCF)
AGENDA 64
TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
“Improving through Collaboration”
Wednesday June 18th
, 2014
Immanuel Baptist Church Hall, 295 Young St, Truro, NS B2N 3Y4
6:00PM Meet and Greet with refreshments
6:30PM Business Meeting
Call to Order
o Welcome and Introductions
Approval of Agenda
Confirmation of 2013 Annual General Meeting Minutes
Review of 2013 Annual Report
o President
o Executive Director
– North Eastern Region
– Central Region
– Halifax Region
o Motion to receive reports
2014 Financial Statement
o Appointment of FY2014/2015 External Auditor
Nomination Report
o Election of Directors to the Board Ratification of the Acts of Directors
Presentations and Recognition
Staff feedback for Board’s Strategic Plan
Adjournment
Central
184 Arthur St., Suite 220
Truro, NS B2N 1Y4
(902) 843-4969
Halifax
1-541 Sackville Dr.,
Lr Sackville, NS B4C 2S1
(902) 429-6429
North East
2042 Queen St. Suite 211
Westville, NS B0K 2A0
(902) 396-1999
Provincial Society
c/o 1-541 Sackville Dr.,
Lr Sackville, NS B4C 2S1
(902) 429-6429
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CORE STATEMENTS:
Description….............................................................................................................i
Mission …………………….…………….……………………….…………….. i
Methods ……………………………………….…………………….…………... i
Core Value Statements..………………………….………………….………….. ii
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
List of Directors....……………………………………..…………….…………. iii
List of Board of Directors Meetings..………………………………….….…..… iii
MINUTES OF 63RD
ANNUAL MEETING…………………………………….….…. 1
REPORTS:
President’s Report..…….………………………………………………….….…. 6
Executive Director’s Report…………………………………………………..….. 7
North Eastern Regional Report.………………………………………………….. 9
Central Regional Report……………………………………………………….....10
Halifax Regional Report……………………………………………………….…13
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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The John Howard Society of Nova Scotia
Core Value Statements
Description: The John Howard Society of Nova Scotia is a provincial organization comprising and governed by people whose goal is to understand and respond to problems of crime and the criminal justice system. Mission: Effective, just and humane responses to the causes and consequences of crime. Methods: In furtherance of its Mission, the Society:
- works with people who have come into conflict with the law, - reviews, evaluates and advocates for changes in the criminal justice process,
- engages in public education on matters relating to criminal law and its application, and promotes
crime prevention through community activities. Values: More specifically, the Society engages in the following:
- Advocacy, which includes active, planned and frequent contact with the media, key government policy analysis, advisors and politicians and committees with respect to the promotion of the objectives of The John Howard Society of Nova Scotia
- Research related to the development and dissemination of briefs and positions on matters of
national and provincial importance which incorporates positions in the furtherance of objectives of The John Howard Society of Nova Scotia;
- Communication with other John Howard Societies to promote a coordinated consultative
process which allows the Society to respond to the needs of members and facilitate joint projects.
- Community Education which focuses on the sharing of information among members and the promotion of the objectives of The John Howard Society of Nova Scotia to the members through board development activities and broad based community education initiatives to enhance its role.
- Coalition Building through a coordinated process of information sharing and the dissemination
of materials with other like minded organizations;
- Resource development initiatives to strengthen the ability of the provincial office to further the objectives of The John Howard Society of Nova Scotia
- Direct service provision by supervising those ho have come in conflict with the law, by assisting
with community reintegration and by working with the families of offenders.
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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2013-2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Name Office Notes
Flora MacLeod
President
Joined Board November 2009
Janis Aitken
Past President
Joined Board September 2001
Dana Bowden
Vice President
Joined Board June 2009
Bob MacDonald
Secretary/Treasurer
Joined Board November 2005
Terry Hatcher
Director
Joined Board June 2009
Oscar Miller
Director
Joined Board November 2009
Angela Power
Director
Joined Board February 2010
Don Clairmont
Director
Joined Board February 2011
Ivan Wyse
Director
Joined Board February 2012
Cheryl Fraser
Director
Joined Board November 2013
2013-2014 BOARD OF DIRECTOR MEETINGS
Date Location No. of Directors Present
April 27th, 2013
Note: Included Part 1 of
Strategic Planning Session Halifax 8 of 9
June 28th, 2013 (Re-org) Halifax 7 of 9
August 24th
, 2013 Halifax 6 of 9
November 16th
, 2013 Note: Included Part 2 of
Strategic Planning Session Halifax 8 of 10
February 15th
, 2014 Halifax 6 of 10
Please Note: Previous year’s AGM Minutes and Annual Reports may be found at
http://www.ns.johnhoward.ca/about/annual_meeting/
1
The John Howard Society of Nova Scotia
63rd Annual General Meeting
June 25th
, 2013
Present: Janis Aitken Susan Hughes
Dana Bowden Kate Bray
Flora MacLeod Diana Wallis
Adrienne MacDonald Kathy Peach
Bob MacDonald Christine King
Cindy Reid Rob MacDonald
Angela Power Wanda Dickie
Oscar Miller Natalie Cox
John Peach Ivan Wyse (Joined the meeting at 7:00pm)
Regrets: Terry Hatcher, Don Clairmont
Annual General Meeting
1. Janis Aitken called the meeting to Order at 6:30 p.m. and a quorum was declared.
2. Approval of Agenda:
Moved by Rob MacDonald and seconded by Wanda Dickie that the Agenda for the
AGM be approved.
Carried
3. Confirmation of AGM Minutes - AGM June 21st, 2012
Moved by Kathy Peach and seconded by Bob MacDonald that the minutes from the
Annual General Meeting held June 21st, 2012 be confirmed.
Carried
4. Reports
The full reports are contained within the annual report.
The highlights from the reports are as follows.
President of the Board:
Janis Aitken thanked both the staff and the Board for their commitment and hard work.
It has been another successful, but challenging year, and her remarks are contained within
the Annual Report.
2
Executive Director:
John Peach thanked staff, the Board and in addition to his comments in the Annual
Report expressed a special thank you to everyone for the positive manner in which they
have faced and dealt with the challenges that we faced during 2012.
Central Region: Christina King just highlighted some of the events over the past year and thanked the
Board, staff and John Peach for their support for her in her new role.
Halifax Region:
John Peach again thanked staff for their support during the challenges faced this past
year, but once again they have demonstrated their resilience.
North Eastern Region:
Susan Hughes thanked her team, the Board and John Peach for their support and
assistance to her as the Director. She spoke about the challenges they face in promoting
restorative justice in the community, but following the strategic direction they set last
year the number of referrals have increased.
Moved by Rob MacDonald and seconded by Dana Bowden that the reports be received.
Carried
5. Financial Statement:
The audited financial statement for fiscal year 2012-13 was tabled by John Peach. John
reported that the Society finished in s strong financial position with retained earnings of
$16,981, primarily from the conscious decision not to fill the full time equivalents (FTE)
positions at the Halifax Region.
Moved by Flora MacLeod and seconded by Angela Power that the Auditor’s Report be
accepted.
Carried
6. Appointment of Auditors:
Moved by Bob MacDonald and seconded by Cindy Reid that Miles T. Sweeney Ltd. be
appointed as the auditors for the JHSNS for the fiscal year 2014.
Carried
7. Nominating Report
Angela Power and Janis Aitken had formed the Nominating Committee this year.
Angela advised that two Directors have one year remaining in their two year term and
they would be:
Angela Power and Ivan Wyse
(JHSNS AGM Minutes June 25th, 2013)
3
Seven Directors are re-offering to the Board:
Janis Aitken, Bob MacDonald, Dana Bowden, Terry Hatcher, Oscar Miller, Flora
Macleod and Don Clairmont
In order to start to bring a balance back to so that eventually half of the Directors will be
elected each year, Dana Bowden offered to accept re-election for a further one year term
and not the two year term for which she was nominated. This request was accepted.
A call for further nominations was made to the floor.
As no further nominations were received, the Chair declared the nomination process
closed.
Moved by Angela Power and seconded by Oscar Miller that the Nomination Report be
accepted as presented and amended. The positions were approved by acclamation.
Carried
8. Ratification of Acts of Directors:
MOTION by Bob MacDonald, seconded by Dana Bowden that all resolutions, contracts,
acts and proceedings of the Board of Directors of the Society since the last Annual General
Meeting of members, be approved.
Carried
9. Awards:
In recognition of the Presidents three consecutive terms, the Executive Director presented
a plaque to Janis Aitken on behalf of the Board of Directors.
Staff Recognition:
On behalf of the Board of Directors John presented staff with a thank you cards
containing an appropriate gift of appreciation on behalf of the Board of Directors.
Adjournment:
There being no further business meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m. by Diana Wallis
(JHSNS AGM Minutes June 25th, 2013
4
President’s Report
It seems like it was only yesterday since
I started my term as the President of The
John Howard Society of Nova Scotia,
but already a year has flown by. The
experience has been one of learning,
meeting interesting new people and
taking on new challenges. With the
support of our Board and also our
Executive Director the transition from
Board Director to President has been
quite seamless.
I have had an opportunity to meet most
of the JHSNS staff and have also met
with some again to get a better idea of
how each branch works and their focus.
It was a great experience to share ideas
and find out the daily challenges that
each of our staff face. It gives me great
pleasure to have such a great team
running each of these offices.
We have had some funding challenges
this year, which is always an ongoing
issue for the Society. Through
perseverance, staff has come up with
some new opportunities that have
helped. JHSNS ventured into some new
projects such as the Employment
Readiness Program (ERP). As President
of the board it is exciting to see the
organization venturing into new projects
and growing the portfolio of services we
are offering to our clients.
Some of the highlights of this year, for
me was the opportunity to travel to the
John Howard of Canada National
Conference and AGM, in Vancouver,
BC and to meet staff and board members
from other John Howard offices across
the country. It is quite a diverse group
and it’s wonderful to see all of the
different initiatives that other provinces
are working on and sharing successes
and challenges with them.
In addition to finding new services to
provide to our clients it is encouraging to
see the JHSNS becoming more
financially healthy after some lean years.
I’m confident that we will continue to
grow our presence in the community and
continue to offer a high level of service
to our clients. We will be continuing to
work on raising our profile in the
community and to help educate the
public about what benefits we can
provide, not only to our target group, but
also the community at large.
It has been a great experience serving on
the board so far and I look forward to
helping move the Society forward in the
months and years to come.
Flora Flora MacLeod, President
“As President of the board it is exciting to see the
organization venturing into new projects and growing the
portfolio of services we are offering to our clients.”
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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Executive Director’s Report
The theme for this year is “Improving
through Collaboration”. The John
Howard Society of Nova Scotia has
always had active “partners”, but mostly
for funding purposes. This year we have
focused more on opportunities to
“collaborate” whether it is a funding
partner, another like minded
organization or an organization where
they were looking for services for their
clients that they thought we could help
them with. As you read the reports for
North Eastern, Central and Halifax
Regions you will see many examples of
where staff are improving the service we
provide through collaboration with
others.
This is now my seventh year as the
Executive Director. In the beginning I
thought that it would become easier as I
went along, but was I wrong! Perhaps it
is my driving desire to see us improve
and be better able to serve our clients, in
spite of the current environment in
which we find ourselves. Various
program budgets have not been
increased for many years. One of our
larger programs has had the same
operating level (excluding wages and
benefits) of funding for nine years in
spite of repeated requests. Another that
operates on a “fee-for-service basis has
not changed since 2002, again in spite of
repeated requests. Not many businesses
could continue to survive when faced
with the everyday cost increases and the
inability to charge more for the services
being provided. Our staff has been very
creative in managing our costs and to
them I owe a great debt of gratitude. We
have gone through the organization and
created much efficiency, but I feel we
have pretty much exhausted this as a go
forward strategy. Improving on our
collaborative efforts and perhaps looking
at developing a new “enterprise”
business model are options that will need
to be further flushed out in the days and
months ahead.
I am still of the view that there are many
opportunities for us. Working more with
volunteers who share a common interest
in what we do and who want to play an
“active” role in the Society is one
example. It is unrealistic to expect that
we can just add more layers of
programming demand on to our staff,
but I do feel that we have the capacity to
do more, but that we need to get better at
recruiting and retaining community
volunteers to assist us. This is simply
just another example of how we need to
improve our ability to work
collaboratively.
We did manage to grow in 2013/2014. In
“It is the long history of humankind those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed. “
- Charles Darwin
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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the Halifax Office, Natalie Cox went
from being a parttime permanent
employee to permanent fulltime.
Natalie Cox
Adrienne MacDonald
Adrienne MacDonald, who started with
us parttime in March 2013, also became
a fulltime employee in October.
In our North Eastern office, Diana
Wallis went from a fulltime contract
position to that of a fulltime employee.
Diana Wallis
Welcome to all!
For the last six months of fiscal year
2014 we were also fortunate in having
the services of Tess Warner and Erin
Levy who helped with preparing and
writing reports for our CA/PS contract
with CSC primarily during evenings and
weekends
JHSNS also had the opportunity to have
seven of our staff attend the National
John Howard of Canada Staff
Conference. Although the numbers were
down overall this year, as JHSC was
unable to get any financial assistance to
help with travel, it was still a great
learning event. This is the fifth time that
JHSNS has managed to get some of our
staff to this event.
This photograph, which came to me
recently, shows our own Susan Hughes
on the left, JHSC’s National Executive
Director Catherine Latimer in the middle
and our own Christina King engaged in
conversation at the conference.
Catherine was also one of the primary
authors of the YCJA.
“A great sharing moment!”
To our staff, our Board of Directors and
our supporters ~ many thanks!
John
John Peach - Executive Director
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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North Eastern Region
The past year has brought exciting
experiences for the John Howard Society
Northern Region. We have had many
opportunities to increase both staff and
volunteer knowledge through a vast
array of workshops. Our training has
included such programs as “Safe Talk” a
suicide prevention workshop, Elder
Abuse and ageism workshop and
expanding our knowledge in the area of
Restorative Approaches in Schools.
We had opportunities to speak to various
groups and individuals about Restorative
Justice/Restorative Approaches. We
have talked to police detachments,
schools, corrections, Justice Minister
Peter Mackay and Judge Del Atwood.
The responses from all organizations and
individuals were very positive. Judge
Del Atwood stated that he knew if
someone went through The John
Howard Society’s Restorative Justice
Program he would not see them again.
Staff Sergeants, along with officers,
stated that youth going through the
Restorative Justice Program were held to
a higher standard of accountability then
those who go through the formal justice
system. I have been told that our
discussions with Minister MacKay
helped to secure the work of the
Aboriginal Restorative Justice Program
in Ontario.
New to Pictou County is the Northeast
Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, a 100
cell Correctional Facility. Construction
started in September of 2011 and is
expected to be operational in November
of this year. Upon learning that the
Correctional Facility was coming to our
area, staff put their heads together to
think about how we could provide
services to this Facility. One thought
that came to mind was a garden. We
knew that we would have to provide
supporting evidence on the benefits of a
garden, if we were to be successful in
seeing the garden project come to
fruition. We did research and put
together information that would support
such a venture and we presented the
materials to the management of the
facility. Much to our delight, the
Facility management were very open to
the idea and seem to be excited about the
prospects of having a garden program.
A further meeting took place in early
May 2014 between the Superintendent
of the Facility Tim Carroll, Deputy
Superintendent Steve MacDonald,
Provincial Program Officer Janice
“...gardening can have a positive impact on
physical, mental and emotional well-being of
offenders”
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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Aiken, John Howard Society staff Susan
Hughes and Diana Wallis, as well as
three Dalhousie Agricultural Campus
representatives. During the meeting it
was felt that more information would be
needed to proceed with the project.
Everyone left the meeting with assigned
tasks such as soil testing, labour market
evaluation and various certification
options for programming. Our plan is to
meet again in June to discuss findings
and next steps. The focus of the
gardening project is to provide
certification to those who participate in
the program which will increase their
employability prospects. Also, gardening
can have a positive impact on physical,
mental and emotional well-being. My
hope is that the garden will not only
benefit the residence of the facility but
will also make a more pleasant working
environment for the staff and those
working with the inmates. We are very
excited and hopeful that a garden will be
operational at the Facility as early as
Spring 2015.
Last but certainly not least I want to
thank the staff Kate and Diana for all of
their hard work and dedication to our
clients and the community this past year,
working as individuals we can do many
good things and together we can do great
things!
Susan Hughes
Susan Hughes - Director
~~~
Central Region
My annual report for 2013-14, highlights
the agency’s community involvement
which staff has been involved in this
past year. Our focus over the past year
has been on community engagement
while maintaining a high caseload.
Across the province community justice
agencies have seen a decrease in youth
“We continue to maintain excellent working
relationships with our justice partners”
Regional Director
- Christina King
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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referrals. A three year glance, of
referrals received for JHS – Central
Region, shows a steady rate of referrals
being referred for both youth and adults.
Youth Adults
FY 2011-12 68 78
FY 2012-13 58 66
FY 2013-14 60 80
0102030405060708090
Referrals Received3 Year Overview
Community Engagement
JHS – Central Region was invited to
attend two round table discussions on the
Victims Bill of Rights with the Minister
of Justice, Peter Mackay and several
other justice advocates.
Our office partnered with Schools Plus
and the Women’s Resource Center to
deliver the Voices Program to a group of
girls ages 16 – 17 at the Cobequid
Education Center. Staff also enjoyed a
second year of mentoring with Big
Brother & Sisters (In School Mentoring
Program). Building relationships with
our mentees has been a positive
experience.
We are always delighted to have
students from various institutions
complete their work term at our office.
While students are on placement, they
receive information on the history of
John Howard, an orientation on
Restorative Justice and the Youth
Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). We are
pleased to offer learning and
foundational training to these young
students who are on their way to
potential careers within justice.
Crime Prevention Initiatives
The John Howard Society has helped
many young people deal with underlying
issues that have contributed to their
wrong doing. We continuously engaged
in crime prevention initiatives by
offering innovative support to our clients
and community. Once we have identified
the needs of our clients, we offer the
following resources; assistance with
employment search, personal
development, victim empathy,
information on justice related issues,
anger management, drug and alcohol
“Crime Prevention Works At The
Right Time For The Right Person” - Christina King
Regional Director
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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awareness, shoplifting and any other
supports which may be needed.
JHS - Giving Back Program
The “Giving Back” program primarily is
a potential contract term in our
Restorative Justice contracts. We find
this works extremely well in cases where
no victim is identified. For example, a
drug related offense where youth/adults
would normally receive a fine or
community service work if referred to
court.
The Giving Back Program brought in
$2,184.00 in donations for 2013, which
was donated back to the community of
harm. Community Partners who received
donations were; SPCA, Boys & Girls
Club, Big Brothers & Big Sisters,
Family Resource Center, Third Place
Transition House, Mommy 2B and The
John Howard Society – Truro.
The “Giving Back” program is an
alternative way for clients to be held
accountable and appreciate the effect of
their behaviour in an effort to repair the
harm to the community. Clients appear
to like the idea of having a “hands on
approach” when physically purchasing
& delivering items to selected
community groups.
Restorative Justice Group at Nova
Institute for Women – Giving Back
Program
This project also offers inmates an
opportunity to see what it is like to “give
back” and do good in the community.
Our Restorative Justice group at Nova
Institute for Women donated 30 holiday
bags to residents at the Mira Long Term
Care Facility. Each bag contained
homemade Christmas cards and
ornaments, which were made by the
women & staff who participate in the RJ
group at Nova.
This is another example of restorative
work that can be done in the facility. It’s
a perfect opportunity to promote
community building through acts of
kindness. It enables the women at Nova
the opportunity to feel good about
themselves while helping others.
Through community donations, we
donated 30 (used) puzzles and two large
bags of yarn to Nova Institution for the
Giving Back Program. Some women
have expressed an interest to knit
blankets and scarves to donate to the
community.
I would like to acknowledge our staff,
Cindy Reid and Wanda Dickie for their
ongoing dedication to our clients. Also,
thank you to our community volunteers
and to our Board of Directors.
Christina King
Christina King - Director
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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Halifax Region
The Halifax Regional Office has seen an
expansion of its community
involvement, programming and
volunteer program in 2013. The
following report briefly overviews the
new initiatives.
Anger Management & Emotional
Intelligence Program
Over the summer of 2013 we
implemented a new type of community
programming, open to adult men who
either self-identify or are mandated to
take anger management programming.
The Anger Management and Emotional
Intelligence Program focuses on
understanding emotions (particularly
anger) but also on enhancing
communication and stress management
skills so individuals are able to recognize
anger-provoking triggers and can then
communicate that emotion in a
productive manner. Natalie Cox has
been facilitating the program in both
group and private sessions.
During sessions, clients are generally
engaged and receptive to the knowledge,
strategies and techniques being
delivered, even those who have been
mandated to attend. Week to week, it has
been evident that clients apply their new-
found control over their emotions.
Natalie has noted that the program seems
to be a useful support to help our clients
with their anger issues while earning
reassurance for how they deal with the
problems (triggers) they are facing.
Community Work Team
To help increase community placement
options for clients of our Community
Workplace and Fine Options Programs
(CWP/FOP), our office developed the
idea to collect clients into groups to do
larger scale projects. This idea was
implemented as the JHS Community
Work Team in October, using volunteer
support to supervise group work projects
in order to fulfill client community
service hours. This initiative has
expanded our network of community
contacts and helped to raise our profile
in the community. We worked regularly
with the HRM (Transportation & Public
Works), Clean Nova Scotia and the
Provincial Adopt-A-Highway Program
for group projects during the warmer
months. However, finding group projects
during the winter months was a
challenge.
As part of this program, JHS adopted
three roadways within the HRM as part
of the Adopt-A-Highway Program:
North St in Halifax, Pleasant St in
Dartmouth, and Cobequid Rd in Lower
Sackville. We are responsible for two
clean-ups per year for three years at each
of these locations and our commitment
will be represented by signs at either end
of the roadway that read:
Adopt-A-Highway
Litter Clean Up
The John Howard Society of Nova
Scotia
Employment Readiness Program –
Pilot
From October 1, 2013 – May 31, 2014
we received funding from Employment
Nova Scotia to deliver the Employment
Readiness Program – Pilot (ERP). In
collaboration with Department of
Community Services (DCS), we offered
2013-2014 Annual Report – “Celebrating 64 Years of Service”
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two terms of programming to two
separate intake groups of adult men who
are on income assistance and who
identified their criminal record as a
primary barrier to employment. Program
activities were designed to span phases
of pre-employment, employability and
finding work and employment
maintenance. Other relevant community
resources were identified to participants,
and, as part of the continuum of care
built into the program, ERP staff offered
post-program support relevant to finding
and keeping work to all participants.
Program activities fostered personal and
social skill development, moving
towards stable lifestyles, practical
training and certifications opportunities,
job searching and interview preparation
and employment maintenance through
employee “best practices.” In terms of
outcomes, we can confidently say that
we improved the employability of every
participant who completed the program
and 63.6% of those participants were
connected with employment. ERP
helped the Halifax Office build a
stronger relationship with DCS, local
companies, and other community
organizations.
Healthy Relations Program
In the fall of 2013 the Halifax Office
developed the Healthy Relations
Program to help adult men and women
improve self-awareness of the types of
relationships they have with the people
in their lives. As we know, personal
boundaries vary with different kinds of
relationships. Further, relationships do
not always have a positive impact on us;
relationships can be either healthy or
unhealthy and can affect our lives
positively or negatively.
The program aims to help people
identify and understand the different
types of relationships in their life, how
those relationships impact them, and the
personal and/or social boundaries that
are appropriate for different types of
relationships. It works towards these
goals by:
- Outlining what constitutes a healthy
relationship
- Considering the people we have
relationships with (friends, family,
significant others, co-workers,
employers, teachers, etc),
- Identifying effective strategies for
developing and maintaining healthy
relationships
The program was developed as a half
day group program and has been piloted
to both terms of the Employment
Readiness Program.
The 2014 HRM Roundtable Review –
Offender Reintegration
Our JHSNS Board’s own Dr. Don
Clairmont was tasked in March of 2013
by the HRM Council as the principle
investigator to review the
implementation of recommendations
from the 2008 Mayor’s Roundtable on
Violence and Public Safety Report. The
project was also meant to identify new
issues relevant to violence and public
safety since the original report while
providing further suggestions for
proceeding with recommendations that
would improve the current landscape.
Dr. Clairmont recruited the collaboration
of a number of colleagues to form a team
of experts on various issues of violence
and public safety in the HRM.
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Certified
The Halifax Office proudly contributed
to The 2014 HRM Roundtable Review.
JHS efforts focused most directly on
researching and writing the supplemental
report Offender Reintegration in the
Halifax Regional Municipality (in The
2014 HRM Roundtable Review, Volume
II: Supplemental Reports).
A number of meetings and interviews
were conducted to inform the report.
Although it was a lot of work, JHS
participation in the roundtable review
project seemed to raise our profile in the
community and put us back in contact
with a number of related community
organizations. (The report was presented
to the Halifax Regional Council on May
13, 2014 and approved.)
Record Suspension Application
Service
In December the Halifax Office formally
began offering a service to assist clients
with record suspension applications.
After researching the process, we
developed an eligibility assessment to
help determine whether or not clients are
ready to apply for a record suspension (a
public copy is now available on our
website). On a case by case basis, we are
now prepared to offer guidance to clients
through the record suspension
application process.
In collaboration with Department of
Community Services (DCS), the Halifax
Office has also developed a service to
provide both financial support and
guidance through the many steps of the
application process to DCS clients. This
service takes a very different form than
much of the other work done by the
Halifax office, but we believe it
addresses a real demand among our
clientele. Our clients and their
caseworkers have been very grateful for
the service.
Creative Writing Workshops –
CNSCF Programming
In March the Halifax Office started
offering regular Creative Writing
Workshops at Central Nova Scotia
Correctional Facility. Driven by a
volunteer who is a published poet and
short story writer, Creative Writing
Workshops are delivered to groups of
inmates using the facilities and resources
of the institution’s education program.
On the first workshop series, our
volunteer reported, “The men in the
workshops have been terrific, treat me
and each other with great dignity, and
work hard.” After six sessions with one
wing, the workshop series rotates to
another wing in the institution. The
facilitator works with male and female
inmates, although not within the same
workshop series.
Management and case managers of the
institution were quite interested in the
program and worked to implement it in a
very timely fashion following the
proposal presentation.
Volunteers & Membership
To achieve success with all of these new
initiatives, our office relied on the work
and support of volunteers. We attended
the Saint Mary’s Volunteer Fair and
reached out to a number of departments
in HRM’s Universities and NSCC
campuses to recruit volunteers in 2013.
By designating a Volunteer Coordinator,
we were able to grow our volunteer
program considerably (from one to ten
volunteers). A larger volunteer base also
meant enhancing community awareness
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14
Certified
of our programs and services,
particularly among community agencies
with similar client groups and those of
the younger generations pursuing
education or work in relevant
disciplines.
We had one student placement in 2013
who was especially helpful with
implementing our Community Work
Team and providing support for the
Employment Readiness Program. Our
office is very interested in taking on
more student placements in the future, as
we see the arrangement as mutually
beneficial and providing an excellent
opportunity to develop and implement
new initiatives.
In an effort to replenish and grow our
membership base, all volunteer
applicants are presented with
information about becoming a member
of the Society during their volunteer
screening interview. A significant
portion of our volunteers have also
chosen to become members of the
Society.
The Halifax Office would like to thank
both our volunteers and members for
their support in 2013! We hope you will
continue your involvement into 2014.
Overall, the Halifax Office has reached
some major achievements that staff hope
to carry into the next fiscal year. Raising
our community profile, expanding
programs and services, and broadening
our network of community contacts,
while strengthening existing community
partnerships are accomplishments that
we will continue to build on.
~~~
I would like to acknowledge the
tremendous help and cooperation of the
Halifax staff during this past year and in
particular for their collaboration in
writing the Halifax report. John Peach John Peach, Executive Director
“No one can go back and make a brand
new start. Anyone can start from now
and make a brand new ending.”