Thank you.
Sooner or later, the majority of incarcerated individuals return to our communities. Many offenders are returning to communities in which there are few, if any, community supports in place, or are resuming community contacts that are part of their offending history. Both of these scenarios escalate the risk of reoffending. Past victims feel unsafe, and the potential for new victims is escalated.
The challenge for governments, police, and the community is how to integrate people into society while at the same time managing the risk of reoffence. We're all affected by crime. We've handed over our safety to our police services and other government agencies. We've come to believe that there's nothing we can do to protect ourselves and that our best option is to lock people up for as long as possible. Our communities are living in fear but have not been given the tools to help them address their fears in helpful and safe ways.
We at MCC believe that communities need and have the ability to participate in keeping themselves safe. Circles of support and accountability originated as a faith-based response to a crisis. Twelve years ago, a high-profile, high-needs sexual offender deemed at 99% risk to reoffend within the first year was released into the city of Hamilton. Small groups of individuals formed a circle around him, to both support him and hold him accountable for choices and behaviours. Fully aware of his offending history and his offence cycle, this group of men and women were committed to the concept of “no more victims”. Shortly after that, another individual was released to Toronto, and the concept of circles began to take shape.
Each released offender or core member in our circles project is encircled by three to four community members and a designated staff person. Each circle meets weekly as a group, and each volunteer is committed to at least one in-depth contact with the core member outside of the circle meeting. The circle does not do surveillance, nor is it custodial in nature. It is, however, a group of community members who are committed to community safety through inclusion, rather than exclusion of offenders.
Each circle member is very aware of offending histories, patterns of behaviour, and risk factors. Each is committed to both supporting the core member, while at the same time holding the person accountable for the choices they're making. Circle staff and volunteers work with other professionals in the community, including the police, and are committed to calling the appropriate authorities if community safety is at risk. Although the initial thought was that a circle was needed only for the first year post-incarceration, the reality is that many individuals need this intentional community for many years, if not a lifetime.
In the past 12 years, this project has worked with over 100 men, and the circles concept has been replicated in almost every province across Canada and a number of the states, including Colorado and Vermont, and in Great Britain. The success of this approach has been verified in the statistical study conducted by Dr. Robin Wilson under the auspices of the Correctional Service of Canada. This study has also been replicated using data from other circles' initiatives from across the country, and has come to basically the same conclusions: that this kind of approach works.
Charlie Taylor, the first circle member, died on December 25, 2005. For 12 years, aside from having one shoplifting charge, Charlie lived in the community, participated in community activities where appropriate, lived in his own apartment for the first time in his life, looked for ways to give back to the community, was in contact every single day with one of his circle members, and did not reoffend sexually.
Don, presently living in the GTA, was released four years ago with a community notification by police services. Also designated at a high risk to reoffend within the first year, he was unable to find and maintain housing for the first four months after his release, due to public reaction. Don has actively participated in the circle, in conjunction with the circle has become a valued volunteer with a partner organization, and is looking for ways to give back to the community.
We do not believe that sexual offending can be cured. But we do believe that with appropriate support and accountability structures in place, and hard work on the part of the individual core members, sexual offenders can live safely in the community. Volunteers who work with circles feel empowered by their involvement. They model community standards, challenge ways of thinking by the offender, and engage in a more relational way of monitoring behaviour: security that is dynamic rather than static.
A keen need for victims is the need for safety. Victims report that they want to know that there will be no other victims. Circles are committed to no more victims, and although we cannot undo the past, volunteers and staff work diligently with the core member to ensure that the offending behaviour does not occur again. The goal of circles of support and accountability is to ease the fear of victims and to prevent further victimization.
Although the circles model has been primarily used with sexual offenders post-sentencing, it has also been utilized with other kinds of offending histories--drugs, arson, theft--and has been replicated with women moving from transitional to permanent housing, primarily those returning to the community from federal institutions.
We believe that the circles model has potential for use earlier in the justice process. It has been used already as part of a bail condition and has been considered in other situations where security and public safety are high priorities. We believe that using a circles model earlier would allow for a more effective response to victims' needs, would open up greater possibilities for their experience of justice, and would allow communities to be engaged in providing safety and accountability.