That's a very good question. It's not as easy to answer. We do know that when individuals are placed in custody, programs and services in custody.... Even better yet, when organizations like ours and others who are trying to get into facilities to support individuals in their reintegration back into community, that is also a struggle. They're underfunded. It's more around penalizing behaviours than it is addressing the root causes of behaviours.
When individuals are coming out, most of the programs that are working to either mentor or help in educational or life goal planning around employment, etc., are on year-to-year funding. There isn't a constant resource apparatus set up for organizations like ours and others. Direct Your Life works with individuals coming out of incarceration. There needs to be more emphasis on those supports. That is what creates safety in communities.
If our young people and those adolescents have a place to go to help address their mental health and deal with the trauma that's been caused, and we help support other positive activities like education and employment, we will have safer communities. It's not enough to just lock people up. We need to lock people up when necessary and provide support and resources for when they come out. The majority of them will be coming out. What they come out to is going to be a different world. They may not come out to the resources that are going to help them make different decisions. That has to be addressed if we want safer communities.