By Rick Pusiak
There?s no shortage of stories about young people who had lots of potential but ended up in trouble with the law. Fortunately there are also many caring people determined to keep youth on track and out of jail.
In Sudbury one group of counsellors is focused on kids under 12 years of age.
Workers at the Under 12 Attendance Centre help children who are in conflict with the law or appear to be headed for trouble.
The ribbon was cut last week at the new permanent home for the centre, the former Elm West Playground building in the Little Britain area behind the Beatty Street hill.
Children will be referred there by police or schools, and take part in a three-month program involving physical, cognitive and social skills development.
Personnel from the John Howard Society will handle the counselling.
Police school liaison officer Denise Fraser came up with the idea for the centre about two years ago after hearing about a similar set-up in Windsor.
?I was quite intrigued because as school liaison officer I received a lot of telephone calls year round from frustrated parents who did not know what to do with their children (who were) committing criminal acts or having anti-social behaviour,? said Fraser.
?I also received a lot of phone calls from principals and teachers asking us to go and speak with the children.?
Fraser asked police administration for a needs study and a poll to find out how many officers had dealt with children under 12.
It turned out over 90 per cent of local police had attended at an incident involving a youth in that age category.
A study of criminal acts committed between June 1 and July 31, 2000 reflected that and contained an alarming statistic.
?More children under 12 were committing criminal acts than children over 12,? said Fraser.
Approval was given for a pilot project at St. David School in the Donovan area. About eight months ago the program got the green light to continue and moved to Queen Elizabeth School in the West End.
Grant applications were made and about $50,000 was approved by the federal department of justice and the provincial Ministry of Community and Social Services.
Several groups including the native community, the municipality, Skakoon Home Hardware, school boards and child and family services also helped out in various ways to make the program a reality.
After being contacted by Fraser about a permanent home for the program, the city agreed to free up the Elm West Playground building.
She said it made logistical sense since most of the program?s clients came from the central part of the city.
The liaison officer added if children can be reached and turned around hopefully they?ll be kept out of the legal system once they reach 12, the age at which a person can be charged for a criminal offence.
Fraser?s son Mark is one of the counsellors at the centre.
He said not only are the young clients assessed to see if they would benefit from the program but the parents are also visited.
?What?s special about this program (is) we don?t just focus on the kids, we focus on the family unit and we network with the school?then in working with the child hopefully we modify their behaviour or manage their behaviour altogether,? said Mark Fraser.
Home visits are conducted every two weeks.
The children attend the centre twice a week for two hours a day.
Fraser said the youth will be busy over the summer cleaning playgrounds, schools and doing some painting.
The kids will also be the cooks at a charity barbecue.
?Hopefully to raise good feelings from doing good and not raise good feelings from doing bad,? said Fraser.
Six youths are currently signed up for the program. There are resources for a maximum of 12.
?I wouldn?t say they?re bad kids,? said fellow counsellor Maria Daoust.
?They?re boys and girls who are having some problems at school, problems in the community and basically need assistance with life skills.?
Police have identified the need for an attendance centre for children age 12 to 15.
If things work out such a facility could be opened in the not too distant future.
