October 8, 1999

To: Policy and Finance Committee

From: Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services

Subject: A Reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety

Purpose:

This report proposes the mandate for and composition of the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety. Preliminary financial implications for the implementation of the Task Force recommendations are provided, as directed by Toronto Council at its March 2, 3 and 4, 1999 meeting in consideration of Clause No. 4, Report No. 5 of the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

As recommended by the previous Task Force on Community Safety, the responsibility for support for the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety has transferred from the Healthy City Office to the Social Development and Administration Division of Community and Neighbourhood Services Department (CNS). The transfer of this lead responsibility to Social Development and Administration has considerable resource implications for CNS. In addition, funds are required to support implementation of the Task Force recommendations. Funding to support the work of the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety will be included in the Task Forces Budget in the Other Corporate Expenditures Account and considered as part of the 2000 budget process. This report has been prepared in consultation with staff of the Chief Administrator=s Office.

Other Departments impacted by the City=s community safety strategy are currently determining the financial implications of implementing the recommendations of the Task Force on Community Safety and will be submitting any requests for additional resources through the City=s 2000 budget process.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) Council adopt the proposed mandate and composition of the reconstituted Community Safety Task Force as outlined in this report and Appendix A;

(2) for 2000, CNS charge the Task Forces Budget in the Other Corporate Expenditures Account for administrative and other expenditures to support the work of the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety;

(3) Departments incorporate financial requests related to the implementation of the Council approved Community Safety Task Force recommendations within their respective budget submissions for consideration by Council within the 2000 budget process; and

(4) appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to give effect thereto.

Council Reference/Background/History:

On March 2, 3 and 4, 1999, Council approved the final report of the Task Force on Community Safety, Toronto. My City. A Safe City, which proposed the City=s community safety strategy. The report identified community safety to be a top concern of Toronto=s residents and an issue that directly impacts on communities= quality of life. Council adopted recommendations including establishing a reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety to monitor the implementation of Task Force recommendations, respond to crime prevention issues as they arise and promote a coordinated approach among all partners in the crime prevention field. This report outlines the proposed mandate for and composition of the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety for the City of Toronto. It also provides information on the financial implications for implementing the Task Force recommendations.

Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:

The City=s Task Force on Community Safety was established in 1998 to identify key safety concerns of communities across the city and to develop a comprehensive, coordinated and community-based safety strategy for the City of Toronto. It achieved this by consulting with communities, researching local and international crime prevention initiatives, and reviewing best practices. The scope and membership of the Task Force was broad and multi-jurisdictional, dealing with issues such as crime reduction and prevention, violence, community justice, community development, traffic safety and drug-related offences. This broad approach to community safety is reflected in the February 1999 final report of the Task Force, which challenges City Departments to address community safety through the strategic directions of strengthening neighbourhoods, investing in children, youth and families, promoting community policing and justice, informing communities and coordinating actions, and implementing, evaluating and monitoring progress.

Proposed Mandate and Composition:

The mandate of the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety will be to facilitate the implementation of the community strategy agenda, as its immediate priority. The goals of the Task Force are to establish the City as a leader on community safety and crime prevention by positioning these issues as a priority for the City, to remain current on best practices and innovative approaches, and to respond to emerging community safety issues that impact on the City=s quality of life. The objectives of the Task Force include:

(1) integrating the community safety agenda within city operations;

(2) implementing the Task Force recommendations in a manner that is true to their intent;

(3) developing new and strengthening existing partnerships with appropriate organizations and other levels of government to ensure community safety is responded to as a priority issue; and

(4) strengthening broad and inclusive community involvement in community safety initiatives.

At the July 6,7, and 8, 1999 meeting of Toronto Council, the following members of Council were appointed to the reconstituted Task Force:

Councillor Rob Davis (York-Eglinton)

Councillor Brad Duguid (Scarborough City Centre)

Councillor Chris Korwin-Kuczynski (TorontoBHigh Park)

Councillor Pam McConnell (Toronto-Don River)

Councillor Frances Nunziata (York-Humber), and

Councillor Bruce Sinclair (Rexdale-Thistletown).

Nine community representatives will be named to the Task Force. These representatives will be drawn from community-based safety and crime prevention programs, family and youth services programs, the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA), and the Boards of Education. A detailed listing of proposed members is provided in Appendix A. Several community representatives have already confirmed their participation. Staff is still negotiating with respective sectors to determine appropriate representatives.

In addition, senior staff from Police Services, the Departments of Urban Planning and Development Services, Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, and Community and Neighbourhood Services and the Chief Administrator=s Office (CAO) are to assist the reconstituted Task Force to develop an implementation workplan and facilitate the implementation of the City=s community safety strategy.

To support continuity in the development of an appropriate implementation workplan, Councillors Davis and Duguid will continue to co-chair the Task Force on Community Safety. Staff coordination and secretariat support will be provided by the Social Development and Administration Division of CNS and the Council Secretariat Support unit of the Corporate Services Department.

While the initial work of the new members of the Task Force on Community Safety will be focused on the implementation of the recommendations, the membership may need to be reviewed and broadened to include cross appointments from other Committees/Task Forces responsible for implementing/monitoring other City Task Force recommendations (e.g., Seniors= Assembly, Access/Equity Task Force) and other key experts from appropriate sectors to address emerging community safety issues.

Financial Implications for Implementing Community Safety Recommendations:

The Task Force report clearly sets a community safety agenda for City Departments that is expansive and assigns full responsibility to city staff to address community safety for the city. Both communities and staff have raised concerns over who should be doing what and the feasibility to implement the strategy within current City resources.

One of the more significant recommendations was the reconstitution of the Task Force to oversee the ongoing work and, in a broader way, demonstrate the City=s ongoing commitment to community safety. The previous Task Force was staffed by HCO because of its time-limited and developmental mandate. As recommended by the previous Task Force on Community Safety, the responsibility for lead support has been transferred to the Social Development and Administration Division of CNS. One of the immediate implications of this transfer is the lack of capacity to absorb all the ongoing workload required to support the Task Force. While Social Development and Administration Division has absorbed the policy development and project management functions through a reallocation of existing resources, there is no available administrative and clerical support within the Division to meet the increased workload.

In addition, funds for the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety are required to implement several initiatives as recommended and approved by Council. These include the development of an annual special event awarding excellence in community safety. For 2000, CNS will charge the Task Forces Budget in the Other Corporate Expenditures Account for administrative and other expenditures to support the work of the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety. In consultation with staff of the Chief Administrator=s Office, this funding will be included in the Other Corporate Expenditures Account and will be considered as part of the 2000 budget process.

Implementation of some Community Safety recommendations has already been noted or addressed within existing business workplans:

(1) the integration of community safety within the City=s strategic planning initiatives (Strategic Plan, Official Plan and Social Development Strategy);

(2) the establishment of a Drug Abuse Committee of the Board of Health; and

(3) an expansion of the Board of Health=s Drug Abuse Prevention Community Grants Program and the Community Services= Breaking the Cycle of Violence grants across the whole City.

In addition, some operating units, such as Licensing and Standards, have indicated that the Community Safety Task Force recommendations directed at their unit can be accommodated within current expenditures.

Some City staff have identified limited resources currently available within operational budgets to undertake responsibility for implementing respective Task Force recommendations. The need for additional resources has already been identified by Public Health and reported to the Toronto Board of Health to implement an expanded youth mentoring program across the city. Public Health will be requesting approximately $85,000.00 for one FTE and resources to expand the program in 2000. One additional FTE may be required in 2001.

Due to the breadth of recommendations impacting on the Parks and Recreation Division of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism Department, staff are still developing a workplan and financial impact statement to be considered for the upcoming and future budget cycles. These recommendations encompass capital redesign projects for parklands, expanded programming, and increased staffing which will likely require Parks and Recreation to develop a multi-year implementation plan.

Other operations such as the Urban Design Division of Urban Planning and Development Services are currently re-establishing staffing levels to adequately undertake regular urban planning responsibilities. Taking on additional responsibility for the implementation of community safety audits in every neighbourhood across the City will be very difficult to achieve, especially within the timeframe proposed by the community safety strategy.

In response to discussions between the Mayor and TABIA, the Economic Development Division of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, in conjunction with TABIA, organized six local area meetings with Toronto Police, interested residents and business owners to address crime and safety issues in commercial retail areas. The consultations were extensive and involved most of the Business Improvement Associations and many retail related business associations in Toronto. A report recommending a number of actions to reduce crime and improve safety in Toronto business areas is expected to be submitted to the November 8, 1999 meeting of Economic Development and Parks Committee. Many of the recommendations are consistent with those of the Task Force on Community Safety and staff of CNS and Economic Development Division have discussed opportunities to work together on some of these initiatives, especially as they related to safety audits in business areas. The forthcoming EDD report will be referred to the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety for consideration.

For the 2000 budget cycle process, Economic Development Division has identified a number of areas across the city for its Employment Area Revitalization Program that involves initiatives such as safety audits, crime and safety brochures and community police liaison. However, any expectations to expand these projects will require additional resources.

Activities to increase community awareness about community safety and to actively engage communities in undertaking safety audits has been possible through the one-time funding provided to CNS and Parks and Recreation from the Council approved Community Action Policing (CAP) initiative. CNS recently hired a Community Development Officer to initiate the development of a community safety audit process, to facilitate community safety audits and to evaluate audit activities as part of the CAP funding. In addition, CNS is partnering with METRAC to provide safety audit training to interested communities this fall. These activities will be piloted through the CAP funding and will be reviewed for further funding at the end of the pilot period in the fall of 2000.

Parks and Recreation has developed a strategy to support CAP through an intensified park cleaning program, park safety audits and immediate implementation of physical improvements to parks. The strategies to enhance safety in city parks are based on interrelated factors involving maintenance, design features, programming, citizen involvement and police presence. A community safety consultant has been hired to assist in the planning, implementation and documentation of the safety audits and related activities for this initiative.

It is clear that it will be a challenge for any one City Department to undertake sole responsibility for conducting community safety audits in Toronto. There has, however, been interest generated across City Departments to work together to help communities facilitate audit implementation and to respond to identified concerns. There are also differing expectations from communities as to the concept of safety audits which identifies that a continuum of audits will need to be developed, depending on the specific issues arising in those communities. These are issues that staff will address within the development of the Task Force implementation workplan.

The community safety initiatives have significantly moved forward the City=s community safety agenda. However, it must be acknowledged that the ability of Departments to sustain programming and broaden implementation across the city will require ongoing dollars.

Meeting Schedule:

Upon adoption of the mandate and composition of the reconstituted Community Safety Task Force at the Council meeting of October 26, 27 and 28, 1999, it is anticipated that the initial meeting of the reconstituted Task Force will be scheduled in November 1999. To facilitate the development of an implementation workplan, meetings will be held on a monthly basis over the first six months, and then on a bi-monthly basis to monitor implementation progress.

Term of the Task Force on Community Safety:

As indicated previously, the development of an implementation workplan will be the primary focus of the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety. It is clear that the timeframe for implementation will be well beyond the term of the current Council and will require that the Task Force be reconstituted for the term of the new Council, in the fall of 2000.

Conclusion:

This report outlines the proposed composition and mandate of the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety. Initial meetings of the new Task Force will focus on a review of recommendations, implementation roles and the development of an implementation workplan. This report also identifies preliminary financial implications for implementation of the City=s community safety strategy. Departments will incorporate financial requests related to the implementation of the Task Force recommendations within their respective budget submissions for consideration by Council within the 2000 budget process.

Contact:

Lydia Fitchko - phone: 392-5397/fax: 392-8492

Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services

Appendix A

Proposed Mandate and Composition of the Task Force on Community Safety

Mandate:

The mandate of the reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety will be to facilitate the implementation of the community strategy agenda, as its immediate priority. The goals of the Task Force are to establish the City as a leader on community safety and crime prevention by positioning these issues as a priority for the City, to remain current on best practices and innovative approaches, and to respond to emerging community safety issues that impact on the City=s quality of life. The objectives of the Task Force include:

(1) integrating the community safety agenda within city operations;

(2) implementing the Task Force recommendations in a manner that is true to their intent;

(3) developing new and strengthening existing partnerships with appropriate organizations and other levels of government to ensure community safety is responded to as a priority issue; and

(4) strengthening broad and inclusive community involvement in community safety initiatives.

Composition:

The reconstituted Task Force on Community Safety will be comprised of members of Council and community representatives. To support continuity in the development of an appropriate implementation workplan, Councillors Davis and Duguid will continue to co-chair the Task Force on Community Safety. The composition of the Task Force includes:

Members of Council:

Councillor Rob Davis (York-Eglinton) (co-Chair)

Councillor Brad Duguid (Scarborough City Centre) (co-Chair)

Councillor Chris Korwin-Kuczynski (Toronto-High Park)

Councillor Pam McConnell (Toronto-Don River)

Councillor Frances Nunziata (York-Humber)

Councillor Bruce Sinclair (Rexdale-Thistletown)

Community Representatives:

Marg Stanowski - Executive Director, Operation Springboard

Carole Johnson B Executive Director, Crime Concern

Connie Guberman B Coordinator, Safety Initiatives, METRAC

Toronto Association of Business Improvement Associations (TABIA)

Sue Hunter B Executive Director, Toronto Child Abuse Centre

Kenn Richard B Executive Director, Native Child and Family Services

Dr. Fred Mathews B Community Psychologist, Central Toronto Youth Services

Toronto Board of Education

Toronto Separate School Board

In addition, senior staff from the following City Departments will act as a resource to the Task Force in developing an implementation workplan and facilitating the implementation of the City=s community safety strategy.

Senior Staff Support:

Police Services

Urban Planning & Development Services (Urban Design/Buildings/Licensing & Standards)

Economic Development, Culture and Tourism (Economic Development/Parks and Recreation)

Community and Neighbourhood Services (Social Development & Administration/Public Health/Housing)

Chief Administrator=s Office (Strategic and Corporate Policy)