Community Healing Project

About the Community Healing Project for Crime Prevention & Intervention

The Community Healing Project for Crime Prevention and Intervention is a prevention project aimed at addressing trauma as a root cause of youth violence and gang involvement. The project supports development of mental health literacy and resiliency in youth 12-24 who have been exposed to community violence. Through peer support certification and trauma informed community workshops, youth learn about trauma, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and hypersensitive flight/fight responses.

The City of Toronto partners with community agencies to deliver the project across the city. Communities are identified based on community need and data collection.

Supported by a coordinator and peer mentors, youth participants go through training to be certified in peer support and then deliver workshops in their communities to their peers. A case manager supports employment, education and service navigation. By the end of each cycle, participants leave with an increased knowledge and use of coping mechanisms to avoid violence, self-care strategies, awareness of local and current mental health support services, have an increased life-long resiliency to trauma, capacity for transformative change, and an increased sense of control in triggering situations. Fifty youth from twenty communities are engaged in two cycles of training each year.

CHP has been working in communities to support youth mental health literacy since 2014 and on December 20, 2018, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security & Organized Crime, announced that the City of Toronto will receive $6.76M funding from the Youth Gang Prevention Fund (YGPF) as part of the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS).

Over the five-year funding period the project will certify 250 young people in peer support and provide workshops to 1,350 young people in Neighbourhood Improvement (Areas NIA’s).

Read The Community Healing Project: Year 1 in Review.

For additional information on how the City is working to combat community violence, please read the Toronto City Council adopts steps to immediate address gun violence and the City of Toronto applies for federal grant to fund programs to curb gun violence news releases.

Community Healing Project Advisory

Purpose

As part of the National Crime Prevention Community Healing Project, the City of Toronto will engage nine Torontonians as part of the Community Healing Project Advisory (CHPA). The purpose of the CHPA is to guide the National Crime Prevention Community Healing Project.

Over the course of their term, advisory members will work together to provide oversight, monitoring and evaluation to guide and support project implementation. The CHPA will be supported by City of Toronto and project staff.

Mandate

Through direct and ongoing engagement with the Community Healing Project, the CHPA will:

  • provide guidance and advice to National Crime Prevention Community Healing Project staff in the planning, implementation, evaluation and reporting of the Community Healing Project
  • contribute insight, analysis, information, and strategy to the Community Healing Project service and policy planning that impacts outcomes for youth participants and communities engaged in the Community Healing Project
  • participate in monitoring of the National Crime Prevention Community Healing Project sit on working groups, including the Evaluation Advisory
  • support partnership development with vulnerable communities, leaders, organizations and institutions to advance positive outcomes for the project.

Applicants must

  • be over the age of 16 at the time of applying,
  • and reside in Toronto.

Applicants must have at least one of the following:

  • lived, advocacy and/or work experience in
    • youth violence prevention
    • youth sector
    • mental health sector
  • experience in evaluation and/or policy development

Stay tuned for details on how to apply!

Composition

The membership of the CHPA will consist of nine Torontonians of with diverse lived experience. In selecting members for the advisory, consideration will be given to ensure representation from:

  • former project participants of the Community Healing Project
  • representatives from key youth stakeholder groups (key stakeholder groups include resident led groups and coalitions, community agencies
  • mental health, educational systems and social service sector)
  • policy development and/or evaluation subject matter experts.

Terms of Service

All CHPA members will commit to:

  • a two-year term. CHPA members can leave the CHPA at any time by providing written notice
  • participate in a meetings and training as scheduled during the course of the membership
  • dedicating six to 10 hours for meetings on evenings and weekends, in addition to other advisory responsibilities
  • attend project events as needed outside of meetings
  • engage with various partners, youth stakeholders and participants.

Benefits of Membership

  • training and skills development opportunities
  • TTC fare and food (for meetings and workshops)
  • honorarium (on an as needed basis)
  • childcare reimbursements