| At-risk youth | Youth from the Drop-in Centre |
|---|---|
| Seniors | Elder Abuse Response Team Community Support Service Agencies |
Identified Risks
Planning partners will then want to capture the risks identified through their community engagement, and indicate who has identified those risks. If a risk has been identified by many different sectors and agencies/organizations, it will demonstrate how widely the community is impacted by that risk, and will also indicate the range of partners that need to be engaged to address the risk. Examples of this kind of information are included in the table below.
| Risk | Identifying Sectors/Organizations/Groups |
|---|---|
| Missing school – chronic absenteeism | principal, school board, police, parents in the community |
| Physical violence – physical violence in the home | women’s shelter, police services, hospital, school, child welfare agency |
| Housing – person does not have access to appropriate housing | emergency shelter, police, mental health service provider, citizens |
Priority Risk Analysis
Once planning partners have compiled the risks identified through their community engagement, it is likely that some will stand out because they were referenced often and by many people, agencies/organizations. These risks should be considered for inclusion in the priority risks that will be addressed in the plan. The number of risks planning partners choose to focus on in their plan will vary between communities and will on the number of risks identified and their capacity to address each risk. For example, planning depend partners from larger communities where multiple risks have been identified may choose to have five priority risks in their plan. On the other hand, planning partners from smaller communities with multiple risks identified may choose to address three priority risks. Partners should not include more risks than they have the resources and capacity to address.
“There are some priorities that seem to affect many sectors on different levels through preliminary discussion. Data reports and community engagement sessions will assist in the overall identification of prioritized risks for initial focus within the plan.” - Melissa Ceglie, City of Sault Ste. Marie
Additionally, planning partners should refer to local research to support and/or add to priority risks identified during their community engagement. This is important as in order for plans to effectively increase a community’s safety and well-being, they should focus on risks that experience and evidence show are prevalent. When analyzing the identified risks to determine which ones will be priorities, and how they would be addressed in the plan, planning partners may wish to walk through and answer the following questions for each risk: