COMMUNITY SAFETY AND WELL-BEING PLAN (CSWBP)

Current policing legislation within the new Police Services Act comes with a mandated community safety planning component effective January 1, 2021. Guidance for creating a CSWBP comes from the Ministry of the Solicitor General, in a booklet called Community Safety and Well-being Planning Framework: A Shared Commitment in Ontario. It is the third CSWBP booklet in the series that outlines the Provincial Approach to Community Safety and Well-being. It is a follow-up to community feedback highlighted in the Community Safety and Well-being in Ontario: A Snapshot of Local Voices, released in 2014, and is grounded in research outlined in the first booklet, Crime Prevention in Ontario: A Framework for Action, released in 2012.

As a county wide requirement, the CSWBP is being spearheaded by Social Services at Northumberland County. The concept is straightforward. It is about intervening before an individual gets into the justice system. Early intervention is the focus around our situation tables which include representatives from Social Services, Educators, Police Services, Health Care Professionals, and Housing providers.

Clearly risk factors are different in various communities, which highlights that a one size fits all solution is untenable. Homelessness, mental health issues, addiction, and poverty have become exacerbated during COVID-19, making positive outcomes more challenging. As stated by Devon Clunis, the new Ontario Inspector General of Policing, we need to move further toward a proactive rather than reactive and crime focused model of policing. We look forward to the final release of the plan by Northumberland County.

Community Safety and Well-Being Planning Framework