Anti-crime charity at end of road
George Roper in his cell at HMP Northward
(CNS): After ten years of focusing on youngsters before, rather than after, they become involved in the criminal justice system, YouthACT is folding its operations as the charity is down to its last $600. The chair of the non-governmental organisation that provides proven crime prevention programmes for kids said that despite her best efforts, she was unable to get a secure source of funding to keep the charity, and in particular its annual crime prevention day, alive.
Needing just $10,000 to keep providing the event for Year 8 students at John Gray and Clifton Hunter high schools, Bonnie Anglin was bitterly disappointed Friday when she announced that YouthACT was drawing its final curtain after delivering the course over the last decade to some 2,000 students.
Anglin said she has persistently petitioned government, in particular in recent years the Home Affairs Ministry, for the $10,000 needed to keep providing the annual programme, which sees students spend a full day learning about the criminal justice system and dispelling some of the myths about prison, drug addiction, bullying, weapons and the consequences of crime. Based on proven techniques, the day is supported by the education ministry and is based on a legitimate programme that takes a direct approach to the consequences of crime.
Nevertheless, Anglin said she cannot get the support needed. Even in the face of rising youth crime, government does not want to invest $10,000 in crime prevention but is instead piling money into the consequences of a failure to invest in prevention for decades.
“We don’t have a national crime prevention strategy of any kind, despite the obvious increase in youth crime,” she said. “We should not be in this position.”
Anglin said the day-long programme, which looks at the causes and consequences of crime for young people aged 11 to 12, is about explaining what happens when young people make poor decisions. Experts and trained professionals across the criminal justice system are involved with the programme, as well as police firearms experts and even former prisoners.
Everyone involved is a volunteer or they come as part of their work and the $5,000 it costs to host the event is spent on hiring the Family Life Centre for the day, which costs $3,000, and the rest goes on basic resources and meals for staff and the students during what is an intensely regimented and packed day of seminars.
Frustrated by government’s failure to focus on prevention yet making plans to build another police station, court house and invest more in the prison, Anglin said it was absurd that she could not secure government backing for such a comparatively small amount of cash for a legitimate programme.
She said the programme works out at around $20 per student and reaching just one child and preventing them ending up in the criminal justice system represented a saving of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The annual $70,000 incarceration costs are not the only strain on the public purse, Anglin said. When a person falls into crime, court costs, legal aid and the police work also had to be factored in as well as the cost to the community of the crime itself.
The specialist programme goes way beyond telling kids not to commit crime or do bad things but illustrates the consequences of hanging with the wrong crowd and gives them tools to make better decisions.
Anglin told CNS that it was a shame that the “only time we react to crime is when someone is shot”, as she lamented the lack of funding for the programme.
“It is common sense that it is cheaper to invest in prevention than to deal with the consequences of not doing so with more prisons, courts and police,” she added.
Anglin said that over the years the cash for the annual event had come from the private sector, predominantly Appleby and Rotary and some contributions from the education ministry. But to secure its future and expand the crime prevention day, Anglin said she needs a dependable annual amount. Although the government gives tens of thousands of dollars to many other types of charities, from beautification committees to sporting organisations, Anglin said she had failed to get just $10,000 for what is a solid and worthwhile crime prevention programme.
CNS has asked the government about the funding and has not yet heard from the home affairs ministry, though the education ministry said they have contributed to the programme and are willing to continue doing so in future.
Anglin said she was grateful for the contributions that the education ministry had made in the past and hoped that the current minster would lobby for permanent fixed funding for YouthACT among her Cabinet colleagues.
Category: Crime, Crime Prevention
How very community spirited of the Church to change them 3g’s a time. Wouldn’t have expected any different mind you. Having said that, not one of those ” charities ” is getting a penny from me until they publish their books.
CI $10,000 for a one day event and she’s mad because the government chose not to be the gold and only sponsor.
A one day event targeting 11-12 year old students will not solve or mitigate a systematic problem, and government officials know this. That’s why she didn’t get the money, in my opinion.
Try reading with a friend. Maybe they will explain what is written to you.
Whatever happened to the Northward Prison videos from a few weeks back?…
I doubt anyone can’t stop a criminal being that way inclined. I would rather that funds were used locking up young offenders for longer periods because they are the ones much more likely to re-offend.
Please don’t tell me you people are so simple to think that a one day seminar is going to solve a multitude of problems that have been in the making for the past 40 years. Talked about drug abuse – check, no more drug abuse here on forward. Talked about teenage pregnancy – check, no more teenage pregnancy. Wow, it’s amazing how this one talk has solved all problems. Maybe you should go to church more often – all that talk and preaching you’ve been hearing since you were two years old has really helped… So all those in support of this, go ahead and donate your hard-earned money for an event that costs $5000 to host (it really should only cost $1000 at most) yet asks for $10,000. A fool and his money are soon parted. You’re be better off wiping your behind with it and having some bubbly after.
Unfortunately many people have a problem with the way some of these charitable programs are run in Cayman and are loathe to donate. I used to give to Meals on Wheels, for example, several years ago but have not done so for some time as I became aware of, shall I say, “lack of transparency” in the accounting.
Good point 5:27. Also some expats begin to resent donating locally when we’re also being blamed for the majority of the country’s social ills. If you resent my presence here so strongly, you don’t need my money. I’ll just support the not-for-profits in my home country. They need help too.
Charity fatigue 8.43, we get asked every week to donate to at least 2 ” charities” most of the time have no idea if they are for real or not. Even had some people knocking on our door at 9pm at night, not even opening the door for them, because no one in their right mind does that. And as you say, you get the attitude for taking the time and money to give!! ” biting the hand that feeds” is never a good idea…
Anonymous 8:43 – What I think needs to be said is that while you are in someone else’s country you should open your eyes to the reality faced by many you found here. You are taking it personally as though you are being called out by name as responsible. The reality is the system currently in place is a contributor to social ills and this divide. It seems people don’t mind complaining about it in their own country but we must not speak of it here. Ask any resident in the UK, the US and they will tell you that their current Immigration policies contribute to the social ills. So yes it is an issue. You put your money where you want but similar issues are likely happening in your own country….you just ran away from it.
What is causing the divide between “Caymanians” and “Ex-Pats” in this country is short sighted and ignorant politicians for no other purpose other than to further their political career. End of story.
Exactly! And when you find out how much is kept for salaries you would be shocked but this one gets funding from Govt because of the relationships with a certain family member in the ministry. These associations are shameful!
But government has no problem spending on getting rid of green iguanas or sending 500k to another Caribbean country….smh….their priorities are so messed up!
It is obvious that blah blah” is living in some euphoric world of his own, or for sure not living in Cayman. The last statistics I read about Cayman are:
1. High rate of substance abuse,
2. Increase in single parents.
3. High rate of teenage/young pregancies.
4. High rate of mental health issues and illnesses.
5. 50% of Primary School students are below the level they should be when entering High School.
6. Increase in crime, particularly among young people.
7. Highest unemployment rate since the beginning of our economic development – majority of which are Caymanians.
8. Children going to school hunger.
9. Our elderly being feed by non-profits, and the list goes on.
So in this “blissful, happy, two parent, low crime, employed world” that Blah Blah lives in, I agree parents and communities should find the time to pass good messages, information and values to their children. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality in the Cayman Islands where I live.
And you think that a one-day seminar is somehow going to fix all those problems that you just listed? Akin to pissing in the wind – not all that smart of an idea, is it…
You are right about one thing, if we don’t do something about or for our young people instead of importing foreign police and funding this Law enforcement apparatus till we broke, it will be the end of the road for these islands that’s for sure?
where’s the question?
Government would rather spend, er, waste money on discontinued programs like finger-printing, over-the-top yet inadequate schools or buying security systems which don’t work from their Lodge cronies! Prevention programs such as this one don’t make sense to them.
Has anyone questioned why they are asking for $10,000 to run a one day event with mainly public sector participants, who do not require paying? And why does anyone think it is acceptable to spend $3,000 on a venue hire for one day? Why can’t this be done in schools which would substantially reduce the cost? Government should always question whether funds are being spent in the best way.
EXACTLY, 12:48!!!
I do not live in GC, but was an at risk/health counselor for 23 yrs. I had prevention programs continuously throughout the year for my students. I counselled at an inner city school and I had no budget to pay for any of these events. The programs and people that came to the school did so on a volunteer basis. Why do the RCIP and the other guest speakers that come to speak to the children in GC need to be paid to do so? As for refreshments- the students ate their regular school lunch. Just curious if anyone can explain as it does not seem clear in the article to someone who is not living there. Thank you.
The real question here is not why a charity fails to secure the government and private sector funding to provide this service, but why the school system does not already provide it.
This government seems quite happy to let the community help fund essential services such as ambulances, half-way houses and now a program for at risk youths while they play around and squander hundreds of millions of dollars pandering to their over infated egos and pie-in-the-sky fantasies.
Tell me Mr. Premier, how is that $110M dollar absurdity you call a school working out?
I have just one question. How can you build a school without classrooms but not have the common sense to realize that teaching methods will also need to change in order for that system to work.
You and your government, with the exception of Mr. Panton, have shown yourselves to be just as brainless, useless and XXXXX as the last government.
Yours will not be a legacy to be proud of.
They are all part of the problem!
Mrs Anglin just doesn’t get It. Money is best spent on Police, Courts and Prisons Crime does pay??? See Police loose 100Lbs of Cocaine from HQ they got a Pay Rise????
Agree! ms Bonnie needs to know that it is the Caymanians committing crimes that keep Jamaican police officers, prison officers, probation, court workers, DPP, security officers employed. We now have a generation 15-21 years to make, of mixed Caymanians so it’s the new breed well versed and capable of maintaining the criminal element.
Until they stop bringing in Jamaican officers for teachers, police, prison and DPP the crime will get worse, especially when next generation, 20 years, will have Jamaican 100%, no trace of Caymanian!
Are you really blaming all the crime in these islands on a Jamaican police force? Get real! The problem has many roots (as pointed out by poster at 3:18pm) and a lack of Caymanians in the police force probably has the tiniest most miniscule impact on crime committed by Caymanian teenagers.
“Mixed Caymanians”. So it is the foreign blood that causes the crime, 5:01. What about Alva Suckoo and his siblings, Roy McTaggert and his siblings, Marco Archer and his siblings, Joey Hew, Frankie Flowers…I could go on and on. All of them and other very distinguished members of our society have a foreign parent. Did only Caymanian blood run in their veins, somehow preventing the Jamaican or other blood from making them into criminals?? Please stop being a hidjut, 5:01. You are embarrassing us Caymanians with brains.
Thank you, 5;36. We have too many idiotic Donald Trump type people posting on this site.
My personal opinion is that every little bit of help in the concept of prevention is a good thing, as there are many kids who may be receptive to the teaching, however there is a far greater tidal wave of anti-social behavior and life-styles than there is good ones which seems to defeat any good that can be done for prevention.
Otherwise, it is a CRYING SHAME that our GOVERNMENTS(plural) seems to REFUSE giving aide to a notable cause as this, but i suppose that is the Norm here in our part of paradise.
The priorities of government are messed up. They waste millions every year with impunity. It’s about who you know not about solving the problems or supporting programs to help Caymanians. This is more evidence that the ppm do not care about the masses just the select few and those in the cocktail circuits.
Legal aid fees for failed appeals should go to such charities rather than sponging attorneys.
The government don’t want to prevent crime. How else they going explain buying shiny new cars for the police to cool off in?
The article states that $10,000.00 is needed to run the program, yet it also states that only $5,000.00 is needed to host the one-day event. Is this correct? If so, I am assuming the other $5,000.00 is well-spent over the course of the year.
Second, this program should really be a part of the regular school year, and not confined to a one-day event. It definitely does make a difference, but children need to be exposed to it regularly.
Government should be incredibly supportive of this. I find it shocking to see how much money is thrown around to various projects when the focus should be on the children, the next generation.
Agree such preventive interventions should be ongoing. Youth ACT does two programs per year at 5,000. each: one at JGHS and one at Clifton Hunter
Prevention is always better and cheaper than cure. In combination with a revised education system that actually teaches kids how to work in Cayman specific work job roles and this could be good. Letting this program go unfunded could cost a lot more than it saves.
It’s a waste of money. Parents are the best “national crime prevention” tool available, not a one-day seminar – preferably two parents living peacefully (without any abuse of drugs, alcohol, etc.) in the household, teaching their kids right from wrong, and holding them responsible for their actions whenever necessary. That’s the only effective “national crime prevention”. People can’t be so naive to think that a one-day speech is going to somehow erase all the damage some of these kids have suffered over a life-time.
Blah blah blah – I don’t think anyone here is suggesting that this event will replace good parenting – but clearly there are plenty on this island without good parents or no real parents at all – so until that is fixed (which is probably never) the government better support more decent initiatives like these or face having most of the budget gobbled up by incarcerating most of a generation.
Agree-it starts with parents. However, it is easy to be critical without seeking facts. Youth ACT has several proposed programs which lack funding, for example one that targets parents. In the meantime try to recall how one non-family member can make a difference in the life of a child by planting a positive or hopeful idea or by believing in the child’s potential or ability. Crime is everyone’s problem and will require all working together to address the numerous contributing factors. We cannot ignore our at risk youths!
Of course “blah blah blah” in an ideal world parents are the best prevention tool. However, we don’t live in that world, do we! Many at risk children are from single parent homes and don’t get the guidance that they need. Are we just going to give up on those kids? The Benjamin Franklin axiom that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is as true today as it was when Franklin made the quote. Even if just one child is changed for the better by attending that 1-day session, then it would all be worth it.
Correct. That could save the tax-payer $55,000.00+ annually in Prison expenses… per convict.
Perhaps you would advocate locking up children who don’t come from an idealised nuclear families as a crime prevention strategy?