Name of committee

QCCAV Steering Committee (Special Holiday Meeting)
Special Location: Paulo's Italian Trattoria, 44 Bridge Street East, Belleville.

Date of Meeting

December 8th, 2010.

Members that attended meeting

Ashlee Allen, Kim Charlebois, Cheryl Clarke, Lynette Cumming, Sally Fremr, Teresa Gauthier, Rahno Godfrey, Kim Howard, Brenda Hudson, Kelly Limin, Karen McCoy, Lorine McFadden, Tanya Nichols, Gayle Parks, Sarah Phoenix, Ashley Porlier (Coordinator), Lisa Warriner

Regrets

Michele Arsenault, Cat Fisher

Former Minutes

• The November minutes were available but the committee decided to review them at the January meeting. The singular focus of the holiday meeting was to review and discuss participation, scheduling and focus.

Other Business

Sarah Phoenix (vice-chair) chaired the meeting. Kim Charlebois mentioned that the original choice for the regular monthly date was not easy to find, as members had numerous obligations (as they do now). Kim Howard agreed that whatever the day is, it has to be consistent for long term planning. Karen McCoy believes that reducing the frequency of the meetings may adversely affect the momentum of the committee. She also suggested that a questionnaire be sent out to assess where the issues lie. There was consensus that this would be helpful.

Lisa W. suggested that the original mission statement should be reviewed, as it is about 20 years old. Updating it will help to re-focus, as it will be tailored to the current community?s need. The protocol collaborative agreement is due for renewal next year as well, so this is an opportune time to do so. There was general consensus that the meetings run well and are very well organized, in comparison to reports from other coordinating committees. Sarah would like to add the issue to the January agenda.

There was also a report that Children?s Mental Health representatives may be interested in joining QCCAV.

The protocol review was discussed. Some members reported apprehension in consulting it due to its size (360 or so pages). They would like to see the updated protocol to be much more streamlined, to the tune of 1 page per signatory. Karen M. discussed the people who would be coming in to discuss the family violence project. The event would take place likely in late March. The buy-in and research review for this project would be needed first, and then a reasonable timeline would develop from there, perhaps in 3-5 years.  Lorine McFadden was concerned that space was an issue, as the catchment area is very large and courts are not always held in the same space. Rural access concerns were also raised by Sarah P, who wanted to get input from survivors/victims about their ease of access with the existing system in Hamilton. She noted that the VAW communities in such areas with a central access building had issues with conflicting mandates/philosophies of partnering agencies.

Karen M said that she could ask Lee Burgess to send out information to the protocol members about getting prepared for the event by having relevant questions ready for discussion. Funding is likely to be the largest issue.

Gayle Parks discussed that ODSP is going through a major service delivery change. They are 3 weeks into the new model, where a person has one caseworker instead of the ODSP team. Caseworkers are also assigned to specific geographic areas.

Karen M. discussed the CAS mergers to be completed by 2012. Hastings CAS will merge with Northumberland and other CAS mergers in neighbouring counties are taking place as well ie (Napanee with Frontenac). It will require some administrative and procedural issues to be sorted out, like unions, job descriptions, pay scale, etc.

Ashley P (Victim Services) discussed the changes to the Victim Quick Response Program as of October 1^st. There is now an extension for requests for service from 14 days from the date of the crime to 45-90 days, depending on the type of request. Under recent changes, historical crimes (more than 90 days ago) are no longer eligible for counselling, except in special circumstances.

Teresa G (DV/SARP) discussed the PARTY program which educates about the effects of irresponsible alcohol/drug consumption on teens. It is run by nurses out of Sunnybrook hospital. Brenda Hudson said that there could be peer mentorship potential with such a program if its leaders included alumni from the school that the teens could identify with.

Kim C discussed the recent Human Trafficking Event. It was suggested that perhaps the lower than expected turnout reflected a fatigue with the darkness and suffering experienced in our community recently. However, those who attended gave very positive reviews.

Rahno G. introduced herself as the new Executive Director of Alternatives for Women. She would like to continue her involvement on the Education and Training committee.

Lisa W gave the awards to the community members involved in the April 2010 vigil. This effort was honoured at Queen?s Park and Sally Fremr attended the ceremony to accept the award.

Lorine mentioned that the OPP is undergoing a protocol review and the results are likely to affect procedure with local services, victim services, shelters, etc.

Next Meeting Date

January 12, 2011.

Hastings Board of Education, Board Room

156 Ann Street, Belleville, 1-3 PM