REGINA – A support program that aims to keep high-risk sex offenders from committing new crimes has had part of its funding restored, at least for now.
Circles of Support & Accountability (CoSA) learned in late February that Correctional Service Canada (CSC) was going to stop helping the program entirely.
Late Thursday, that decision was partially reversed.
The prison service would only release a short statement, saying the CSC “has reviewed its decision and agreed to restoring funding to CoSA.”
The program will receive $650,000 this year, but another arm of the federal government won’t be kicking in cash beyond September.
CoSA branches across the country received $2.2-million from Ottawa – $1.5-million of which came from the National Crime Prevention Centre, which will end that commitment later this year.
Leaders from the South Saskatchewan branch say that leaves the program in limbo.
“We keep our volunteers trained as best as we can in all avenues of criminal offending, from mental health, to addictions, to deviancy issues,” said Amanda Goddard, a CoSA coordinator.
“If we don’t have funding to keep our volunteers trained, they can’t keep the core members accountable or support the core members, which in turn, impacts our safety.”
Goddard says, locally, the program has had a 95 per cent success rate in preventing sexual re-offenses.
CoSA officials are also seeking help from the provincial government to cover the shortfall.
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