Halifax Regional Council declined to provide funding to Ceasefire Halifax on Tuesday, instead choosing to absorb some of the features of the program into municipal services after council learned that the organization had received funding from the province for the next three months.
According to a letter presented during the council meeting, Ceasefire Halifax, which supports youth who are at a high risk of becoming involved in violence, will receive funding from Nova Scotia’s Department of Justice for the period of April 1 to July 15.
“We have a system, we have a model that we can follow, the problem to date is that we’ve been underfunded and understaffed,” said Mel Lucas, the program coordinator for Ceasefire Halifax.
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The decision to not fund the program came after a report by Halifax Regional Council recommended the city integrate some components of the Ceasefire model into its existing youth programs while also looking at external funding options to support crime prevention programs for youth in the city.
The recommendations passed unanimously, with a vote of 16 to 0.
Much of the discussion between councillors focused on whether there was enough evidence to support the concept that the Ceasefire program works in Halifax.
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The staff report had indicated that there was very little data to point to concrete results, though they did say it was a caveat – Ceasefire Halifax is based off a model in the United States, which has support workers become embedded in communities where violence has been identified as an issue.
“The variables in Chicago correlate but they don’t causate to Halifax,” said Councillor Richard Zurawski.
He added that Halifax is a very different city than Chicago and that by measuring the program by using the same standards found in the United States, it may have allowed the real effects of the program to be missed.
“This is the first program of its type in the nation to actually employ individuals in the community, directly interacting with high-risk folks who have fallen through the cracks,” said Lucas.
Theresa Allison is one of the people that says the program has helped her family.
Last fall, her world was turned upside down when her daughter was shot in the leg.
“She was in the hospital for a little bit and I only work a minimum wage job and then I had to take the time off work, so you tell me, how am I going to pay my bills?” Allison said.
Desperate for support, she says she didn’t even have to pick up the phone before there was a knock at the door.
“CeaseFire was the people who showed up at my door and said, ‘Hey are you okay? Do you need anything?'” Allison said.
WATCH: CeaseFire Halifax makes funding pitch to Halifax board
Councillor Lindell Smith said that the conversation around the program was “difficult” but necessary.
Smith said he believes in the program and the benefits it brings to the region, but sided with the staff report that found a lack of evidence as to whether or not the program was the right fit for the municipality.
“The program overall, the model is great, but as a city is it something we want to support with taxpayer dollars?” said Smith.
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