The Westerner for July 23, 2012
Posted by David J. Turner
on Jul 23, 2012
Meeting: chair and grace, Rob Dunseith; music, Jerome
Attendance/Guests: 28 for meal, guest speakers coming late made 30 including Cathie Graves-Evans plus Wendy Mitchell plus Victor Mitchell, guests of Duane; William Betteridge, Rotary Club of Edmonton Riverview; John Nypiuk, Rotary Club of Edmonton Mayfield; Shane Lafond; guest speakers Marley McGonigle (spouse of Ben Doz) and Constable Sam Najmeddine
Belize Contingent: Duane introduced Cathie, Wendy and Victor who will join him on a trip to Belize in August. Cathie and Wendy will continue the job of giving teaching instruction to the untrained teachers hired by the Placentia area schools. Duane and Victor will get involved in assisting the Rotary Club of Placentia Belize in thier projects including building picnic tables on the beach
Grandview Extended Care Centre Concert: President Rob thanked Jerome for the concert; Jerome thanked the Rotarians that attended on July 17 and advised that the event gave the Grandview residents and other attendees a very good preformance and time
Board of Directors Resolutions: Rob advised that the board kept the annual membership fee the same as past years but decided to increase the lunch charge to $20. This includes one 50/50 ticket and helps streamline the operation of the front desk each week as the members running it will not be involved in providing change (unless extra 50/50 tickets are purchased). This also enables the luncheon revenue to generate sufficient to pay for the meal costs of our guest speakers. Effective July 30 the lunch cost is $20. Current holders of prepaid white tickets will still be asked to pay for their 50/50 tickets until the supply held by each individual member is used up.
Al Hamilton and Friends Golf Classic: tournament runs this Thursday. Volunteers will have an email telling them when to arrive. Arrive early as breakfast is provided. Each volunteer is to wear the new yellow tee shirt also provided. Get it as you arrive if you did not get one at the meeting. John advised that Bill Buckham has arranged for one of the auction items that is very unusual - the chance to ride around Edmonton in a restored B17 bomber
50/50: $58 carried over as Bill Buckham and Al Holmes (the military connection) did not match cards
Finemaster: Bob Lamoureux raised revenue by asking aircraft technology related questions. Ben Doz did well as an eye doctor to know the answer to most of them.
Attendance/Guests: 28 for meal, guest speakers coming late made 30 including Cathie Graves-Evans plus Wendy Mitchell plus Victor Mitchell, guests of Duane; William Betteridge, Rotary Club of Edmonton Riverview; John Nypiuk, Rotary Club of Edmonton Mayfield; Shane Lafond; guest speakers Marley McGonigle (spouse of Ben Doz) and Constable Sam Najmeddine
Belize Contingent: Duane introduced Cathie, Wendy and Victor who will join him on a trip to Belize in August. Cathie and Wendy will continue the job of giving teaching instruction to the untrained teachers hired by the Placentia area schools. Duane and Victor will get involved in assisting the Rotary Club of Placentia Belize in thier projects including building picnic tables on the beach
Grandview Extended Care Centre Concert: President Rob thanked Jerome for the concert; Jerome thanked the Rotarians that attended on July 17 and advised that the event gave the Grandview residents and other attendees a very good preformance and time
Board of Directors Resolutions: Rob advised that the board kept the annual membership fee the same as past years but decided to increase the lunch charge to $20. This includes one 50/50 ticket and helps streamline the operation of the front desk each week as the members running it will not be involved in providing change (unless extra 50/50 tickets are purchased). This also enables the luncheon revenue to generate sufficient to pay for the meal costs of our guest speakers. Effective July 30 the lunch cost is $20. Current holders of prepaid white tickets will still be asked to pay for their 50/50 tickets until the supply held by each individual member is used up.
Al Hamilton and Friends Golf Classic: tournament runs this Thursday. Volunteers will have an email telling them when to arrive. Arrive early as breakfast is provided. Each volunteer is to wear the new yellow tee shirt also provided. Get it as you arrive if you did not get one at the meeting. John advised that Bill Buckham has arranged for one of the auction items that is very unusual - the chance to ride around Edmonton in a restored B17 bomber
50/50: $58 carried over as Bill Buckham and Al Holmes (the military connection) did not match cards
Finemaster: Bob Lamoureux raised revenue by asking aircraft technology related questions. Ben Doz did well as an eye doctor to know the answer to most of them.
Guest Speakers: Mike Ryan introduced Marley and Sam. Sam has been with the Edmonton Police Service for 10 years, is married with 4 children, golfs in his spare time. Marley has been a social worker for 20 years and is one of the original members of the CARRT initiative.
Sam described how new police officers start on street patrol and then can apply to get involved in various specialized patrols. One such is CARRT which stands for Child at Risk Response Team. The team is comprised of a police service member and a social worker from Alberta Children Services. Sam learned from his patrol days, especially in downtown north, that a lot of the calls are family related violence and often involve children who could be at risk. Sam applied for this speciality unit and became Marley's partner one and one half years ago. The police car is considered a one police personnel vehicle as the social worker is not a police person.
Marley explained that CARRT is a partnership between Alberta Children Services and the Edmonton Police Service, started as a pilot project in 1994 as police were very concerned about the needs of children in certain situations. It was a success and was expanded to 6 teams in 1998. The main premise of CARRT is the safety and protection of the child at risk. This relates to physical, mental, emotional abuse and neglect and is especially relavent to children active in the sex trade. After training for a minimum of 3 years in investigations the social worker can apply to join the CARRT project. Marley has been on the project a long time but new members are limited to 3-5 years due to burnout.
On a call Sam looks at the criminal records of people involved (especially if warrants are outstanding) while Marley looks to see if anyone has been involved with Child Services. The main thing on proceeding is the safety of the CARRT team members - if they are hurt then they cannot do their job. A call for backup is placed if violence is expected. Aspects considered as to resolution of the episode {especially if removal of the child is a good possibility} is how old are the kids, are there other kids outside the family present, is there alcohol or drugs present or being consumed. Because Marley is not a police officer and she can be at risk, then Sam has double the safety concern responsibility. 100% of the job is child protection. This includes children left in locked cars. Reality is that the procedure decided on is first for the best interest of the child, then second for the best interest of justice. Arrests are made for criminal activities and children will be removed if the parents are too drunk to care for the child.
The teams get involved in forensic interviews with children that are held at the Zebra Centre [a very good centre supportive of children] and child advocates are present to look after the interests of the children. CARRT interviews children between the ages of 3 and 17. Interviews are recorded and involve questions about sexual, drug, gang and alcohol exposure and abuse. The recorded interviews are used as evidence so the procedure reduces trauma to the child (no cross examination and no questions in an adverse environment). CARRT teams are on the job from 7:00 a m to 4:00 a m (21 hours). There may be only 1 team in the field (due to holidays, giving of evidence, interviewing children, etc.). In 2011, the teams responded to more than 1800 calls. 2012 to date they have reponded to 1600 calls. Teams get called constantly by other officers. Because the teams cannot respond to every situation, the members end up coaching police officers over the phone as to how to proceed or interview. In 15% of the calls, children are apprehended [about once per day]. Consideration is given to whether kids can go to live with other members of the family and whether the situation is long term.
CARRT members tend to joke alot to cope. The message given back from Rotarians was "thankyou for keeping us safe".
Marley and Sam were thanked by Jerome.
Sam described how new police officers start on street patrol and then can apply to get involved in various specialized patrols. One such is CARRT which stands for Child at Risk Response Team. The team is comprised of a police service member and a social worker from Alberta Children Services. Sam learned from his patrol days, especially in downtown north, that a lot of the calls are family related violence and often involve children who could be at risk. Sam applied for this speciality unit and became Marley's partner one and one half years ago. The police car is considered a one police personnel vehicle as the social worker is not a police person.
Marley explained that CARRT is a partnership between Alberta Children Services and the Edmonton Police Service, started as a pilot project in 1994 as police were very concerned about the needs of children in certain situations. It was a success and was expanded to 6 teams in 1998. The main premise of CARRT is the safety and protection of the child at risk. This relates to physical, mental, emotional abuse and neglect and is especially relavent to children active in the sex trade. After training for a minimum of 3 years in investigations the social worker can apply to join the CARRT project. Marley has been on the project a long time but new members are limited to 3-5 years due to burnout.
On a call Sam looks at the criminal records of people involved (especially if warrants are outstanding) while Marley looks to see if anyone has been involved with Child Services. The main thing on proceeding is the safety of the CARRT team members - if they are hurt then they cannot do their job. A call for backup is placed if violence is expected. Aspects considered as to resolution of the episode {especially if removal of the child is a good possibility} is how old are the kids, are there other kids outside the family present, is there alcohol or drugs present or being consumed. Because Marley is not a police officer and she can be at risk, then Sam has double the safety concern responsibility. 100% of the job is child protection. This includes children left in locked cars. Reality is that the procedure decided on is first for the best interest of the child, then second for the best interest of justice. Arrests are made for criminal activities and children will be removed if the parents are too drunk to care for the child.
The teams get involved in forensic interviews with children that are held at the Zebra Centre [a very good centre supportive of children] and child advocates are present to look after the interests of the children. CARRT interviews children between the ages of 3 and 17. Interviews are recorded and involve questions about sexual, drug, gang and alcohol exposure and abuse. The recorded interviews are used as evidence so the procedure reduces trauma to the child (no cross examination and no questions in an adverse environment). CARRT teams are on the job from 7:00 a m to 4:00 a m (21 hours). There may be only 1 team in the field (due to holidays, giving of evidence, interviewing children, etc.). In 2011, the teams responded to more than 1800 calls. 2012 to date they have reponded to 1600 calls. Teams get called constantly by other officers. Because the teams cannot respond to every situation, the members end up coaching police officers over the phone as to how to proceed or interview. In 15% of the calls, children are apprehended [about once per day]. Consideration is given to whether kids can go to live with other members of the family and whether the situation is long term.
CARRT members tend to joke alot to cope. The message given back from Rotarians was "thankyou for keeping us safe".
Marley and Sam were thanked by Jerome.