Money seized from gangsters goes to Langley youth programs

This article was written by Matthew Claxton and originally published by the Langley Advance Times

Funding seized from criminal enterprises will help fund a new program in Langley helping young people who have been the victims of abuse and crimes.

The Civil Forfeiture Grant Program is putting $140,000 into a Child and Youth Advocacy Centre run by Langley’s Encompass Support Services Society.

The new program will see Encompass partner with the Langley RCMP and the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) on the new project, set to open in the next three months.

“Right now, if youth are suffering abuse, in order to report that they have to go to the RCMP,” said Loren Roberts, executive director of operations at Encompass.

That means speaking to an officer in an RCMP interview room, which may not be the most welcoming environment.

Then they have to tell the same story again to someone from MCFD, and likely again to apply for help such as therapy.

“In the CYAC model, they should have to tell their story only once,” said Roberts.

And after that, the young person will have an advocate assigned who will help them through the entire process, which can take years if it includes a police investigation and the possibility of a trial.

“That advocate is basically there to support them from the time they’re referred to the program,” said Roberts.

The program is expected to have a lot of demand.

There are about 300 to 500 cases of abuse reported in Langley every year.

“We also know there’s a lot more that are unreported,” Roberts said.

The CYAC model has been popular in the United States for decades, but it’s been slower to take flight here in Canada.

Now they’re becoming more popular because they have great outcomes for the children and young people who take part, said Roberts.

The Langley CYAC is being funded by $150,000 from the federal government and the new $140,000 from the Civil Forfeiture program.

“These dollars go a long way to keeping the lights on,” he said.

But the operational costs of a program and facility like this are likely to be closer to $1 million a year. Encompass is still advocating for more funding from Victoria, which has included CYAC funding in several provincial budget plans, but has not actually delivered on the money yet.

Roberts is hoping that members of the community can help support this and other Encompass programs. Anyone interested in supporting or donating can visit encompass-supports.com/support-us or emailing support@encompass-supports.com.

The CYAC is located at 20230 64 Ave., along with Encompass’ main administration offices.

In addition to the funding for the CYAC, the new civil forfeiture grants will send $40,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Langley for mentoring programs, and $80,000 to the Fraser Region Community Justice Initiatives Program, half for a restorative justice program, and half for support for vulnerable youth in and around Langley.

B.C.’s civil forfeiture program sees the government suing convicted or suspected criminals to seize cash or goods that they acquired as a result of criminal enterprises. People don’t have to have been convicted to be targeted because the burden of proof in civil trials is lower than in criminal trials. Seized items include cash, property, cars, and other items, and the proceeds flow back to community and crime prevention programs.