Council adopts Community Safety and Well Being Plan

Clearview council has adopted a Community Safety and Well Being Plan (CSWB) for 2021-2025 that is meant to go beyond a traditional approach to crime prevention.
The plan was presented to council May 31 by Karie Warner of Avail Consulting, who was retained by Clearview, Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and Springwater to develop the joint plan in consultation with the community and key partners including police, service providers in health and mental health, education, community and social services, children/youth services and First Nations communities.
In the first phase of its development, council is required to adopt the plan by July 1, a deadline set out in the province of Ontario’s Bill 175, Safer Ontario Act.
The 82-page report states, the “plan will address local needs based on local risk factors. This type of planning is intended to focus on upstream strategies. By examining and addressing root causes rather than just the symptoms, we can improve the lives of residents in our community by changing outcomes specific to health, well-being and safety… CSWB planning is an opportunity to focus on upstream strategies that will positively impact our residents and our community. Focusing our efforts on addressing the root cause(s) and concentrating our efforts and investments in social development priorities is critical.”
In the initial phase, three areas of focus were identified for the region: mental health and addictions, housing, and access to services.
“When it comes down to how we measure this we know that these are complex social issues; the solutions are not linear, there isn’t one clear path to solve any of these…,” said Warner. “It’s a partnership. We do know that if we work together collaboratively across sectors with coordinated strategies, and I think that’s key, that we can move the needle in the right direction.”
Warner said the hope is that the strategy will connect some dots as to certain risk factors across the county and identify what is needed to enable positive change in a certain area of risk.
The next steps are to form a local CSWB table, facilitating the formation of a regional steering committee.
The full report is posted at clearview.ca.