Non-profit that helps sex offenders rejoin society knows its mission is ‘a tough sell’

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For more than 20 years, a small Ottawa non-profit group has dedicated itself to helping paroled sex offenders find apartments, jobs and community in this city.

The animating idea behind Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) is to protect children and other people from sex crimes by reintegrating sex offenders back into society with care and compassion.

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“The bottom line is we have the same goal as the Children’s Aid Society: to protect our children,” said Susan Love, the former program director of the Ottawa branch of CoSA. “This is our primary mission.”

Ottawa is one of 15 cities in the country with a CoSA branch. The Canadian-made program has also taken root in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea and parts of Europe.

Yet, even though the program has proven its effectiveness – research shows it has lowered recidivism by as much as 83 per cent – its future remains uncertain because of funding challenges.

Federal government support for CoSA ended in 2022 when a five-year Public Safety Canada grant expired.

It means the Ottawa branch of CoSA now relies on short-term grants from the Ottawa Community Foundation, the United Way and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, along with its own fundraising.

But convincing the public to donate to a group that assists sex offenders has never been an easy sell, said Love, chair of an upcoming CoSA gala fundraiser.

Former Ottawa city councillor and mayoral candidate Catherine McKenney will be the keynote speaker at the gala on April 26th. McKenney became familiar with CoSA’s work while still a councillor.

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“I became a supporter of the work that they do,” said McKenney. “Restorative justice is a proven alternative to our more punitive model of justice: It focuses on repairing harm and restoring relationships.”

Kathleen Weedmark left a higher-paying job earlier this year to take over as program director of Ottawa’s CoSA branch because she believes so strongly in the organization’s mission.

“Somebody has to do this work,” she said in an interview. “Somebody has to be the one to offer support…We’re dealing with clients that nobody else wants to deal with.”

Weedmark said all of CoSA’s clients have volunteered for the program: “They’ve essentially raised their hands to say, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore, but I need help.’ And I think we have a responsibility as a community to give them help.”

Research shows many sexual offenders were themselves victims of sexual assault, and Weedmark said the best way to stop that cycle of sexual violence is to help offenders become productive members of society.

“We as a society have a responsibility to stop sexual assault and the way we do that is to support them so that there are no more victims,” Weedmark argued. “Their successful reintegration means everyone in my community is safer.”

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Cliff Yumansky, executive director of CoSA Canada, a national umbrella organization, said two local branches in Montreal and another in Halifax have been forced to close during the past two years because of funding shortfalls.

A CoSA branch in Moncton recently reopened after securing funding from the New Brunswick government.

“We’ve been scrambling trying to secure any kind of funding,” he said.

Part of the challenge, Yumansky said, is that governments can’t agree on who’s responsible for helping to reintegrate sex offenders. Provinces consider it a federal responsibility since many of the offenders come from federal prisons. But federal officials contend that local or provincial governments should take the lead since most offenders are returning home.

“So that’s been a real tough sell,” Yumansky said. “But it’s a real tough sell anyway: This is an offender group that most of the public does not particularly like. They would prefer them not to be coming back to their communities.”

Yumansky, a former director at Public Safety Canada, said the program can also be a hard sell politically, even though it’s cost-effective and evidence-based.

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“I would argue any day of the week this improves community safety more than harsher measures to track or monitor high-risk offenders,” he said.

CoSA was launched in Hamilton, Ont. in 1994, when a local Mennonite minister named Harry Nigh led an effort to provide companionship and support to a high-risk sex offender, Charlie Taylor, being released back into the community.

A pedophile, Taylor had served all of a seven-year sentence for sexually assaulting an eight-year-old boy. Because he had served his full sentence, the Correctional Service of Canada no longer had legal power over him, and Taylor was released without parole conditions or monitoring measures.

Hamilton police warned local residents of Taylor’s presence, and his picture was published in the newspaper.

Nigh and a “circle” of like-minded people from his church supported Taylor in his reintegration into the community, and helped ensure he did not act on dark thoughts or behavioural triggers. Nigh said he knew that if he didn’t “step up,” Taylor would harm more children and spend the rest of his life in prison.

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The circle worked. Taylor lived for 11 years in Hamilton without re-offending; he died in 2005.

The Correctional Service of Canada later funded a pilot project to test the “circle” approach. Research showed the sexual offences recidivism rate was reduced by 70 per cent for 60 high-risk offenders who volunteered for the program, when compared to 60 high-risk offenders not enrolled.

In Ottawa, the CoSA branch was started informally about 25 years ago thanks to Susan Love’s mother, Pat, a former parole officer, and Rev. Garth Bulmer, of St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church. Pat Love supported two or three released sex offenders on a volunteer basis before securing funding from the correctional service.

In January 2002, Susan Love agreed to take on the role of program director even though she had spent most of her career in photography.

“It was a bit of a learning curve,” admitted Love, who retired from the role in January after 22 years.

The Ottawa branch of CoSA has 40 volunteers who work with 13 clients, whom the organization calls “core members.” The non-profit operates on a budget of between $150,000 and $175,000 a year.

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Love said the program works because it’s based on relationships and the fact that core members have asked for help.

“People come to us from prison knowing that they can’t make a go of it alone: They’re tired of prison and don’t want to harm anyone else, but they also know they’re weak and can be triggered,” Love said. “We don’t judge them. We condemn what they’ve done, but we embrace them as valuable human beings.”

As trust builds between core members and their circle, Love said, clients tend to open up and talk about what’s inside their heads. Volunteers ask core members if they’re having inappropriate thoughts, and encourage them to talk about it so that strategies can be put in place to ensure they don’t harm anyone.

“We tell them, ‘It’s not illegal to think about these thoughts; it’s illegal to act on them. So get it out. If we can help you not cross the line, then it’s a win-win for everyone.’”

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