COMMUNITY COURT DUCKS AND WEAVES WITH STATS

Birthdays are a time for reflection on the year past. Was it a good
year or a bad year? Am I richer or poorer, fatter or skinnier, smarter
or dumber? Birthdays are a time for statistics and evaluation. They
can also be a time for self deception if the news isn't flattering.
The Downtown Community Court is Vancouver's leading light to shine the
way for the lost out of the root causes of crime: poverty, addiction
and mental illness. It is facing one of those times of reflection
after one year in operation.

A recent media release from the Criminal Justice Reform branch of the
provincial government that celebrates the court's first birthday picks
and chooses some oddly worded statistics to illustrate the "success"
of the court's first year.

Beyond the weirdness of the stats chosen in the release, other
statistics you would expect to find in the report on the court's work
are simply missing. Really glaringly missing. Like you've asked your
friends how your year went from their perspective, and they're going
on and on about that sweater you bought eight months ago, and how that
was a really good move because it really slims you out.

Sure, you say, it's a great sweater, but what about my new
fiance?

What is not in dispute, looking at the court's analysis of its own
stats, is that the staff there have churned through a lot of people --
1,786 accused individuals appeared on 1,970 cases. That is no small
accomplishment.

What is also impossible to deny is that the court has squeezed a lot
of free work hours out of the mentally ill and addicted, among others,
amounting to more than 6,000 hours of community service time, largely
for the benefit of non-profits on the Downtown Eastside.

But start asking the tough questions when reading this release from
the court's friends, and you'll find a lot of talk about the court's
good-looking new sweater.

How many repeat offenders have been steered onto the straight and
narrow? "Some," or perhaps "many," depending on which quote you read.

How many people have been offered and received drug treatment or
mental health treatment?

Well, 568 "attended social, health and mental health programming at
DCC" where they got health information that is a "catalyst to
receiving health services" and referrals "to appropriate community and
residential resources."

No, really, how many have been offered and received drug treatment or
mental health treatment?

No statistic provided.

How many people applied for welfare, compared to the 35 who received
it?

No statistic provided.

How many of the 209 people who received "shelter or housing" went into
an emergency shelter with a mat on a gym floor, compared to receiving
supportive housing or social housing?

No statistic provided.

What makes this dearth of statistics troubling is that this project is
closely monitored. I mean, really, really closely monitored. The
criminology department at SFU is evaluating the court's progress in
detail. They've surely got stats that will make your head spin.

What we need to evaluate this court's performance in addressing the
root causes of crimes of poverty, mental health and addiction are real
statistics, not sweater talk.

With only one year down, nobody is expecting the court to have worked
miracles, but a stat of at least, what, five people into drug
treatment and supportive housing and out of a life of scraping by on
the streets would be helpful news.

Without the real numbers, these sweater statistics might just thin the
court out for its first birthday, but they're not going to save it
from some harsh comments on its second birthday. Sweaters begin to
fray after a while, especially if you wear them every day.