Development Services Our Focus: Your Future

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1 Town of Fort Erie Community & Development Services Our Focus: Your Future Prepared for Council-in-Committee Report No. CDS Agenda Date November 5, 2007 File No Subject THE ARSON PREVENTION PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN IN THE NIAGARA REGION Recommendations THAT Council accept this report containing The Arson Prevention Program for Children in the Niagara Region for information purposes only; and The TAPP-C Progam continue to be adopted as part of the Fort Erie Fire Department core Fire Education mandate; and The Fire Chief be authorized to endorse the Niagara Region s TAPP-C Protocol Agreement. Relation to Council s Corporate Strategic Plan Priority: C; Financial Stewardship Goal: C1; Effective and Efficient Town Services Initiative: C1.2; Initiate Alternative Service Delivery List of Stakeholders 1) The Firefighters of the Town of Fort Erie 2) The Children and Families of the Town of Fort Erie 3) The Children and Families of the Niagara Region Prepared by: Submitted by: Approved by: Doug Atkins, Public Safety Officer J.W. (Jim) Douglas Fire Chief/CEMC Harry Schlange, MBA Chief Administrative Officer

2 Fire Department Page 2 of 5 Report No. CDS Purpose of Report The Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997, requires that municipalities provide certain components of fire prevention in their communities. One of the required components is the need to address specific risks found in the community. One such risk has been discovered in Niagara Region; that is the high incidence of juvenile fire-setting behaviour. In Fort Erie during the years 2001 to 2006, there were 15 known incidents of fires set by children or youths between the ages of Staff suspect there may have been double that number of suspected fires started by this age group. In 2007, to date we have sustained a rash of arson/vandalism fires that are suspected or known to be youth related. In 2005, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) published their latest study in the series The Mental Health and Well-Being of Ontario Students. The study is based on surveys of students in grades 7-12 in Ontario. More than 7,700 students participated in the survey. One of the survey areas included fire setting. According to the survey, Provincially 27% of students reported setting something on fire (that they weren t supposed to), at least once during the 12 months before the survey. In the Central-South region 1 (which includes Niagara), the number was substantially higher at 40.4%. Responding to a need, in 1991 the Toronto Fire Department and CAMH jointly developed a program to assess and educate children who exhibit inappropriate fire-setting behaviour. This program was initially called the Toronto Arson Prevention Program for Children. Since then, the program has been officially adopted by the Ontario Office of the Fire Marshal and is now called The Arson Prevention Program for Children, or TAPP-C. In 2003, the new Youth Criminal Justice Act was introduced and it permitted police services and the courts to channel youth offenders into remedial programs. For arson offences this usually means a structured program of counseling by fire service and mental health professionals. This change in legislation has increased the demand for suitable programs. In June of 2006, Fire Prevention Officers got together to participate in developing a coordinated approach to implementing a TAPP-C Progam in Niagara. Until that time, such programs had been done on an ad-hoc basis, or through limited local arrangements between fire departments and mental health professionals. Fort Erie is one such community that has been involved in the TAPP-C Progam since the mid 1990 s. At that time, we could carry out the Fire Department part of the program, but had difficulty accessing resources outside the Department. In the past year, the committee representing the core service providers assisted in the development of a protocol for the implementation and operation of a TAPP-C Progam in Niagara. The core group includes all local fire services in the Niagara Region, Contact Niagara, Niagara Regional Police, Niagara Youth Justice Services, Niagara Family and Childrens Services, Niagara Child and Youth Services, and Centre de Santé Communautaire Hamilton/Niagara. 1 Central-South Region includes Niagara, Hamilton/Wentworth, Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk.

3 Fire Department Page 3 of 5 Report No. CDS Analysis The Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 mandates communities to establish and maintain public education programs with respect to fire safety and certain components of fire prevention. Furthermore, the legislation requires that municipalities do a risk assessment in their communities and develop and implement programs to address the risks identified. This mandate addresses the importance of the municipality being pro-active in reducing fire and the threat of fire through education and prevention. Child and youth arson is an identified risk in Niagara. There is an established need to provide effective fire safety education to children and youths at risk. Such a program must be coordinated with mental health assessment and counseling as required. TAPP C is a collaborative intervention program that is delivered by both fire service and mental health professionals in the community. It is based on the premise that unsupervised fire involvement by most juveniles is best addressed through a combination of fire safety education and appropriate mental health service. It is family-based in design so that all family members benefit from participation. TAPP-C is the most successful child fire-setting intervention program of its kind. It has a reported success rate of over 70%. The success of this program has been recognized in many other jurisdictions in Canada and the USA, where similar programs have since been instituted. For most children, fire play is the result of a normal curiosity about fire. They do not understand or know how to handle fire properly. However, for some fire play is a symptom of other problems. This program helps to determine why a particular child is involved in firesetting and depending upon the assessment, provides the appropriate treatment and follow-up. Children involved with fire are referred to the program by parents or caregivers, local fire, or police departments, schools, mental health centres, probation offices, crown attorneys, judges, or any other concerned individuals or agencies. Often parents will refer their own children if there is a concern about their behaviour with fire. Once a child is referred to the program, the local participating fire department will immediately schedule a Home Fire Safety Check and fire safety education sessions with the child and family. The child could also be referred to local mental health professionals for an assessment. The child will be assessed using a protocol developed specifically by the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry for TAPP C. This assessment is intended to determine why a particular child is involved in fire-setting, and whether mental health treatment is required.

4 Fire Department Page 4 of 5 Report No. CDS Purpose Of TAPP C 1. To help reduce the number of fires, injuries and loss of life and property that is caused by child/youth fire-setters. 2. With the mental health assessment, the program will be able to distinguish between fire-setters who exhibit a normal curiosity about fire and those who may have a serious mental health/behavioural problem of which setting fires is a symptom. 3. To use education as the primary tool to help reduce child/youth fire-setting. 4. To ensure that all children in the program receive fire safety education. 5. Children requiring ongoing mental health counseling receive continuing treatment. Fort Erie investigates all fires to determine cause and origin. This is a requirement of Provincial legislation. Usually the investigations of fires are conclusive, but certain fires may lead to only partial conclusions, wherein the fire cause is suspected but cannot be determined absolutely. Statistically, some fires are recorded as unknown due to the lack of physical evidence. However, in many of these unknown cases, other indicators point to intentionally set fires. Financial/Staffing Implications There are no staffing implications. Existing resources will be utilized as described in the Fire Department Master Plan and Establishing and Regulating By-law. As an identified risk factor, the high incidence of juvenile fire-setting in the Niagara Region, and in our case specifically here in Fort Erie, must be addressed. The program has been a part of Fire Department Services in Fort Erie since the mid 1990 s. The cost of this program has been a part of the Fire Department s Public Education budget since that time. The existing fire service resources will be reprioritized to encompass what is a core service requirement. Policies Affecting Proposal By-law No adopted Council s Corporate Strategic Plan. Priority: C; Financial Stewardship Goal: C1; Effective and Efficient Town Services Initiative: C1.2; Initiate Alternative Service Delivery By law No (the Fire Department Establishing and Regulating By-law) recognizes Public fire safety education and fire cause follow-up as to human behaviour, as a core component of the Fire Department services. The TAPP-C Progam is an integral part of these core services. The protocol described in this report simply ensures all partners in the program are operating in a similar fashion.

5 Fire Department Page 5 of 5 Report No. CDS Comments from Relevant Departments/Community and Corporate Partners All fire departments in the Region of Niagara, as well as the Region of Niagara s mental health providers have expressed a willingness to participate in this program. The program fills a gap in the delivery of fire prevention and education services. Alternatives No alternatives are provided. Conclusion Juvenile fire-setting is a recognized issue in Niagara. The Fort Erie Fire Department, in partnership with the other regional fire departments, Contact Niagara, and many other community stakeholders have developed a strategy to implement a Juvenile Fire-setters Intervention Program. In 2006, a steering committee was founded. That committee has created a working model for the Niagara Region Arson Prevention Program for Children, TAPP-C. The objective of TAPP-C is to reduce the risk of fire-setting among children and adolescents. This program will identify children who may be at risk and will make appropriate education and counseling available to them on a voluntary basis. The TAPP-C Progam is managed by a local steering committee in partnership with the Fire Marshal s Public Fire Safety Council and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. There is no cost to the youth or their family. The Niagara Region experiences hundreds of fires each year. Some of these fires are known to be set by children, either playing with fire or as a deliberate act. These fires have potentially extreme consequences. Identified children can receive both the fire safety education and mental health assessment through the TAPP-C Progam. Statistically the rate of recidivism (repeat offenders) is very low when counseling and fire education is received after a child s involvement with fire. The TAPP-C program has a record of success in other jurisdictions and should prove the same for Niagara. Attachments Appendix No. 1 ~ TAPP-C Protocol