Faculty of Social & Community Services News

Recently, Chris has been hired as a Municipal Law Enforcement Officer in the Town of Orangeville and he credits the course material from his CE class, which he studied to prepare for his interview, with helping him to succeed and land the job! Wishing Chris, the very best of luck in his new career.

as the new School, Community Engagement, and Safety Police Officer in the Municipality of Grey Highlands, Grey County.

The announcement was recently featured in Collingwood Today. Click here to read to the full article.

For more information on FSCS Alumni and Advancement Initiatives, please contact Manager, International & Strategic Initiatives, Stephanie Byer.

*Provincial Constable Nicholas Wilson. Photo provided by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Daniel also recently presented his research at the Regulating Cannabis Edibles conference in Toronto. He is a drug policy expert, with more than 15 years of experience conducting research on a variety of policy issues.

Combined, FSCS students accrued more than 7,000 hours of placement credit.

Under the leadership of Linda Hill and Philip Burge in collaboration with Cross-Cultural Solutions, 19 students from a variety of FSCS programs worked with young children at a primary school in a small community outside of Lima. Students spent their mornings facilitating educational lessons and activities with the children, and in the afternoons, took part in learning experiences that focused on Peruvian history and culture such as cooking lessons, art and calligraphy lessons, and visiting local sites and museums.

Later in the month, 16 FSCS students embarked to Kingston, Jamaica where they engaged in lectures, volunteer projects, and cultural learning experiences that focused on criminal justice and youth in Jamaica. This trip was developed under the leadership of Sheria Myrie, Lisa Cummings, and Coura Niang in collaboration with the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at the University of West Indies – Mona. Highlights from the trip included visiting the Jamaica Defense Force Base, the Ministry of National Security, and volunteering at Annie Dawson’s Children Home, Boys’ Town Infant and Primary School, and with the We Transform project at the Rio Cobre Juvenile Correctional Centre.

Focus groups were held in January 2019 to gather feedback from current Neighbourhood Officers as to what is working and what needs improvements within the Enhanced Model of the NOP (which was launched in Oct 2018). The Associate Dean, Dr. Joanna Amirault, faculty members Dr. Alyssa Ferns and Dr. Doug Thomson, and Program Coordinator – Forensic Identification, Michael Gamble, led focus groups with officers and presented their data collection plans to the divisions that are supported by the Community Partnership Engagement Unit. Currently, two Humber student Research Assistants, Trisha Harber and Dominika Kubica, are working with two Humber BSS Criminal Justice alumni, Jeremi Berg and Crystial Stone, and Research Coordinator, Tanvir Kaukab, to collect data in the enhanced model neighbourhoods – 11, 22, 41, 42. Data collection started in May 2019 and will continue into the Fall 2019 across these communities to ask questions about community knowledge of the NOP and trust in their neighbourhood officers at reducing crime, as well as the fear of crime in these micro-neighbourhoods.

Members are all Police Foundation students in Humber College’s Faculty of Social & Community Services. The 22nd Division Toronto Police Service Rover Crew is a Scouts Canada group consisting of students from Humber’s Faculty of Social & Community Services that volunteers with the Toronto Police Service. In addition to working alongside the TPS, the Rovers are active in the community, providing opportunities for leadership and volunteering. Some of the initiatives the group participates in include the 55 Division community barbecue, the Etobicoke Park Clean Up, Mothers Against Drunk Driving Red Ribbon campaign and the Humber RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) check. The investiture was featured as a Toronto Police Services news story in February. The full article can be found here.

The GSS offers a unique opportunity for both Humber and non-Humber students to work together with peers from around the world to explore and discuss critical issues that require multidisciplinary solutions with global perspectives. The FSCS was thrilled to host two Global Summer School courses: Transformational Leadership & Advocacy and the Summer Police Program. Through the two courses, 28 Humber students and 21 non-Humber students from China, Indonesia and Jamaica completed the program for academic credit and experiential learning experience in a truly global and interdisciplinary environment.

At the event, guests learned more about the programs offered in the Criminal Justice and Human Services clusters. Representatives from each program along with student services representatives from across the College were available to discuss opportunities and resources available to Humber students, and to answer questions. 

This is a special annual event to celebrate and recognize the invaluable contributions of partnering agencies who help bring learning to life for our students in the field. A series of professional development sessions were offered as part of the event including sessions on Social Innovation in the Classroom, Collaborating with Humber on Projects and Applied Research, Grant Writing 101 and Managing Difficult Situations in the Field. To bring the event to a close, a cocktail happy hour with a performance by the Humber Jazz Band provided a perfect environment for attendees to share their impressions and ideas generated from the workshops and from their experiences with placement students.

The project aims to end violence in the respective countries and has set out to create an e-learning platform that serves this goal. After their kick-off seminar in December, the professors split into two teams according to their various subject matter expertise. One team, comprised of professors, nurses and midwives have taken on violence in health settings. The other team, comprised of educators, CYCs and ECEs, has taken on the task of addressing violence in institutional settings.

Students and professors have since visited each other across the globe! From midwifery students in Hoima, Uganda, to a conference on Kindergartens in Hanoi, Vietnam, colleagues have continued to connect and build content. The e-learning activities are being submitted. Stay tuned for the material that will be made available when the project closes in 2020.

These student research assistants - who are in the Community Development and Criminal Justice degree programs - have been working on the TPS Neighbourhood Officer Evaluation.

She will present on the Toronto Police Services Neighbourhood Officer initiatives to a multi-disciplinary group with the theme of “Working and Engaging in a Diverse World.” Building upon a program evaluation that was conducted on the Neighbourhood Officer Program by Humber ITAL from 2014 onwards, a specific exploration of the strengths and challenges within one micro-neighbourhood was explored. A total of 154 surveys were completed showing various strengths (i.e., public library access, friendly neighbours, and community centres for youth) and also some challenges (i.e., gun violence, unemployment and gang activity). The overall results showed that the community had a positive outlook on the Neighbourhood Policing Program. This will be presented to an audience of current law enforcement, applied researchers, policy makers, and academics.

As a key outcome of this visit, the FSCS developed a Summer Police Program specifically for NFPC which will host 18 students from Nanjing as part of Humber’s innovative Global Summer School program. The FSCS is also looking forward to welcoming the third cohort of students from Nanjing who will be studying at Humber College in the FSCS Forensic Identification Graduate Certificate Program in Fall 2019. Accompanying the newest cohort will be two visiting faculty members who will be working closely with FSCS faculty in the Criminal Justice cluster for the 2019-20 academic year.

The Cycle Ends Now was initiated as a school project by four students in the Bachelor of Social Science - Criminal Justice program: Meshanda Phillips, Anna-Lori Stennett-Thomas, Nadel Dolcy and Tonya Lyttle. Cycle Ends Now, a soon to be registered non- profit organization has a vision to end intimate partner violence against all women and children of different cultural, and religious background by providing shelter, counseling and life-skills based programs. In May 2019, the first C.E.N give back event was initiated. Cycle Ends Now partnered with Anduhyaun Women Shelter, by donating various grocery items. The founder of C.E.N also made grocery and two gift card donations to a client of The Gatehouse. Additionally, C.E.N began its first annual Christmas Toy Drive in December 2018. All toys received were donated to the Toronto Community Housing.

The project is titled: Look at my Life: Youth Identified ‘Sparks’ for Firearm Possession Among Young People in Toronto.

Tina-Nadia Gopal Chambers, a faculty member of the Child and Youth Care program, was the Principal Researcher on the project. The research findings were released in July, 2018 which identified the following influences that contribute to young people becoming involved in crime:

• Risk factors, including trauma, family environment, lack of non-family adults/mentors, lack of community programs, negative peers, and negative school experiences;
• Systemic barriers, including racism, poverty, lack of community safety; and
• Barriers after being incarcerated, including accessing employment due to a criminal record and a lack of education, and returning to the same environment with little support.

A copy of the report is available at: http://www.amadeusz.ca/research-2/.

Receiving $7,000.00 in funding from the Government of Canada, the joint-project proposal was one of 33 selected from a competition open to post-secondary institutes across Canada. Overall, 33 projects from 22 institutes across seven provinces were selected. The Faculty Mobility Program provides full-time faculty at Canadian post-secondary institutes with short-term opportunities to teach or conduct research in Latin Americas and the Caribbean, at the college, undergraduate and graduate levels. In collaboration with USIL, the SSCS submitted a project proposal titled “Case-based Curriculum through Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL).” In May 2019, Community Development faculty from USIL and Humber College will create case-based learning (CBL) modules that focus on people coming together to identify and address local issues. Each case will include detailed background information on socio-cultural, political and economic realities that impact decision making and outcomes related to community work in each country. The cases will support students in examining root causes of community problems and resources/solutions available to address issues through different cultural lenses. Using Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) models, faculty from Canada and Peru will connect their classrooms via webinars to work through cases and learn from one another.

For more information on the Faculty Mobility Program, please click here.

This funding will go directly to supporting students embarking on a faculty-led trip to Lima, Peru in May, 2019. This funding covers 50% of the program cost. This is an excellent opportunity for students who may not consider this experience because of financial barriers to participate.

The trip will provide students with service learning opportunities in Villa El Salvador; an area that is organizing and building community capacity many years after the Shining Path movement. Students will learn about leadership development within the community, how people are engaged locally and how local services and resources have been accessed and developed after a forced-migration period. Students will develop their cultural competence and gain an appreciation for 'personal resiliency' and 'post-traumatic growth' in relation to people's ability to 'start over' and care for their community and one another. In keeping with our school commitment to recognizing study abroad opportunities as field experience, the trip will be recognized as a field and seminar course for some programs of study within the School. Faculty are encouraged to promote the trip to their students.

Three inbound students from University College Lillebaelt (Denmark) also arrived in late November to take part in a unique opportunity to complete a six month placement facilitated through the Child and Youth Care programs. Tom, Line and Jacob are Social Work students and will working with SSCS partner organizations with children in youth.

The SSCS is also excited to be hosting the second group of students from the Nanjing Forest Police College, China. Taking courses in Crime Scene Investigation, Police Foundations, and English Language studies this group of 24 students have the unique opportunity to expand their knowledge of basic crime scene investigation skills and techniques and are exposed to the Canadian justice and college system. A celebration for this group was held on December 20th where the students received a Certificate of Participation.

The project replicated the process of planning, excavating and documenting the recovery of the bodies and other evidence related to a homicide investigation. The weather was quite warm leaving our students taking frequent water and rest breaks in a physically demanding and detail-oriented task that left everyone hot, sweaty, dirty, exhausted and smiling. This will be in sharp contrast to night photography in the snow and frigid temperatures they will experience later in the term.

If you are looking for a little adventure, this program will offer a Forensic Identification graduate certificate credential in the fall of 2019 with any diploma or degree qualifying for admission.

Currently, the SSCS is hosting a third visiting scholar, Lisa Zhang, until July 2019. Lisa will be conducting joint applied research with a focus on the differences between China and Canadian policing and postsecondary education. The SSCS and Nanjing Forest Police College are exploring further opportunities for collaborative research and knowledge exchange with faculty from both partner institutes.

As part of Sgt. West's, Traffic Management Course, students were thrilled to participate in the operation of a radar gun (provided and facilitated by PC Tony Foster, Toronto Police) which allowed them the opportunity to witness first-hand the workings of the hand held unit while increasing their knowledge and understanding of the 'facts-in-issue' required by police in obtaining a conviction. 

Humber College Traffic students were also educated on the first ever Draeger 5000 Drug Tester in determining if a driver has marijuana or Cocaine in their system.

The Draeger Drug Tester is the first and only piece of equipment authorized by the Attorney General in allowing Police to demand a saliva sample from a driver in determining if they have a drug in their system, including a sufficient amount to cause impairment acceptable to the courts.

Students were very excited to be involved in this process.