On March 24, 1998 the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto co-sponsored, with the Council of Elizabeth Fry Societies of Ontario, a forum on the topic of privatization. This issue has been identified by the national Elizabeth Fry Society as one of the key issues to be addressed in 1998.

Privatization refers to a general government policy objective that involves the delivery of services to government clients through contracts with non-government organizations.

The contracting out of government services is not a new phenomenon. It has been government practice since the 1970s to contract with non-profit organizations for services such as probation and parole counselling, community service orders, employment programs and others. However, in recent years consideration has been given to using private profit-making organizations to control and manage some of our prisons, with the belief that correctional services can be made to run profitably and more efficiently by private contractors. It is this area that is troubling to non-profit organizations such as the Elizabeth Fry Society and raises the following concerns.

Toronto Elizabeth Fry, with good financial management, and no thought of making a profit, has struggled to reach a balanced budget on programmes where per diem rates have not risen as fast as the cost of living or the cost of providing the service. It is hard to believe that private organizations will be able to run at a profit without cutting services and imposing employment conditions which will be detrimental to both clients and employees alike.

The use of those incarcerated as commodities for profit making and the shift in focus from quality of service to profits and lower costs as a motivation for service provision are areas that are of particular concern to the Elizabeth Fry Society.

The possible loss of the advocacy function currently provided by non-profit agencies is also an area of great concern. S24 of the Freedom of Information Act states that “no public body may release information supplied by a third person if its disclosure would likely hamper contractual negotiations that would result in losses for the third person in the form of profit or competitive margin without their consent”. Therefore, advocacy groups or incarcerated women themselves, may be unable to access information about policies or other correctional contracting information, which could leave all kinds of areas uninvestigated. The relinquishing of government control also raises legal and ethical questions. Will the public tolerate private corporations deciding matters such as solitary confinement or use of force in preventing escape attempts? What about the employees right to strike, bankruptcy of the private corporation, prisoners constitutional rights versus the rights of corporations?

If the profit-making organization is assigned a role in making release or transfer recommendations, the vendor’s vested interest in keeping a privatized facility fully occupied may conflict with the Correctional Services’ interest in maximizing pre-release and parole opportunities.

Keeping an institution full will also satisfy the public demands for longer periods of incarceration. Profit making corporations also have a responsibility to their shareholders and therefore the corporations’ goals may come into conflict with the responsibility they have to their clients.

According to the government, the most frequently cited benefits of prisons run by private, profit-making organizations are improvements in administrative operations, cost savings, improved services and conditions, reduced training requirements, decreased agency liability, better accountability, unique service provision, better use of space. However, the effectiveness of these organizations will be measured by the delivery of equal or improved services to the inmates, at the least cost to government. However, getting more for less is always at the expense of someone and costs of monitoring and controlling these services are difficult to measure.

Presumably the government has set standards for safe, fair and humane delivery of correctional services in Canada regardless of who operates prisons and it is those standards in their implementation which should be of primary concern rather than whether the operator is public or private. However, unless well planned, prisons for profit could lead to lack of accountability and access to information, labour unrest, too high a reliance on mechanized intervention instead of human contact, the deterioration of inmates’ right to safe, fair and humane treatment, and prisons that are always at full capacity.

However, perhaps the argument we should be making is whether a punitive based ineffective correctional system, whether it is run by government or a privately run company is still the direction society should be going, or whether more community based-programming would be more effective for the rehabilitation of many offenders.

A critical area of concern, particularly during the past decade, has been the impact of the criminal justice system on the lives of incarcerated mothers and their children. There has been a recent focus by Correctional Services of Canada, as well as the provincial system, on understanding how the criminal justice system should respond to this issue. Children of federally sentenced women have been permitted to remain with their mothers for extended periods of time in some institutions and parenting courses are now being offered in both the federal and provincial system. Active discussions are also taking place in both the federal and provincial systems regarding how to best maintain a significant tie between mothers and their children while they are incarcerated.

The Elizabeth Fry Society has continually held the opinion that this is an important issue that has a major impact on the lives our clients. We have experienced first hand the distress that women feel when they are separated from their children and the impact this has on their well being while they are incarcerated. We have also experienced first hand the distress women experience when they attempt to re-integrate back into the role of mother after incarceration. Finally, we have witnessed the long term impact that separation from their parents can have on the next generation of young women when we see second generation clients at our agency.

Recent criminology literature states that maternal separation is a factor in a child's involvement in criminal activity, in their ability to develop stable and effective interpersonal relationships, and in their potential to have chronic behaviour and mental health problems. In 1994, a study by Margaret Shaw revealed that 34% of federally sentenced women surveyed had children under five years of age.

Even in the most healthy and loving families, the incarceration of a woman who has children will have an impact on both members of the family. Guilt related to abandonment of her children, anger she may experience from her children upon her return, re-establishing her role as the primary caregiver, are some of the issues that are necessary to address as she attempts to re-enter her children's lives.

The agency believes it can assist with the difficulties that a woman may experience during the re-entry process and improve the chances of both mothers and children living healthier lives. In the spirit of this vision the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto started an innovative parenting program on February 2, 1998.

The agency has established a three-phase program which will be implemented over the coming year. The first phase will consist of an institution based group which will take place at the Vanier Centre for Women, a provincial institution. This group is for women who are scheduled to be released within the next two to three months and have children in the community.

The second phase will consist of a community-based group for women who have recently been released from a correctional facility or who have been mandated to attend a parenting skills group as a condition of their parole or probation order.

The third phase consists of a self-help group which will provide an on going group for women who have attended any of the parenting programs at the agency and would like the continued support of their peers.

As an adjunct to the community based groups, participants will have access to the provision of family therapy for themselves and their children. The goal of this service is to assist women in working directly with their children, partners or alternative care givers, to integrate the material they are learning into their own families.

The agency welcomes Linda Brotman and Nzinga Walker to this programme as our parenting programme staff.

On Thursday, May 7, 1998 at 7 p.m. the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto will present its sixth annual Rebels for a Cause and silent auction event at the Metro Central YMCA Auditorium. Tickets are $30.

What Is A Rebel?

A Rebel is a Canadian woman who has displayed unique achievement as well as contributed originality and spirit to Canadian life. In the past five years our awesome array of honoured Rebels have included: Maureen Forrester, Barbara Hall, Roberta Jamieson, Dr. Ursula Franklin, Michele Landsberg, Jean Lumb, Audrey McLaughlin, Kay McPherson, Taborah Johnson, Sandra Shamas, Jeanette Corbiere- Lavelle, Linda Torney.

Please join us for a spirited evening of storytelling in support of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto.

Tickets will be going on sale soon! Call 924-3708 ext. 234.

The perfect Mother's Day Gift! Bring Mom along!

Almost six years ago I decided I wanted to be a volunteer but didn't know where. I made some calls but most places treated me as if they were doing me a favour by answering the phone. Almost all said they would call be back in a few months. E. Fry was different -- I felt respected and valued from the beginning. Although I'd never considered volunteering in a detention centre, I soon felt a conviction that the women in "the system" were the women I most wanted to support.

I joined the recreational program at the West Detention Centre and on the first Wednesday of every month I go to "the West" to play board games and have snacks with incarcerated women.

My first night was hell. Claustrophobic and intimidated by institutions of all shapes and sizes, I was terror stricken. Would the women be angry? Violent? Confrontational? Would I have to call upon the old "street smart" me who could sneer along with the best of them?

But here we were, the first night, playing Scruples. My anxiety was such that when it was my turn to play and I was asked a question, I couldn't understand it. They read it again and again to no avail. Everyone waited and waited until I stuttered out something non-sensical.

When the crisis passed and I got my bearings, I began to see that the West was nothing like what I feared it would be. I started to relax. In fact, the women were not focused on me at all. There was a woman among them who had learned that day that she was pregnant. She was stopping over at the West on her way to the Prison for Women in Kingston. I'll never forget her. She kept crying. She was such a bundle of confused emotion -- sad and vulnerable, quietly distraught, and reluctantly happy.

Seeing how supportive the women were -- how they took care of one another -- was a valuable first experience for me. My job that night was simply to make sure that the cups were filled with pop and the bowls filled with chips, which was fine by me.

The evenings are not always easy. Occasionally there is a rift in the group. Sometimes there's a woman who challenges us. But there are also many evenings when we laugh and laugh; when the mood is so light it carries us away.

But I never want to go. I don't like it there. It smells like hospital food and everything is the worst possible shade of beige.

Yet I go. I go because I have become good friends with my fellow group members Kathy Topper and Linda Weichel; I go because after every evening at the West, whether it went well or not, the women say "thank you for coming".

While the recreation nights at the West may provide a diversion for the women there, they are also a diversion for me; a chance to look outwards, rather than inwards. They have become a part of my life and I expect, in some way, they always will be.

Over the past years, the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto has received generous donations from supporters who remembered us in their wills by designating specific bequests to the organization. This year again, we were fortunate to receive a bequest from the estate of a long time donor and former Board member, Helen Denison James, whose gift will enable us to carry out activities that we have long wished to undertake but have been unable to do so in the current funding climate.

This special provision in the will of Ms. James that a bequest be given to the Elizabeth Fry Society, is an example of planned giving.

What exactly is a planned gift?

A planned gift is one that is promised now but often not realized until some time in the future. A planned gift can be made through a will, through an insurance policy by way of an annuity, or in the form of tangible property. In many cases, an organization does not receive any benefit from the gift until after the donor's death.

Planned giving donations are becoming increasingly popular in Canada. For many people, the day to day fiscal demands that they face often mean that there is not always as much money left over as they might wish to support their favourite charities. Making provision for donations in your will can allow you to make the type of donation you might have wanted to make but have been unable to do so. Planned giving donations are particularly appropriate for people who have assets such as houses or insurance policies and do not have to worry about ensuring that the entire body of their estate be used to provide for dependents.

A bequest can be made by simply adding a codicil or clause to a will, naming the charity as recipient of either a fixed amount or a percentage of an estate.

Other types of planned gifts can be gifts of property such as securities, real estate, or certified cultural property. One of our donors left a portion of the proceeds of the sale of her home after her death.

The proceeds of a life insurance policy can be designated for a charity. When a charity is named as the beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy, the donor receives a tax receipt for the cash value of the policy, when it is transferred, as well as for each premium payment thereafter. A donor may also purchase a new insurance policy and give it to the charity. A devoted supporter of E. Fry has chosen to do this and therefore, her yearly premium payment counts as her yearly donation to E. Fry. Upon her death, the organization will receive the full value of her policy.

With a charitable remainder trust, the donor transfers assets to a trustee (such as E. Fry) and receives a donation receipt, while also receiving the income earned from those assets. Upon the donor's death, the remaining principal is given to the named charity.

Possibly the ultimate statement of faith for the future of our organization that you, as a supporter of the Elizabeth Fry Society can make, is to leave a gift from your estate. Lawyers suggest that people review their wills every few years to take into account the changing situations of their lives. When next reviewing your will, please consider remembering the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto.

If you would like further information, please contact Barbara Yip or Jonathan Rudin, Directors of Development at 924-3708 ext. 502.

Due to generous donations by several foundations in the Toronto area and a recent bequest by a long time donor, the agency has been able to purchase a number of items on its wish list including a new stove, refrigerator, VCR and dishwasher for our residence and a number of new computers and printers for our offices. Thank you for your support!

Sometimes you get lucky. For the past eight years the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto and our clients have been very lucky. Lucky because of Claire Price.

Claire joined the Board of the Toronto agency in 1990 and was immediately put to work as the Chairperson of the WOMEN GROWING Advisory Committee. WOMEN GROWING -- the agency's employment training program -- was still young and developing and required all of Claire's energy, skill, intelligence, patience, knowledge and time. She was a novice Board member and a busy articling student but she never wavered in her commitment to the program or the agency.

Claire also chaired one of the strategic planning groups through a difficult and intensive process. She also conducted research for our national organization, presented to standing committees, and became a well used agency and United Way speaker -- wait there's more! She attended conferences and workshops and sat on a number of agency committees, sold tickets to events, while unfailingly attending events, and finally became president of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Elizabeth Fry Society. Oh, and while maintaining this incredible pace, she gave birth and raised her son Alex.

As a criminal lawyer she tirelessly represented women in the criminal justice system, and for little glory and little money championed those most in need. Last year when it seemed that as an outgoing Board member Claire might actually get a little rest, she accepted the position of Executive Director of the Council of Elizabeth Fry Societies of Ontario. In this capacity she has already made her presence known by advocating for better prison conditions for provincially sentenced women.

Now it is with mixed emotions that we say goodbye. With her usual cautious conservatism, Claire is pulling up stakes and starting a new life in New Zealand. That's right -- New Zealand! Our loss is most definitely their gain. I know that wherever she goes or whatever she does she will always be fighting the good fight! "Claire, the Elizabeth Fry Society is a better place because of you. We wish you all the best and we will miss you!"