Project LUCID: Environmental scan and needs assessment

Data collection phase, September 2017—March 31, 2018

By Nikki Browne

Nikki Knows is a grassroots initiative that leverages the lived experiences of criminalized young people to build capacity for social change in and around the Canadian Justice System.

As project manager of Project LUCID, a Nikki Knows project funded by the City of Toronto and Laidlaw Foundation, I am currently leading an environmental scan and needs assessment seeking to identify gaps in programs, services, and supports, (e.g. education, employment, housing, etc.), for people being held in, and recently released from, adult (18+ years old) provincial custody in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

At this time, we are looking for at least 60 survey participants—about 10 from each facility listed below—and several key stakeholder and community-based service provider interview participants.

Post-release survey

Post-release survey participants are people who:

1. have recently been released from adult provincial custody
2. are currently living in the GTA
3. Have been out of jail for 12 months or less
4. Were released (from court or directly from jail) on bail, probation, parole, or unconditionally after being incarcerated in one of these facilities:
   1. Vanier Centre for Women
   2. Maplehurst Correctional Complex
   3. Toronto East Detention Centre
   4. Toronto South Detention Centre
   5. Central North Correctional Centre (Penetang)
   6. Central East Correctional Centre (Lindsay)

This anonymous survey is available online and on paper (upon request), and takes about 20‑30 minutes to fill out. There is a $15 gift card for survey completion. When completed online, survey participants receive a confirmation code to use to collect their gift card.

The online post-release survey is open until March 31, 2018.

If you meet the above criteria and would like to participate in the online survey, here is the link: http://m.sgizmoca.com/s3/Project-LUCID-Post-Release-Survey

If you are a service provider, please advertise the post-release online survey, and the link to it, via social media, text, or email to your clients and professional networks.

If you would like to facilitate the survey (e.g. help them with reading, etc.) for any of your clients or other people, please contact me.

Key stakeholder and service provider interviews

Key stakeholders are individuals whose work, policies, practices, and/or activities have an impact on people who are, or have been, held in adult provincial custody. These individuals hold mid or senior level positions within: all levels of government, focused on community development, social policy, safety and wellbeing, or justice; academic institutions; not-for-profit research and/or policy institutions; funding organizations; and law firms.

Community-based service providers are working as frontline staff or management, targeting and/or serving people who are, or have been, held in adult provincial custody through the programs, services, or supports they deliver (within correctional facilities and/or communities in the GTA).

Interviews are confidential and run about 1-1.5 hours. If you’re interested in participating an interview, or have any questions, please contact me.

On completion of this project…

…we hope to use a collective impact framework to address the barriers and gaps identified through the research, and promote the use of the data by broader audiences, such as government, funders and service providers, to inform future research, program/service innovation, and policy development.

The long-term, overarching goal of this project is to improve community re-entry outcomes for people leaving adult provincial custody, through increased access to the supports they need.

How to contact me

Phone: 647-685-2293
Email: LUCID@nikkiknows.org