Family First Proposal

Introduction

Living in a safe community is a quality that most people look for when choosing a place to reside for their family. Selecting a place that has a low crime rate is desirable for multiple people. Unfortunately, for a few communities, the crime rates are much higher than others. This is where Canada and its provinces should aim at bettering, lowering the crime rates in several communities throughout Canada. Although rates of crime have been decreasing, there are still several opportunities for youth to begin a life of crime. Creating a program that will help youth and their parents to create a better life for their children should be a priority in Canada. This proposal will aim to implement a “Family First” program which will supply

The reason this proposal concentrates on primary prevention is because it is easier to teach a young person the correct direction to go in life as apposed to teaching a criminal how to change their ways. Although crime rates in Canada have not increased, the amount of incarcerated people in Canada is still high and costs society money; “taxpayers spend 36,000 per inmate per year at just the state prison level, not including local jails” (14). The amount of prisoners is constantly changing every single day, however in 2012 there were 413,951 in Canada. Although this proposal is aimed at preventing criminal behaviour before it happens it has a lot to do with future crime rates and incarceration rates. The problem that Families First home visiting is designed toward is keeping the incarceration and the cost of prisoners down. However, the home visiting program also has another purpose, it wants to help parents take proper care of their children which can have mental and physical benefits as well as keeping their children out of trouble in their futures. Ellonen, Piispa, Peltonen,& Oranen (2013) study found that, “children who are physically abused have elevated rates of violent offences, suicide attempts, and alcohol abuse (3)”. Unfortunately, not every pregnancy is planned and not every parent is ready to have a child. Having a child can cause enormous stress on a family with the extra expense they require. With the increased stress in the home, arguments can ensue and sometimes violence occurs. However, parental violence is not the only issue that can create delinquent behaviour in the future, Levenson, & Grady (2016) discovered that harsh punishments and poor supervision can also contribute to criminal behaviour in the future for the children (1). The Family First home visiting program will