Calgary John Howard Society

The Calgary John Howard Society is a community-based charitable organization dedicated to reducing the incidence of crime and increasing community safety through preventative and restorative justice practices.

To accomplish these ends, we provide:

Direct services to individuals at risk
Advocacy for effective responses to crime and the individuals involved
Education for youth and adults in the community

Our Vision Statement
An informed community active in preventing crime.

Our Mission Statement
Promoting positive change through humane, just, and informed responses to crime and its effects.

Our Core Values
Every person has intrinsic worth and must be treated with dignity, equity, fairness and compassion.
Every person has the right to live in a safe and peaceful society.
Maintaining a safe and peaceful society through humane responses to crime is every person's responsibility.
Every person has the right and the responsibility to be informed about the criminal justice system.
Justice is best served through measures that resolve conflict, embrace diversity, and repair harm.
Society has a unique responsibility to provide a positive developmental environment for youth.

Our Guiding Principles
Crime prevention is best served through social development.
Justice should be restorative.

Our Ends
Individuals at risk of breaking the law will have alternatives.

Rationale: Vulnerable groups at risk of criminal involvement should be identified. Individuals within those groups should be offered opportunities and resources to make positive changes in their lives. Programs, services and resources must be available to assist those who have been, or who are likely to be, in conflict with the law. Individuals must have opportunities to address those personal and societal issues that contribute to a criminal lifestyle.

Responses to crime will be community-focused.

Rationale: The justice system should be accessible and responsive to the needs of the offender, the victim, and their communities. To be effective, the justice system should provide opportunities for involvement for the offender, the victim, and their broader communities and embody the principles of restorative justice.

Communities will take ownership in crime prevention through social development.

Rationale: Effective prevention of crime occurs at the community level. Communities need to take responsibility for the prevention of crime primarily through social development. By increasing their awareness of the root causes of crime and methods of preventing crime, communities may choose to be more involved and therefore more accountable for restoring harmony.

The community will be informed about the criminal justice system.

Rationale: Effective responses to crime are best achieved through knowledge and understanding of criminal justice issues. To effectively support and participate in the criminal justice system, the community must be knowledgeable about that system.