NCJ Number
191780
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 49 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2001 Pages: 68-71
Date Published
April 2001
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the history and operation of Canada's "Growing Prospects" program, in which hydroponic equipment the police have confiscated from local drug growers is used to teach unemployed youths at risk of delinquency to become economically self-supporting by growing and selling fresh produce to local markets.
Abstract
The program started when an inner city school teacher asked the Winnipeg police for the hydroponic equipment they regularly confiscate from local drug growers. His plan was to teach students to establish a hydroponic garden to grow vegetables and fruit for the school's free lunch program. Police volunteer involvement would be constant throughout. The benefits to the school and students were obvious, and the police viewed the project as a means of establishing positive collaborative community partnerships in a part of the city where community policing efforts were often met with skepticism. In early 1998 -- with a board of directors composed of volunteer police officers, educators, and other citizens -- a nonprofit organization was formed called Growing Prospects, Inc. The purpose of the nonprofit organization was to provide hydroponic job skills to unemployed youths at risk for delinquency. Any profits from the project were to go to youth gang intervention work in the inner city. Although horticulture and hydroponic green housing have remained central components of the project, now courses are included in language, life skills, business mathematics, workplace skills, and personal development. No trainee can have a criminal record or current criminal proceedings before the courts. Although no evaluation has been conducted, the program can point to at least 13 youth at risk for delinquency or a life on welfare who are now working, paying taxes, and making a positive contribution to the community.