The Comox Valley Community Justice Centre says they are in need of more funding as more cases bring added complexity to their operations.
The centre made the request to the Comox Valley Regional District Board Tuesday night. According to managing director Karen McKinnon, the organization has seen the same number of cases over the last quarter as they had the entire previous year.
She adds that while the increase is significant, it also brings increased complexities as cases may involve multiple people among other aspects.
“We see that the people we work with have more financial and mental health challenges,” said McKinnon.
“I think that we’re not alone in the non-profit sector in experiencing this. People are experiencing poverty, they’re experiencing new and prolonged mental health challenges and these have an incredible impact not just on their families but on the community.”
The increase also means they need to provide more volunteer training to make sure volunteers are able maintain strong skills.
McKinnon says the funding increase from the CVRD would be spread out over five years equating up to a 50 per cent increase. The first year would be around 13 per cent, 15 per cent for the second, 10 per cent for year three and nine per cent for the fourth and fifth years.
She adds the increases will help support staffing hours and meet expenses, as their insurance went up 17 per cent for the next year as an example.
The centre adds that municipalities can get more involved through individual volunteers, as they will be building out a racialized advisory group and amplifying that the organization is there to help solve conflicts.
The CVRD Board approved a motion for staff to consider the increased funding in the budget process.
