The PoCaRB Lab collaborates with community-based organizations, clinical sites, and government agencies on a regular basis.

Evaluation of Stress Lessons: Tools for Resiliency: A Resource for Grades 9 to 12

COMPLETED: The PoCaRB Lab collaborated with the Psychology Foundation of Canada (PFC) to conduct an evaluation of Stress Lessons: Tools for Resiliency: A Resource for Grades 9 to 12, a school-based program for youth in grades 9 to 12.  Tools for Resileincy was developed in 2018 by the PFC as an empirically-informed and theoretically-driven program for students on understanding and managing stress, in collaboration with Canadian experts including educators, parents, counselors, and developmental and clinical psychologists. The program is currently running in a Toronto school board where it is being evaluated by Dr. Day and his research team, Amy Beaudry and Alanna Singer. The results of the study will be used by the Psychology Foundation of Canada to inform the wider dissemination of Tools for Resiliency across schools in Canada.

Evaluation of Stress Lessons: From Stressed Out ot Chilled Out

COMPLETED: The PoCaRB Lab collaborated with the Psychology Foundation of Canada (PFC) to conduct an evaluation of Stress Lessons: From Stressed Out to Chilled Out, a school-based program for adolescents in grades 7 to 9.  From Stressed Out to Chilled Out was developed in 2013 by the PFC as an empirically-informed and theoretically-driven program for students on understanding and managing stress, in collaboration with Canadian experts including educators, parents, counselors, and developmental and clinical psychologists. Although the program has already been widely distributed across Canada and the United States (PFC, n.d.), it has yet to be formally evaluated. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of the program at four schools in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The results of the study are being used by the Psychology Foundation of Canada to inform the wider dissemination of From Stressed Out to Chilled Out across schools in Canada.

The Monetary Cost of Criminal Trajectories for an Ontario Sample of Offenders

COMPLETED: With funding from the National Crime Prevention Centre (NCPC), a branch of Public Safety Canada (PSC), David Day, Chris Koegl, Lianne Rossman, and Sandy Oziel completed a study on the monetary costs of criminal offences committed by a sample of 386  male offenders who offence trajectories were followed for about 16 years. Over the follow-up period, the sample had amassed a total of 7,257 convictions. Using the most serious offence (MSO) for each conviction, cost estimates were obtained for: 1) victim costs; 2) correctional costs; 3) other criminal justice system (CJS) costs, for example, police, court, prosecution, and legal aid expenditures; and 4) costs associated with undetected crimes. Cost estimates for each of these components was drawn from a variety of sources, including the published literature (for victim costs, other CJS costs, and costs for undetected crimes) and the grey literature and other government publications and sources (for correctional costs). For the purpose of this study, cost estimates are provided for offences occurring over a 15-year period, from ages 12 to 26 years. The results of the study are available from the NCPC website at https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/crm-prvntn/ntnl-crm-prvntn-cntr-eng.aspx).

Risky Health-Related Behaviours and Juvenile Offenders

COMPLETED: David Day collaborated with Trevor Hart, of the HIV Prevention Lab, on research concerning health-related behaviours among juvenile offenders. Along with graduate student, Jessica Sutherland, we analyzed data from focus groups and interviews with personnel who work with juvenile offenders in custody and in the community about strategies to recruit and retain youth for a long-term study on the motivations for and predictors of risky behaviour.