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Regardless of why your child is involved with fire, it is very concerning, given the potential risk that a serious injury or tragedy may occur. Fortunately, there is a program in the community designed specifically for children who play with matches or fire.

The Arson Prevention Program for Children
(TAPP-C)© is a program that involves professionals from fire departments and community agencies across Canada. The program provides strategies to deal effectively with a child's match play or fire play. The program will also help to determine why the child has been involved with fire and whether he/she is likely to continue to be involved with fire. TAPP-C's© goal is to reduce fire setting behavior among children to keep them and their families safe from fire by offering Fire Safety education and in-home Fire Safety checks by the local Fire Service.

The Ridge-Meadows TAPP-C© steering committee is a collaboration between Fire and Police Services, School Boards, Ministry for Children and Families, and Mental Health agencies from across the community to develop roles and responsibilities and maintain protocol for the agencies involved.

Since it takes just one match to seriously injure or destroy, we strongly recommend that all families with children who have played with matches or fire contact TAPP-C©.

RIDGE-MEADOWS REFERRAL PROTOCOL

1. A service provider identifies a child as a fire setter.
2. Service provider talks to the family about TAPP-C© and gets them to agree to involvement in the program.
3. (a) Service provider, with the parent's consent, contacts 604-465-2400 and provides identifying information to inform intake of the forthcoming call from the parent. (b) The parent is asked to contact 604-465-2400 directly.
4. The parent, on the advice of the service provider or if the parent discovers fire behaviors themselves, calls the program directly to process.
5. The local fire service contacts the Ministry for Children and Families and vice versa to confirm the family's involvement with the other.
6. The local fire service begins fire prevention education program.
7. Risk assessment is completed by Mental Health Team of the Ministry of Children and Families or as a result of requesting another qualified service provider to do it. Necessary consents signed at this time.
8. Assessment is completed and the results shared with the parents; with the consents signed, the recommendations are shared with the fire service and the referral source.
9. The parents and the service provider make a decision about ongoing counselling

COMMUNITY RESPONSE PROTOCOLS

Roles and Responsibilities

Parents
Parent or guardians are acknowledged as the primary authority with children who start fires. They may be the first ones to discover a fire started by their children or they are the first ones contacted by external sources as a result of fire setting behaviors. In many cases, parental intervention will appropriately address the behavior. In cases where they request, or otherwise agree to, outside assistance with these behaviors, TAPP-C © will become involved. Alternatively, if they refuse to undertake their responsibilities and/or the child has broken the law and is of age to be charged under the Young Offenders Act, external sources could intervene in the parental rights to raise their children.

Fire Services
Fire services personnel may identify children who start fires as an outcome of their investigation of a fire. In these instances they will involve the parents and, as appropriate, the police to access intervention. A refusal by the parent to assist may warrant an inquiry to Ministry for Children and Families to clarify child welfare implications. Fire services personnel will, as appropriate, provide fire prevention education to children and their parents using TAPP-C© materials.

Police Services
Police may identify children who start fires through community complaints or through their own investigations. To achieve participation in TAPP-C©, they may solicit the assistance of parents and/or may pursue the courts if charges are appropriate under the Young Offenders Act. They may also choose to involve the Ministry of Children and Families if there are child welfare implications.

Boards of Education
In their daily involvement with school-aged children school administrators and Student Services support staff may identify children who start fires. They can assist by contacting the parents of such children, providing the parents with information about TAPP-C ©and recommending that the parents access both the "fire safety education" and "risk assessment" components of the program.

If a child’s behavior is deemed to place her/him self or others at risk of injury and parents are unwilling to pursue assistance, school board personnel are obligated to notify Ministry for Children and Families of the situation.

Board of Education representatives on the TAPP-C© Steering Committee will provide information regarding the nature of the TAPP-C© program to school administrators.

Ministry of Children and Families
Ministry for Children and Families will have a role in those circumstances where child protection is a concern. These maybe open cases with MCF or reported by other service providers as part of their investigation and/ or assessment of presetting behaviors. Through their representative to TAPP-C©, they may also complete the risk assessment on those clients who may require it.

The Mental Health Team of Ministry for Children and Families
The Children's Mental Health Center in the area will have a number of roles. They will co-ordinate TAPP-C© risk assessments throughout the area by serving as the central contact point for parents and other service providers. They will either complete the assessments directly or contact other services as appropriate. Also, they will communicate the results from their assessments to parents and third parties, as necessary, and maintain the statistics as required by the Steering Committee and Clarke Institute. Furthermore, they will register or identify any clients who come in contact with TAPP-C© or its member services. The Mental Health Team of Ministry for Children and Families will provide ongoing treatment services to children and families who may request it as a result of their involvement in TAPP-C©.

Mission Statement

" Arson Prevention Program for Children" Steering Committee

To reduce the risk of fire setting among children and adolescents in ridge-meadows, through the Arson Prevention Program

This program will identify children who are at risk of setting fires and fires and will make the appropriate education and counseling available to them