Guardians of the Community

The Block Parent Program of Canada was launched in 1968 following a tragic child abduction and homicide in Ontario. It rapidly expanded across the country, becoming the largest volunteer-led child safety initiative. For over fifty years, the program relied on volunteer homemakers, mostly stay-at-home mothers, who signaled their homes as safe havens for distressed children. Supported by partnerships with police, local businesses, and schools, the program provided a community-based approach to child protection. Although participation declined over the years, recent concerns about bullying, traffic safety, and child protection have sparked renewed interest in Block Parent communities.

Guardians of the Community examines the social, political, technological, and cultural conditions that shifted along with the program to understand the landscape of child protection and community crime prevention over the last five decades. The book draws upon open-ended interviews with key figures who were instrumental in launching and leading the Block Parent Program, analyses of annual reports and documents from the program, and public sources including newspapers, social media, and Hansard debates to explore public and political perceptions of the program and related safety concerns. In exploring the motivations of underlying involvement in child safety programs, Guardians of the Community reveals the connections between community engagement and cohesion, civic responsibility, and concerns around child protection.