Film and Panel - Collaboration with CoSA and OTJC

The film: Facing Our Messy Lives (2024) - The CoSA Ottawa Documentary

Facing Our Messy Lives - This 61 minute film offers a rare and thoughtful look at how community-based reintegration works for people returning to society after serving sentences for sexual offences. It challenges assumptions, reduces stigma, and highlights what truly makes communities safer.

This documentary explores the Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) model — an evidence-informed approach that combines community volunteers with professional guidance to support individuals at high risk of reoffending

Through interviews, real stories, and community perspectives, the film demonstrates:

• How isolation and stigma increase risk
• How structured support and accountability reduce harm
• The courage of volunteers who step forward to build safer communities
• Why prevention is everyone’s responsibility

CoSA has been shown to reduce reoffending by up to 88%, making it one of the most effective community-based reintegration models available.

About Circles of Support and Accountability Ottawa (CoSA Ottawa)

CoSA is a reintegration program inspired by restorative justice principles that reduce victimization by assisting people who have committed sexual offences to lead a responsible, constructive, and accountable life in our community.

Ever since CoSA was formed by a dedicated group of volunteers in 1994 in Hamilton, Ontario, CoSA has had one primary goal: No More Victims. Circles of Support and Accountability is the only community-based organization offering this service.

Over the years, CoSA sites across Canada have assisted thousands of recently incarcerated people, referred to as Core Members, who voluntarily seek CoSA’s help to learn to stop the cycle of harm and to establish a place in society.

About the Panel:

• The panel will bring together people of diverse perspectives who are involved with CoSA in a variety of contexts, including a volunteer, a Core Member of CoSA, and a survivor.
• CoSA’s Core Members are recently incarcerated people who voluntarily seek CoSA’s help to learn to stop the cycle of harm and to establish a place in society. A Core Member of CoSA will appear on our panel anonymously via Zoom.

Weekend parking is available in the lot behind the HeartWood House building. Street parking in the neighbourhood is free for 3 hours.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Ottawa Transformative Justice Collective