In 1995, a group of women who were former sex trade workers came together with a common desire to assist those who wanted to get out of the trade. At around the same time, Councilor Judy Sgro was receiving numerous complaints and demands from her constituents to address the problems associated with street prostitution. These two parties came together and proceeded to make programming plans. In the fall of 1995 the Metro Street Prostitution Taskforce was created. They brought together members of the affected communities, Toronto Police, former sex trade workers, politicians and a representative from the Attorney General's Office.
The purpose of the taskforce was to develop diversion programs that would address the issues of street prostitution. The First Offenders Prostitution Diversion Program referred to as “John School” started in 1996. Due to the complexities of designing programs for people who engage in the sex trade it was another year before StreetLight Support Services came into existence with the newly developed Choices Diversion Program.
