Themes from a review of Justice Canada funded projects for youth in conflict with the law (2014-2019)

The Department of Justice Canada funds projects through the Youth Justice Fund that seek to help youth who are involved in the criminal justice system (CJS). The Youth Justice Fund provides grants and contributions to projects that encourage a more effective youth justice system, respond to emerging youth justice issues, and enable greater citizen and community participation in the youth justice system.

In 2020, the Research and Statistics Division reviewed the evaluation reports that were submitted for pilot projects and received funds from 2014 to 2019. The review does not measure whether each program succeeded in meeting its goals, but rather identifies key program areas that received funding and looks for common challenges, best practices, and gaps identified by the program organizations that might help inform future projects.

Program Areas Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) is an umbrella term used to describe diagnoses that are caused by pre-natal alcohol exposure (Fraser 2011). People with FASD are overrepresented as both offenders and victims in the CJS. FASD is a lifelong disability, and people with FASD often struggle with other major issues, such as drug or alcohol dependency, depression, and mental health challenges.

Several of the funded programs offer services to people with FASD (or suspected of having FASD). Many offer intensive one-on-one counselling as well as support finding housing and dealing with mental health issues and addiction. Learning difficulties often make education and employment a challenge. Many youth with FASD struggle to live independently and need help with basic needs – housing and food.

Trauma-informed practices Trauma is a known risk factor for youth involved in the CJS (Wolff and Shi 2012) and several programs focus on helping youth in conflict with the law deal with trauma. Some funded programs use a trauma-informed approach and some encourage general mental health and wellness. Few of the programs define their trauma-informed approach.

Culturally sensitive approaches – specifically for Indigenous youth Indigenous youth are overrepresented in the CJS as both offenders and victims (Department of Justice Canada 2019). More and more service providers are offering culturally relevant programming to Indigenous clients. Several of the funded programs provide details on the types of activities that they offer. Several evaluations were done to see if staff had the capacity to provide appropriate services.

There is strong support for more culturally relevant programming and more training for service providers.

Culturally sensitive approaches – new immigrants and visible minorities Several programs receiving funding offer specialized services to marginalized youth. Youth who are visible minorities speak of racism and barriers to success because of how they are perceived. Newcomers to Canada sometimes struggle to adapt. Several programs had notable success with mentoring programs that paired youth with mentors from their communities.

Female youth involved in the CJS Among youth involved in the CJS, boys outnumber girls (in 2014, 72% of youth charged with a crime were male) (Allen and Superle 2016), but it has long been argued that girls need specialized programming to deal with their specific needs, rather than being included in programs designed for boys. A number of funded projects focus on girls involved in the CJS, including one program in Manitoba, called the “Empower Project” that focuses on girls with FASD.

Substance use and addiction Problematic substance use and addiction often lead to involvement with the CJS (Health Canada September 2018). Most of the funded programs that help youth deal with substance use issues focus on teaching youth to make better decisions, develop resilience, and improve life skills. Many youth participants in these programs have multiple risk factors – substance use, addiction, experience of trauma, mental health problems, and family conflict.

Gang involvement Many programs that received funding reach out to youth who are involved in gangs or at risk of becoming involved with gangs. Some of these youth also have issues with substance use, addiction, trauma, and mental health.

In both Ontario and Saskatchewan, there are community outreach groups that are working on developing comprehensive strategies to deal with gangs in their communities.

Life skills / employment A number of funded programs focus on preparing youth for reintegration into their communities. Some of these programs help youth achieve educational goals as well as provide support in finding employment.

Challenges Finding and keeping appropriate staff: many of the programs reviewed struggle to hire and retain staff. Referrals: several funded programs describe challenges with their referring partners, where service providers receive fewer clients than expected or fewer clients who meet the profile for their specific program. Funding: Concern over inconsistent funding is common. Tracking participants after completion of program or sentence: Several funded programs struggle to maintain contact with participants, thus limiting their ability to solicit feedback from clients after the program finished. Identified gaps Individualization of programming: A number of reviews suggest that their clients need accurate assessment and programming that is personalized to individual needs; their clients do not “fit” well into existing curricula. Support for basics: Many youth, especially those with FASD, need help with basic needs – food and housing – before their problems with substance use, addiction, mental health, family conflict, and skill development can be addressed. More education on Indigenous history and cultures: There is strong support for more culturally specific programming and training to enhance cultural competencies. More female-specific programing and female staff/mentors: Several funded programs note that female clients appreciate girl-only outings or programming and requested more female staff and mentors. Reach out to visible minorities and recent immigrants Youth who are visible minorities may need specific programs that address racism; youth who are recent immigrants may need support to navigate the challenges of adapting to Canadian culture. Neither are well served by mainstream programs. Support for families, not just youth in isolation:: Several funded programs indicate that youth in contact with the CJS are often dealing with conflict within their own families and that greater support for families is needed.