Identifying and addressing the needs of diverse young adults

Identifying the needs

One objective of the current study was to understand any specific needs and challenges experienced by young people who identified as female, Indigenous, racialized or another minority (e.g., due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, health condition or disability). The perspectives of these young people are included throughout the report, and their feedback about their specific experiences within the justice system and suggestions for change are detailed below.

No young person who participated in the study identified as a gender identity other than male or female. As noted in the limitations section of this report, no interviewees who identified as a sexual minority discussed needs, challenges or supports specifically relating to their sexual orientation.

Young women

Young women spoke of fearing being victimized by male staff within every part of the justice system including when interacting with the police, in the courts and in custody. They articulated that much of their fear stemmed from previous experiences of violence and abuse from men. For example, one Indigenous young woman noted:

“They don’t think about women being scared of men when you are in court or jail, and having PTSD from being raped. It is why I was so terrified and why I wouldn’t speak in court, and if you are Native as well, you literally have no chance.”

A few young women stated that the custody system appeared to have been designed by and for males, and felt that they did not receive equal access to services and supports as a result. One young woman who was interviewed while in an adult correctional facility felt that women at the facility did not receive the same level of opportunity, support, or respect as the male inmates. She also felt that programming was designed for male inmates and males got priority in accessing the programs and supports which were available. As a result, the women were often left with little to no programs or supports.

“There are only 20 women here [at the adult correctional centre]. We’re really limited to what we can do because it’s a men’s jail and we’re just kinda…I don’t know…it just doesn’t feel like they want us to be here. Like, they don’t care about us. I just noticed that we don’t get as much freedom as the men here because there are more staff to take the men out to do activities and stuff. Because there’s less of us, we just get stuck in our cells and don’t get to do as much…Our yard is very small compared to the men’s. The men’s side gets this whole big garden to grow strawberries and peas and zucchinis and pumpkins and all we get is some strawberries and weeds. Like what…we’re all gonna garden this one strawberry plant?”

A few young women noted wanting more opportunities to be able to take care of their appearance and dress up. These young women felt that such experiences helped their mental health and self-esteem.

“We can’t get makeup or shave our legs or tweeze our eyebrows…like we want to feel good about ourselves, even if we’re not going anywhere. Maybe, it’s like something you can earn, like you have to show good behaviour.”

Young adults with a disability

Young adults with disabilities spoke of the additional challenges they experienced within the justice system. They particularly felt that accommodations were not made which could have allowed them to more fully understand and participate in court proceedings. For example, a young woman with a vision impairment noted that her glasses were broken during her arrest. She was not able to get replacement glasses and this impeded her ability to read and understand the documents she was asked to sign when she was in court. Similarly, a young woman with a hearing impairment felt that needed accommodations were not made within the court system to allow her to follow discussions:

“They don’t care about you. I am deaf in one ear and have lost hearing in the other but they don’t care. They don’t make any accommodations.”

Indigenous young adults

Indigenous young adults noted that the criminal justice system had been established by, and is currently run primarily by, white settlers. As a result, they felt powerless and that they were treated unfairly. In some cases they also felt they had received a harsher sentence than a white offender would have. For example, one Indigenous young woman noted:

“What can I do to change anything. It is all white dudes and nothing will change but it needs to. I am a woman and half Native too so they just look at you like scum. The system is hateful to Native people and needs fixing.”

Despite the racism they experienced within other parts of the justice system, as noted earlier most Indigenous young adults who had been through the youth and/or adult custody systems were appreciative of the efforts the centres made to address their cultural needs and be respectful of their culture. Examples of ways young people felt supported to engage with their culture included through access to Elders, Talking Circles, a sweat lodge, beading and drum making.

For a few interviewees, their time in custody had been their first opportunity to learn about and engage with their Indigenous culture and this had been a positive and therapeutic experience.

“It’s been great [in custody], they help me take down walls on my cultural awareness situation.”

Indigenous young adults who had access to Indigenous staff within the justice system very much appreciated this. They felt they were able to build positive relationships with these staff members, which they found valuable in helping them address their offending behaviour and increasing their desire “to stay out of trouble.” However, those with experience of custody did note there was not as much access to Elders or Indigenous staff as they would like, that Indigenous programming was often not specific to their own band or Nation, and their access to traditional foods was limited.

“They [custody centre] have an Indigenous Cultural Liaison, but they don’t have an Elder here. At least they don’t have one where I am, which they should because there are a lot of Indigenous people here.”

Racialized young adults

Young people who participated in this study described their racial identity in a range of ways including Black, Brown, African, Indian, Asian, Persian and Chinese. Racialized young adults spoke of experiencing racism at every point in which they connected with the justice system. This included being targeted by the police because of their skin colour, as well as having negative experiences within the court system, when serving a community sentence, on probation, and in custody. Some examples included:

“Not every Black person is a criminal, some are presidents, some are even police. The police treat me like even if I’m found not guilty, I’m still guilty…The lawyer that I was provided didn’t do his job or represent me to the fullest. Maybe because of my skin colour, but he acted like I was actually guilty of the crime….While I was in custody, I felt like I wasn’t treated like the other inmates…it felt like discrimination because of the colour of my skin. For example, the duration that I was able to spend with my family was shorter and less than everyone else…. Discrimination makes us feel hated and it feels like there’s no way for it to get better. I want the justice system to be fair for everyone. It doesn’t feel like justice to me.”

A female who identified as a Black Muslim refugee to Canada noted:

“[When I was in court] there wasn’t a single Black person and not a single immigrant. Not one on the jury. Not one Muslim. There were no immigrants to understand the cultural experience or the experience of coming to Canada…and then when they ask you why you run from the police or are scared to talk to them, they don’t understand because they were born here and they just think ‘why didn’t you just talk to the police?’”

She went on to describe her experience on probation:

“I had a racist worker but what can you do? You get appointed a social worker or a probation officer or whatever and you just have to work with them until they leave. There is no one to complain to who is going to listen and can do anything.”

Some racialized young adults who had been through the custody system felt their cultural needs were not addressed, including the opportunity to dress in ways that reflected their culture and to eat foods from their culture:

“I had my health needs met [in the correctional facility] and I also had my religious needs met. But when it came to cultural needs, that was a no. People have to be made not to forget about who they are and appreciate their culture and that of others.”

One young adult noted that he had accessed a range of programs and supports while in an adult correctional facility. He did not feel any of the resources he had accessed had understood his culture or reflected his experience as a Black Canadian. He was left feeling that any cultural supports which were offered were tokenistic and made no effort to address the racism that he experienced in the facility.

Government care experience

Young adults with care experience spoke of the link between losing the support of the care system after their 19th birthday and an increased likelihood of becoming involved in the criminal justice system.

“I think everyone who has been through the care system has had some sort of involvement with the courts and the justice system. I felt like I turned 19 and that was it. I was on my own trying to figure it all out and how it all worked.”

Young people with care experience also spoke of the overrepresentation of their peers from care in custody. One young adult noted that at least half of the 30 youth he had been in foster care with were now in adult correctional facilities. Another felt a youth who was in care was more likely to receive a custodial sentence, compared to youth without care experience. In their own case, they felt that they had been unfairly sentenced to custody as a youth, and had become entrenched in the justice system as a result.

“Basically why I’m doing this [interacting with the adult justice system] is because I was signed over to the courts when I was younger. I was in and out of group homes because I didn’t want to go to a foster home and be adopted, and I wouldn’t stay in the group home. I wasn’t even committing crimes, I just wasn’t going to the group home, so they put me in jail… And because of all that, I’m treated differently now, like in the system.”

Addressing diversity needs

Young people had a range of suggestions as to how young people of diverse cultures and needs could be better served within the justice system. These included:

Have specialist services

All services should be aware of and responsive to the different needs and experiences of diverse young people. There should be separate services specific to different genders and cultural backgrounds where needed.

“They should have services for women, and Native women. Like you should have female police officers dealing with you, female lawyers, female judges – not just all these white dudes.”

Young adults for whom English was not their first language suggested having interpreters available within the justice system. They noted that even if these young people appear fluent in English, they often do not know words that are associated with the criminal justice system. This can make it difficult for them to understand what is happening as they move through the various stages of the justice process. For example, one immigrant young adult suggested:

“All people, and definitely the youth, should have someone to tell them what is happening when they are in court. Without my lawyer I would not have understood what was being said as there were a lot of words I did not know.”

Take a culturally appropriate approach to sentencing

Some Indigenous youth felt that a restorative community approach to addressing criminal behaviour would be more appropriate than the current system for Indigenous young adults.

“Some communities get everyone involved, like the whole community and they figure it out together. They take everything into account and listen to everyone. We should offer that more.”

Increase diversity within the justice system

Young people wanted to see more professionals within the system who they felt were relatable. This included young women wanting the opportunity to have a court appointed lawyer who was female, as well as Indigenous and other racialized young people wanting access to staff from their background.

“I think if you could have more Black policemen and Black judges, you could relate with them more and they could ease the whole racial struggle.”

Increase community surveillance and accountability

Indigenous and other racialized young people were keen for there to be more community surveillance and accountability to reduce young people’s chances of being victimized because of their skin colour or cultural background. They felt this would reduce the likelihood of them being targeted and brought into contact with the justice system.

“People won’t like this but I think you should have cameras everywhere, like they do in England and places. So, if I do something I shouldn’t, it will be right there but fair enough, it will stop the cops pulling shit on young people. Right now, it’s your word against theirs and who are they gonna believe? But have cameras and it ends there…I know people will freak but if anything happens, it’s on camera!”

Provide financial support and stable housing to youth transitioning out of government care

Young people with government care experience felt that there should be more support available to them as they transition out of care to ensure they have stable housing and sufficient money to meet their basic needs.

“Sort out housing and that will help a lot. It is so hard when you leave care and then rent is $1,500 to $1,800 a month and you are going to become homeless or have to do things to survive….It is impossible to live on what you get but then when people learn anything about you, you are not going to get a job and you don’t have any qualifications because you can’t afford school either.”

Ensure young people know about the services and supports available to them

Young people from different backgrounds spoke of being unaware of what services and supports were available to them prior to their contact with the criminal justice system. They felt they may have made different choices if they had known that there were places they could go, supports they could access or courses they could take.

“As an immigrant I didn’t know about things like food banks. I do now, but if someone had told me about them earlier I wouldn’t have had to do things to get food. I didn’t know where to go, I didn’t have a phone. I didn’t have any of those things you need.”

Offer opportunities for young adults to engage with their culture

Participants shared the value of respecting and allowing emerging adults to practice their culture, including the opportunity to eat traditional foods, engage with traditional music and play instruments from their culture. They felt that connection to culture could bring healing, belonging, and a sense of identity.

“Definitely I was not allowed to dress culturally or eat culturally or just have my native lifestyle…that was way off the table [in custody]. I think it’s really important to bring out that aspect, to help people feel like they belong and like they’re part of their culture…Maybe one day a month [custody centres] could allow us to eat food from our culture.”

“I didn’t want a [expletive] program. I don’t need to go to a dre”amcatcher-making workshop. I need to eat food that I recognize. Food IS culture not [expletive] programs.”

Indigenous young adults serving community and custodial sentences suggested it would be helpful to have more opportunities to connect with an Elder.

“I wish there was an Elder or someone in the [community sentenced] program to help learn traditions. Learning the language would be really nice because things were shared through stories so that would really help me connect with my culture.”

Summary

Young people felt that increased community surveillance and accountability would reduce the number of 18–25-year-olds from diverse backgrounds who entered the criminal justice system, as would increased supports and services for youth transitioning out of government care. Young adults who did enter the criminal justice system could be better served through the introduction of specialized, culturally appropriate services targeted at young adults with diverse needs and backgrounds. They also suggested providing authentic opportunities for young adults to engage with their culture while serving a custodial sentence.