Youth Justice Initiative Evaluation

2. Background

This section of the report provides a description of the YJI components and the resources allocated to them.

The ultimate objective of the YJI is to foster a fairer, more effective youth justice system. These characteristics are defined according to the following:

The YJI grew out of the Youth Justice Renewal Initiative (YJRI), which was launched in 1999 to support the development of the new legislative framework for youth justice, the YCJA, and to assist with its implementation. The YJI continued the programming elements developed under the YJRI, but shifted the emphasis from supporting the implementation of the YCJA to supporting programs and responding to new and emerging youth justice issues.

The YJI and the YJRI have encouraged the use of extrajudicial measures as alternatives to the formal court process where appropriate, and the application of in custody and community-based programs and services to reduce recidivism and help youth to integrate successfully back into the community. The YJI funding programs are designed to help maintain the array of programs and services put in place to implement the YCJA, and to position the youth justice system to respond effectively to emerging issues in keeping with the Act.

A key principle of the YCJA is that the youth justice system is intended to protect the public by:

The YJI supports this principle by contributing to a range of programs and services that:

The YJI consists of the Policy Development, Monitoring and Support (Policy) Unit and three funding components, namely the:

The three YJI funding components reflect the shared authority between federal, provincial and territorial governments over the youth justice system in Canada, and provide funding to the provinces, territories and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to support the legislative and policy objectives of the YCJA.

The logic model for the Initiative is provided in Appendix A.

A brief overview of each component and unit and how each reflects YJI and YCJA objectives is provided below.

2.1. Policy Development, Monitoring and Support Unit

The Policy Unit of the YJI is the only one that does not provide grant and contribution funding. It consists of policy development, research, and liaison and outreach. The Youth Justice and Strategic Initiatives Section (YJSIS) is the federal government’s centre of expertise on youth justice. The Section strives to enhance the fairness and effectiveness of the youth justice system by providing analysis and development of youth justice law and policy, responding to emerging youth justice issues, promoting knowledge-sharing, and enabling greater community participation in the youth justice system. The Section provides legal and policy advice on both domestic and international youth justice matters based on the YCJA, supports the Minister in Cabinet and Parliament with respect to legislative and other initiatives, and works in collaboration with other sections within the Department of Justice and other federal departments, provincial and territorial government officials, and NGOs on matters relating to the youth justice system, including on activities focusing on youth with mental health problems or cognitive disabilities, such as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), in the justice system.

The Policy team works closely with the Department’s Programs Branch on youth justice matters, providing policy advice for the development and implementation of the Youth Justice Cost-Sharing Agreements (YJSFP and IRCS Program) and participating on the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Working Group on Youth Justice Cost-Sharing and Programs. The group also provides policy advice and direction on the YJF, which was part of YJSIS during the evaluation period. YJSIS co-chairs and supports the federal, provincial and territorial Coordinating Committee of Senior Officials - Youth Justice (CCSO-YJ).

Also, the Policy team in YJSIS works collaboratively with other sections within the Policy Sector at the Department of Justice and other federal government departments on a wide range of policy and legislative files such as Cyberbullying and the Distribution of Intimate Images, the Victims Bill of Rights, Bail Reform, Anti-Terrorism, Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System, FASD and the Criminal Justice System, and Aboriginal Justice.

Additionally, the Policy team in YJSIS provides advisory services on matters related to youth justice to other sections within the Department of Justice (e.g. Departmental Legal Services Units) as well as other government departments, such as the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

The Policy team in YJSIS provides advice on youth justice issues internationally. Some of the key organizations through which they work on the international level are the United Nations and the Organization of American States. The Policy team also provides advice to other federal departments on international initiatives, in particular the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. This work includes:

Finally, the Policy team in YJSIS leads and actively participates in various interdepartmental, federal-provincial-territorial and national fora/meetings. Some of this work includes:

2.2. Youth Justice Services Funding Program

The YJSFP is the Department of Justice’s main vehicle for sharing the costs of youth justice services with the provinces and territories. The YJSFP, which accounts for approximately 90% of the funding available to the YJI, has been in existence since the Young Offenders Act (YOA) was passed in 1984 and is established under Section 156 of the YCJA.

The YJSFP is intended to contribute to the strategic outcome of a sustainable youth justice system that is capable of innovation and supporting federal youth justice policies. This will be achieved by encouraging the following:

The YJSFP provides all provinces and territories with contribution funding to assist in the delivery of various programs and services that target young persons in conflict with the law. The overall objective of the YJSFP is to support the policy directions of the YCJA. The specific objectives are to support and promote an appropriate range of programs and services that:

Priority funding areas as aligned with the YCJAinclude:

Extrajudicial Measures are identified as high priority programming in the YJSFP agreements. These measures aim to hold a young person accountable without proceeding through the formal court process. The YCJA encourages the use of extrajudicial measures in all cases where they are adequate to hold a young person accountable. There are several types of extrajudicial measures, including: taking no further action (i.e., a decision is made by the police officer that no further response to an incident is required); a warning from police (such warnings are intended to be informal warnings and are an example of a traditional exercise of police discretion); a caution from police (cautions are more formal warnings that may typically involve a letter from police to the young person and the parents and in some cases may require the young person and parents to appear at the police station for a meeting to discuss the incident); a referral from police to a community program or agency designed to help youth avoid committing offences (such referrals may only be made with the consent of the young person); a Crown caution (such cautions are similar to police cautions but are issued by Crown prosecutors after police have referred the case to them); and an extrajudicial sanction (sanctions are applied through more formal programs set up by the provinces and territories). Extrajudicial measures eligible for funding under the YJSFP include community programs which accept referrals from police and extrajudicial sanctions programs.

Rehabilitative and reintegration services are also a high priority under the funding agreements. These include a range of specialized psychiatric or psychological and other treatment and education programming, and might include residential services either post-custody or as an alternative to custody. Rehabilitation and reintegration programs are all designed to address what are often serious challenges in the lives of young persons involved in the youth criminal justice system, and to help them successfully reintegrate into the community and avoid reoffending.

Judicial Interim Release programs recognize the preference to avoid the use of pre-trial detention where sufficient public safety can be assured. Such programs provide judges with credible alternatives to custody and better serve the needs of the young person.

2.3. Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision Program

The IRCS Program provides funding to the provinces and territories to support an ongoing capacity to perform assessments as well as to provide the specialized services required for administering intensive rehabilitative custody and supervision orders in accordance with the YCJA. These sentences are designed to provide treatment for youth suffering from a mental illness or disorder, psychological disorder or an emotional disturbance and who are found guilty of a serious violent offence (i.e. murder, attempted murder, manslaughter and aggravated sexual assault). Youth with mental health issues who are found guilty for the third time of a violent offence in the commission of which they caused or attempted to cause serious bodily harm and for which an adult would be liable to a jail term of more than two years may also be liable to an IRCS order. Under the current IRCS agreements, Justice Canada provides financial support to enhance provincial and territorial capacity to carry out assessments and develop treatment plans. The funding also supports the provision of specialized therapeutic programs and services associated with IRCS court orders and other exceptional cases of youth offending where mental health issues are involved. The current IRCS agreements are comprised of the following four components:

Part A (Basic Capacity):
provides funding to all provincial and territorial governments for the purposes of establishing and/or maintaining a minimum capacity (e.g., trained professionals) to provide specialized mental health assessments and to develop treatment plans for IRCS cases and for other exceptional cases;
Part B (Court Orders):
provides case specific funding to the provinces and territories to provide therapeutic programs and services as required by IRCS youth;
Part C (Exceptional Cases):
provides funding for other exceptional cases of youth sentenced for offences in which they caused/attempted to cause serious bodily harm where mental health problems are involved; and,
Part D (Project Funding):
subject to availability of funding after Parts B and C are accounted for, Justice Canada may provide funding for special projects on an annual basis that address issues related to: youth violence and mental health; specialized staff training; research and evaluation; and other related topics in line with identified federal youth justice policy objectives.

The funding scheme described above prioritizes IRCS Parts A, then B, and only if there are remaining funds, support is provided to Part C cases and then to special projects under Part D.

2.4. Youth Justice Fund

The YJF was established as part of the YJRI, and provides grants and contributions funding for projects across Canada.

The Fund supports 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.

Community organizations, Aboriginal organizations, other levels of government and individuals are eligible for funding to respond more effectively to youth in conflict with the law. Funding support is also used to advance changes in policies and programs that are consistent with the intent of federal policy objectives.

Within this context, the objectives of the YJF are as follows:

The YJF supports the development, implementation, and evaluation of pilot projects that provide programming and support for youth in conflict with the law. It supports professional development activities, such as training and conferences, for justice professionals and youth justice service providers. Additionally, it can fund research on the youth justice system and related issues or evaluations of existing programs.

Projects must target youth who are between the ages of 12 and 17 at the time of the offence and currently in conflict with the law, or justice professionals and/or service providers who work with these youth.

The YJF has three components: the Main Fund, Drug Treatment, and Guns, Gangs and Drugs.

The Main Fund supports a broad range of rehabilitative and reintegration opportunities for youth involved in the justice system. Current funding priorities include youth with mental health issues and/or cognitive impairments such as FASD.

The Drug Treatment component supports the development and implementation of innovative and collaborative approaches to treatment and rehabilitation of youth with illicit substance abuse issues involved in the criminal justice system.

The Guns, Gangs and Drugs component supports programming to youth involved in the justice system who are involved in, or vulnerable to, gun, gang and drug activities.

2.5. Grants and Contributions Resources

Table 1 presents the grants and contributions resources allocated to the three funding components for each of the five fiscal years examined in this evaluation.

The level of funding for the YJI between 2009-10 and 2011-12 was approximately $193.3M. In 2012-13, the Economic Action Plan 2012 reduced the YJI to $192.8M, and a year later to $157.2M. Under the current YJSFP, agreements totaling approximately $142M per year for all provinces and territories are now in effect for the 2013 to 2018 period. Agreements totaling $11M per year are in effect for the same period under the IRCS Program, thus enabling the development of programs to provide youth with a mental health condition who have committed offences involving serious violence with access to intensive, therapeutic programs and services. Funding is also provided under the umbrella of the YJF, totaling $4.5M per year, to explore and encourage innovative approaches to youth justice, undertake evaluation and research on youth justice programs and issues, and provide training to front line youth justice workers.Footnote 2

Table 1: YJI Grants and Contributions Funding 2009-10 to 2013-14
Funding Stream FY 2009-10 FY 2010-11 FY 2011-12 FY 2012-13 FY 2013-14
YJSFP $177,302,415 $177,302,415 $177,302,415 $177,302,415 $141,692,415
IRCS $11,048,000 $11,048,000 $11,048,000 $11,048,000 $11,048,000
YJF $5,005,000 $5,005,000 $5,005,000 $4,505,000 $4,505,000
Total $193,355,415 $193,355,415 $193,355,415 $192,855,415 $157,245,415

Source: Justice Canada YJI financial database.