|
Community Diversion Programs for Youth in Bruce and Grey Counties
What Are Community Diversion Programs for Youth?
The Youth Criminal Justice Act makes a clear distinction between serious violent crime and less serious offenses. While responding seriously to serious crime, the YCJA provides opportunities for families, victims and community service agencies to participate in providing options for dealing with non-violent, minor offenses.
In lieu of laying a formal charge, police can make referrals to programs which are designed to assist young persons in understanding their behavior and the consequences of their actions. Crown Attorneys also have the option of ‘diverting’ appropriate youth away from the Court system and into these same programs. These programs are referred to as Extrajudicial Measures (police referred) and Extrajudicial Sanctions (Court referred).
Our Role in Community Diversion
In addition to providing Restorative Justice options for youthful offenders and their victims and overseeing the Community Service Order Program, the Owen Sound & Area Family Y coordinates both the Extrajudicial Measures Program and the Extrajudicial Sanctions Program, and provides a wide range of pre-charge and post-charge service delivery options for youth across our two counties.
Youth referred to either the EJM or EJS Program meet with a worker to design a personalized program plan based on their offense and the circumstances surrounding it. In addition to their individualized sanction, some options available to youth through the Family Y are:
The Anger Management Program
This program is designed to give youth people the opportunity to develop appropriate coping strategies when dealing with feelings of frustration, anger and hostility in various aspects of their lives. The program strives to:
- Offer alternatives to violent behavior
- Increase understanding of violence and its short and long term consequences
- Teach effective communication and listening skills
- Support the recognition of personal ‘triggers’ and the escalation of anger
- Increase youth’s ability to empathize with others (including victims)
- Address the legal consequences of violent behavior
- Teach better problem solving and negotiation skills
The Crime Prevention Program
This program addresses vandalism, theft and shop-lifting offenses. It is designed for youth, age 11-17, who have been referred in connection with a minor theft or mischief offense. The program is designed to:
- Encourage youth to discern between right and wrong
- Show youth how their actions impact on themselves, their victims, their families, business, communities and society as a whole
- Present key issues such as peer pressure, impulsive behavior and involvement in the youth criminal justice system
- Develop an awareness in youth that all forms of theft and vandalism are criminal offenses with serious repercussions
- Prevent youth from further conflict with the law
The Mentoring Program
This program aims to deter youth from engaging in further criminal behavior by matching them with a positive role model in their community who can assist them in achieving individual, self identified goals.
The Mentoring Program provides unique one to one support for youth by linking them with a trained volunteer mentor. Mentors help support the youth, during their involvement with the program, by helping them achieve their goals, develop new skills or interests and to facilitate the building of positive relationships and ties to their community.
With a focus on personal development, strengthening community connections and reducing justice system involvement: mentoring allows youth to:
- Develop skills
- Overcoming barriers
- Achieve goals
- Build positive relationships
- Strengthen community ties
- Experience new opportunities
|
