Elders in the Youth Justice System

Elders contribute to the fairness and equity of youth justice. They share traditional customs and are members of the youth justice committees in their communities. They help and guide young people with their own culture and values. Elders can be role models and advisors in their community. They can provide mentorship to young people to prevent crime or help them re-integrate with society.

Factors that Determine Consequences

Consequences under the YCJA (click here) explains what consequences you can receive under the YCJA. But what factors determine the consequences?

The YCJA allows police, prosecutors, judges, volunteers and professionals from the community to decide what happens to each young offender. They consider factors such as:

• Seriousness of the offense (e.g. violent offense is more serious than non-violent)
• History of the person (e.g. Has the person been in trouble before?)
• Attitude of the young person; do they take responsibility for their actions?
• Circumstances of the young person (e.g. If they have substance abuse problems along with their theft charge, they will need to take counseling in addition to other consequences)

Explanation for the Objectives of the YCJA

I wrote about the Objectives of the YCJA (click here to go), and today I will explain it more in depth.

• Prevent crime
  
  
  • This means addressing the offending person's underlying circumstances for the offending behavior. An example would be counseling for alcohol or drug abuse.
  
  
  
• Rehabilitate young offenders and reintegrate them into society
  
  
  • Providing young offenders with the skills to make positive choices in the future, and to help them find positive ways to participate in their community (e.g. joining a sports team). 
  
  
  
• Punish bad decisions with meaningful consequences
  
  
  • The consequences would promote the long-term protection of society. For example, if a young person damages someone's property, they should explain themselves to the person they wronged, and repair or replace the property.
  
  
  
• Separate young offenders from adults because of their reduced maturity level
  
  
  • Young offenders are not as responsible for their actions as adults and should not face the same consequences as adults.

Consequences Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act

Consequences under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) are usually done in measures designed by a Youth Justice Committee, a Sentencing Circle, or Social Workers and other professionals. The measures can include community service, addiction counseling, mental health counseling, helping victims and other steps.

There may also be sentences handed out by a judge. The sentences may include:

• Community services
• Counseling
• Prison
• A criminal record
• Restitution, such as paying for property damaged
  

Incarceration Rates for Youth

Canada's youth incarceration rates are among one of the highest in Western countries. Both youth and adults have to serve jail time if they commit a serious crime. But youth will likely spend more time in jail than the adult because of the conditional release provisions.

Statistics of the Youth Justice System

An increasing number of cases for youth are being dealt outside of the court room.  The cases being dealt in the court room are non-violent. And with violent offenses, minor assaults make up nearly half of it. Over forty percent of the cases being dealt in court can fall into these four categories: theft under $5000, possession of stole property, failure to appear, failure to comply with a disposition.

Rates for youth court in Canada:

• Theft under $5,000: 15,801 (15%)
• Possession of stolen property: 5,208 (5%)
• Failure to appear: 11,597 (11%)
• Failure to comply with a disposition: 13,072 (12%)
• Other thefts: 4,975 (5%)
• Mischief/damage: 5,336 (5%)
• Break and enter: 12,251 (11%)
• Minor assault: 10,545 (10%)

All cases: 106,665

Source: Youth Justice

Objectives of the Youth Criminal Justice Act

 I believe the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) strives to do the following:

• Prevent crime
• Rehabilitate young offenders and reintegrate them into society
• Punish bad decisions with meaningful consequences
• Separate young offenders from adults because of their reduced maturity level