Legislative Frameworks for Youth Justice in Ontario

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Agenda

  • Attendance
  • Review of key learnings from last week
  • Lecture
  • Socrative quiz
  • Midterm review

Welcome and Housekeeping

  • Critical performance objectives:
    • LO2: Examine the key legislative frameworks that shape the youth justice system in Canada
    • LO3: Differentiate between rehabilitative, restorative, and retributive philosophies and practice in youth justice
    • LO4: Explore the social impact of criminalizing youth

Review of Key Learnings from Last Week

  • What act did the YCJA replace, and when?
    • Young Offenders Act in 2003
  • What is the age of criminal responsibility, and until what age does the YCJA protect?
    • 12 until 18.
  • YCJA aims to protect the public through what 3 means?
    • Rehabilitation, crime prevention, and meaningful consequences.
  • If a youth commits a violent crime, what 2 things can happen (that the YCJA usually protects them from)?
    • They can be held in custody and be given an adult sentence.
  • A youth can be tried and sentenced as an adult if…
    • They are 14+ and commit a violent crime for which an adult would be jailed for more than 2 years.
  • What are processes other than going to court?
    • Extrajudicial Measures & Sanctions.
  • Which groups of youth have special provisions under the YCJA?
    • Indigenous youth (Gladue), Black youth (SPP), Youth with mental health conditions, and youth with FASD.

Module 2: Lesson #2: Legislative Frameworks for Youth Justice in Ontario

Age-based laws and Provincial Offenses

Learning Outcomes

  • Age-Based Laws
  • Education Act, Provincial Code of Conduct and Safe Schools Act, youth leaving home
  • Provincial Offences, Trespassing, Tickets and Panhandling
  • Youth rights in the child welfare system, and leaving home age
  • Health Care Rights: consent and mental health
  • Youth Justice outcomes framework

Age-Based Laws

  • Youth Criminal Justice Act
  • Education
    • Going to school is a legal requirement for young people between the ages of 6 and 17. The Education Act gives parents and children specific rights in the publicly funded school system.
  • Leaving Home
    • In Ontario, youth can choose where they live when they are 16 years old. The decision to leave is often not easy and can lead to difficulties in finding basic necessities, having enough money to support themselves and attending school.

The Education Act

  • Provincial Code of Conduct and the Safe Schools Act will briefly explore.

Provincial Code of Conduct

  • Why? Who? Where?
    • All students, parents, teachers, staff, and community members have the right to be safe, and feel safe, in their school community. With this right comes the responsibility for everyone to be accountable for their actions and contribute to a positive school climate.

Provincial Code of Conduct: Fundamental Beliefs

  • Everyone has a responsibility to promote a safe environment.
  • Everyone should be aware of their rights, as active and engaged citizens. More importantly, everyone should also accept responsibility for protecting their rights and the rights of others. Responsible citizenship involves taking part in the civic life of the school.
  • All members of the school community are to be treated with respect and dignity, especially those in positions of authority.
  • Everyone has a responsibility to resolve conflicts in a way that is civil and respectful. Insults, hurtful acts and a lack of respect for others disrupt learning and teaching in a school community.
  • Everyone is expected to resolve conflicts without using violence. Physical aggression is not a responsible way to deal with other people. No one should use an object to injure another person, or even threaten to use an object to injure another person. This is unacceptable and puts everyone's safety at risk.

Code of Conduct: Standards of Behaviour

  • Respect, civility, and responsible citizenship
  • Safety
  • Roles and responsibilities
    • School boards
    • Principals
    • Teachers and school staff
    • Students
    • Parents
  • More information about the specifics of the Standards of Behaviour can be found on the Ontario Ministry of Education website.

Safe Schools Act

  • An Ontario bill implemented to increase respect and responsibility and to set standards for safe learning and teaching in schools. Often referred to as the “Zero-tolerance policy.”
  • The Act outlines activities that can result in suspensions and expulsions, however, it focuses on preventions, early intervention, and support.
  • It takes an intersectional and contextual approach to suspensions and expulsions (mitigating factors).

Youth and Provincial Offences

Trespassing, Squatting, and Panhandling

Trespassing

  • It is an offence to trespass on public and private property in Ontario. Under the Trespass to Property Act, you commit trespassing when you:
    • Go onto another person’s property where it is prohibited with notice in writing
    • Do something on another person’s property that is prohibited. Things that are prohibited are listed on a sign; or
    • Do not leave the property immediately after being told to do so by the owner or a person authorized by the owner.

Trespassing: Youth Rights

  • A police officer or someone who is legally occupying the property can arrest the youth without a warrant while they are still on the premises if they have reason to believe that you are trespassing.
  • Once the youth has left the property, a police officer can only arrest the youth without a warrant if he or she has articulable reason to believe that you were trespassing.

Squatting

  • You are squatting when you enter and/or stay somewhere without permission.
  • Squatting itself is not an offence but, depending on the circumstances, you could be fined for trespassing or charged with several Criminal Code offences. For example:
    • Trespassing at night – loitering or prowling near a dwelling house at night
    • Breaking and entering
    • Being unlawfully in a dwelling house
    • Mischief
  • COVID had a profound impact on youth who were unhoused.

COVID-19 Emergency Measures Laws & Public Spaces in Ontario

  • All outdoor recreational spaces are closed, including fields, basketball courts, dog parks, and beaches. You can walk through green spaces such as parks, trails, and ravines but can't use benches, tables, and any structures.
  • You are also not allowed to host public events or be in social gatherings of more than 5 people.
  • Penalty: fine of up to $100,000 or up to one year in prison.
  • $750 fine if you refuse to identify yourself to the police if caught violating these measures.

Panhandling

  • There are two main offences under the Safe Streets Act: solicitation in an “aggressive manner” and solicitation of a “captive audience”.
  • Soliciting means to request money or anything else of value from someone, whether or not you provide any services in return.
  • You can request by asking, putting up a sign, making a gesture — anything, and it can be considered soliciting.
  • Panhandling and squeegeeing are examples of solicitation.

What does these have to do with youth?

  • Young people do not have many of the power, privileges, and freedoms as adults..
  • Where can they go if they want some privacy and it is not afforded to them at home?
  • What is the kind of trouble youth tend to get into in private? –smoking, drugs, and sexual activity, all of which are heavily monitored, controlled, and policed by adults.
  • Young people/adults are largely unemployed and unhoused.
  • They are doing the best they can with what they have, and what they have is not very much…

What does this mean for SSWs?

  • It is critical that SSWs explore the root of the problem for youth rather than see youth as the root of the problem.
  • Smoking, drugs, and sex and many other maladaptive behaviours are the tip of the iceberg.
  • How can SSWs support young people?

Youth rights in the Child Welfare System

Age of Consent

  • If a youth is 16 or 17, they can decide where they want to live and do not need a legal guardian.
  • A youth can leave home against the wish of their legal guardian and live somewhere else.
  • If they are living with another person (against their parent’s wishes), they will not be charged with a criminal offence as long as they do not assist you in leaving home.
  • If a youth is under 16 years old, (or if they and their parents live in another province where the age for leaving home is older), their parents can contact the police to have them returned home if the youth is living in a place that is not safe (a place where you are at risk of physical, emotional or sexual abuse, or being neglected).

Protection

  • Any person who believes a child under 16 is being harmed or at risk of harm must make a report to the local Children’s Aid Society (CAS). Harm can be physical, emotional, sexual, or based on neglect.
  • CAS will start an investigation to determine if they are in need of protection from harm. CAS may apprehend the youth.
  • CAS may place a youth with a relative, in a foster care home, or in a group home. If they have already left home and staying with a person who CAS believes they are safe with, then they may allow the youth to stay with that person.
  • If a youth and their parents cannot get along, and CAS does not believe they are in need of protection, then a youth may be able to get a Temporary Care Agreement with CAS.

Voluntary Youth Service Agreement (VYSA)

  • A VYSA is a contract between a youth (16-17) and the CAS to receive services.
  • A youth has a right to consent or refuse to enter into a VYSA; and they can end a VYSA if they no longer want to be part of the agreement. Before signing a VYSA, they will be given a lawyer through the Office of the Children’s Lawyer for legal advice and representation.
  • If they enter into a VYSA with CAS, a Voluntary Youth Services Plan must be created within 30 days. This plan will include finding the youth a place to live and provide other supports, such as financial and social supports, planning for transitioning into adulthood, and assisting with developing and/or maintaining cultural connections.

Youth rights: Health Care

Consent and Privacy

  • Youth can see a health practitioner by themselves, without parent involvement unless the health practitioner decides that they are ‘incapable’.
  • Being capable or incapable depends on their ability to understand the information they are given about the treatment, their ability to make decisions based on that information, and how complicated the treatment is.
  • For example: a doctor may decide that you are capable to make decisions about taking specific drugs but that you are not capable to decide whether to undergo surgery.
  • If youth are 12 years of age or older and in care, they do not need parental/guardian consent to see a mental health professional.

Consent and Privacy

  • Seeing healthcare records
    • Youth have the right to see their healthcare records (also called “clinical records”) as long as they have not been found incapable.
    • These records include notes, letters, and reports written by a health practitioner about you.
    • Exception: Youth may be stopped from seeing their record if it has been decided that it is bad for them to see it (e.g., by the health practitioner or a Children’s Aid Society).
  • In general, no one else can see a youth’s records without their consent.
  • Any consent that a youth gives should be done on a Consent to Release Information Form.
  • If the youth is under 16 and their records include any information that there is a reasonable suspicion that they are being harmed and in need of protection, the suspicion must be reported to the Children’s Aid Society.
  • If they are found incapable, then their record can be seen by a substitute decision-maker.

Youth Justice Outcomes Framework

  • In 2014, the ministry set new system-wide goals that build on our continued efforts to reduce re-offending.

Outcomes

  • Improved Functioning & Positive Social Behaviours
    • Indicators:
      • Increased recognition of the impact of behaviours
      • Improved social functioning and positive social behaviours
      • Decreased risk behaviours
  • Increased Skills & Abilities
    • Indicators:
      • Increased problem-solving ability
      • Increased skills and training
      • Increased life-skills
  • Increased Youth Engagement with Supports
    • Indicators:
      • Improved transitions (e.g., with other supports such as mental health)
      • Increased youth engagement with community & family supports
      • Increased youth engagement with structured supports
  • Decreased Re-Offending
    • Indicators:
      • Decreased recidivism
      • Decreased frequency of offences
      • Decreased severity of offences

Recidivism Stats: Ontario

  • For youth whose first contact only involved police re-contact was 51%.
  • Youth whose first contact ended in court proceedings re-contact was 60%.
  • Youth whose first contact ended in corrections re-contact was 77%.
  • Indigenous youth with correctional involvement had a 90% re-contact rate.

Youth Crime rate stats

  • 44% reduction in the total number of youth accused of a crime between 2007-2017.

  • 30% reduction in youth accused of a violent crime.

  • Youth charged vs youth not charged

  • Youth guilty cases by type of sentance

All this to say…

  • The YJCA continues to be effective for youth.
  • EJMs are effective.
  • Punishment is not the answer.
  • Rehabilitation and reintegration are more effective.

Attendance & Check-in

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Preparing for Next Class

Preparing for Next Week

  • Next week is a working period because two things are due next Friday (Feb 14).
  • Use class time to complete the midterm or complete the creative reflection assignment.
  • Week 7 is Block placement - No class.
  • Following week is Reading Week - No class… see you March 5th!

Upcoming Due Dates/Assignment Review

Upcoming Assignments

  • Midterm - Opens Feb 12 - Feb 16 closes at 11:59 pm
  • Creative Reflection Assignment Due Feb 16 @ 11:59
  • PLAN ACCORDINGLY!!