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Working in the Youth Criminal Justice System
A Child and Youth Care (CYC) Degree in British Columbia (BC) enables a worker to generalize, working within various community domains, or allows the individual to specialize within a chosen field. The values inherent in CYC are the strengths-based approach for working with youth and their families, the development of self awareness, the desire for inclusion whenever possible, a collaborative and socially just approach, a sense of accountability, and focusing on ways to improve as a society overall (UVIC, 2008a). This set of values is in direct alignment with the new Youth Criminal Justice (YCJ) Act of 2003. The new YCJ Act has a clear emphasis on community-based responses to youth offending and explicitly states that youth sentencing must be governed by a clear set of principles or values. Basically, the Act declares that society has a responsibility to:
address the challenges and needs of all youth
encourage communities and families to work collaboratively to provide guidance and support to youth
acknowledge the underlying causes of youth crime in order to help prevent crime
use appropriate interventions for the crime
committed and reserve incarceration for the worst offenses follow the
values
set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(Justice Canada Monitor, 2006)
CYC professionals are well equipped to play a central role in the YCJ system. Several aspects of CYC and YCJ are closely aligned, including the basic structure of YCJ services, the educational and skill requirements of a youth justice worker, the knowledge of risk and resilience factors that affect youth involved with the law, and specific considerations for working in the YCJ system.
Youth Justice System in B.C.
The Youth Justice System in British Columbia deals with young people aged 12
to 17 who have committed various criminal offences. Youth Justice Services
are guided by the federal Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). In April 2003,
the Government of Canada abolished the Young Offenders Act (YOA) and
implemented the YCJA. This Act attempted to provide clearer principles that
define the objectives of the youth justice system: “prevention of crime;
rehabilitation and reintegration of youth into society; and providing young
wrongdoers fair, timely and meaningful consequences within the boundaries of
proportionate accountability” (Chattergee & Elliot, 2003, p. 348).
SHEILA PORTEOUS
Sheila Porteous, S. (2009). Working in the Youth Criminal Justice System.
Relational Child and Youth Care Practice
Volume 22 Number 2, pp. 57-61
References
Chatterjee, J. & Elliott, L. (2003). Restorative Policing in Canada: The
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Community Justice Forums, and the Youth
Criminal Justice Act. Police Practice & Research, 4(4), 347–359.
University of Victoria [UVIC]. (2008a). About us. School of Child
and Youth Care. Retrieved June 13, 2008 from
www.uvic.ca/abaout/values.php#values
