Youth Restorative Action Project - Expanding This Program to Other Communities Around Alberta

...

---------------------------------------------------------------

Statement Of Problem

Since 2003, when the Youth Restorative Justice Project was sanctioned it has taken on over 500 cases with a variety of severity levels. This program, however has a limited reach due to them only being available in the Edmonton area. The solution to this problem is to begin to expand this program into other communities in Alberta. When this program is established in other communities, it will be able to reach more vulnerable youth and help them through the criminal justice system. This proposed plan should begin in 2015 with a project to expand awareness towards this program and research into what communities would be best suited for this program. The beginning of the expansion process would not happen until 2016 to 2017, depending on the ability to find dedicated people in each community to help start each chapter. The projected completion date for the expansion would be roughly 2022.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Background

The Youth Restorative Justice Program has a very noble grass roots origin. The first coordinator for this program was a youth who lacked stable housing. The youth, Heather Thurier actually rented a locker at the Greyhound bus station. This locker was were she kept the confidential files of her clients. Even thought she was a high-risk youth in the city, she saw that the court systems were not meeting the needs of the youth. This program was created in 2001 but was not sanctioned until 2003, for two years the pioneers of this program worked behind the scenes without being sanctioned. These origins and Attitudes that empowered Heather to develop this program are still strong.

This program also helps break stereotypes people may hold towards a group of people. In one instance YRAP took on three girls who surrounded a women they thought to be a prostitute and assaulted her. Instead of punishing them with jail time, YRAP decided that they should research and produce a two hour radio documentary on child prostitution. Two of those three young girls went on to become members of the YRAP community. Mark Cherrington (2004) stated that you could see their beliefs and value systems change as this progressed. This is just one example of the ways that YRAP helps to break prejudices and stereotypes. “That's what's important about YRAP…It breaks stereotypes. It deals with people involved in hate crimes, but it also breaks rigid ideas about who can help in the community and who can't help in the community.”(Cherrington,2004,The Ottawa Citizen).

Expanding this program will be an extensive project. There are many steps that need to be taken before beginning the actual expansion. This, will however be a positive thing for all of Alberta. This program allows youth to feel empowered by helping others youth through

---------------------------------------------------------------

difficult times. It will also give the opportunity to any victim of the youth in the program, if they choose, to be an active part of the process. In many cases this can help the healing process and if they do not want to be apart of the program they do not have to be. YRAP also allows communities to take on the underlying social issues that their youth are facing, these underlying issues can be a factor in why some youth have become involved in the court system. By addressing these issues and coming up with creative ways to deal with them, allows the youth involved to move past them and begin anew.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Scope

Benefits:

- Would allow for more youth to receive help and support through the justice system.

- Would help to minimize the risk of reoffending of the youth who participate.

- Could give the youth a safe place to go if things in their lives are going wrong.

Short-Term Goals:

- Access where this type of program is most needed within Alberta.

- Find dedicated people within other communities to be the ambassadors for the starting of this program in their community.

- Promote awareness of this program throughout Alberta.

Long-Term Goals:

- Have this program available to any and all youth who meet the requirements throughout Alberta with places to go to within their community.

- Begin to promote awareness and possibly expand this program into the rest of western Canada.

- Make connections with other support programs within the different communities to help support the youth in all aspects of their lives.

Limitations:

- Finding enough dedicated and passionate volunteers to start the new chapters of this program in other communities.

---------------------------------------------------------------

- Finding enough funding to have buildings for each new chapter in their respected community.

Personnel

The personnel needed to complete this expansion would be mainly composed of volunteers with a few paid positions. To acquire the amount of personnel needed for each new chapter that is opened, an individual would have to go to each community and canvass to see what the interest level is for this type of project. Canvassing can be done in many ways, it can be done by a paper survey, an online survey, creation of a Facebook page, an advertisement in a newspaper or even a letter to the municipal government of that community. All of these ways would allow for the information to get out into the community and hopefully bring feedback from the members of the community.

The paid positions would include coordinators which will be responsible for coordinating and managing all of the volunteers within the program. These individuals will need to be driven and focused on the mandate of the YRAP program. To be a good fit within this program they will also need to be organized, punctual and flexible as well.