London's justice centre aims to prevent youth from reoffending

Navigating the court process is complex, especially for a young person. 

A provincial pilot program is helping lighten the load and anxiety that can come with the process while also trying to address the root cause of crime in an effort to prevent youth from reoffending.  

London's justice centre, which is offered through Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) as part of the Ontario government's violence reduction strategy, moves youth aged 18-25 out of the traditional courtroom setting and into one that combines justice with social supports.

"The idea in a nutshell is the 'no wrong door' approach," said Steve Cordes, YOU's CEO "It's a matter of supporting the young person to help ensure that this involvement with the justice system is hopefully one of very few, if any."

At YOU, a peer mentor not only helps the youth navigate their court process, but they also connect them with any health or social service they may need to address issues they're facing, which may have prompted the crime. The goal is to offer supports in order to break the cycle of offending. 

"The community supports help with these triggering issues related to poverty, mental health, lack of employment opportunities, inadequate housing, food security," Cordes said."Together, between YOU and this pilot project, we can help those individuals and over time build a system that shores that up." 

In addition to YOU's own net of supports, which includes youth centres, employment services and a shelter, the agency will now be able to refer more youth to professional mental health and addictions counselling provided by the Middlesex branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) thanks to $75,000 in provincial funding. 

Cordes said the funding will allow CMHA to allocate more of their resources to support youth coming through the justice centre program.

How the justice centre works

The youth who access the justice centre have typically committed low risk offences and are referred to the program by the Ministry of the Attorney General, Cordes said. 

Once they reach out to YOU, they're connected with Shawntae Bennett, a peer mentor who helps the youth set up for their virtual court appearance, which takes place from the justice centre at YOU. 

The purpose of having the legal proceeding take place outside of a physical courtroom is in an attempt to make the process more friendly, respectable and comfortable for young people, said Bennett.

"Going to the courthouse on Dundas [Street] can be pretty intimidating, even for somebody who maybe just had their first offence, with all the police and metal detectors," said Bennett.

"I think the justice centre makes it more personal and you have somebody to talk to if you're just really nervous or just need anything in general."

Bennett's main role is to be that source of comfort and support for youth while they navigate a judicial proceeding that they may have never had to face before.

She also works with the youth on figuring out what supports they may need and helps them access it through YOU's extensive community partnerships as well as their in-house supports, which include help in accessing food, shelter, affordable housing, education and employment. 

"A lot of people are very grateful for the justice centre as it's kind of like a second chance to fix the mistakes that they may not have been able to fix after a normal court [proceeding]," Bennett said.

"I've had a lot of participants feel that they've just been so much more respected and they feel like they're being understood," she said.