By creating tailored and innovative community justice models that meet individuals where they are at and respond to community needs, Ontario’s Justice Centre Pilots offer a transformative approach to criminal justice. This presentation will be an in-depth discussion about Ontario’s four Justice Centre Pilots and how they have been uniquely developed by and for the communities they serve and how they each support the needs of specialized populations within their community. The design of each Pilot site has been guided by a participatory design process with local service providers, police, justice system participants, municipalities, and First Nations leadership and Indigenous organizations. The London Pilot provides targeted supports for young adults aged 18-24 to help them avoid and exit the criminal justice system and reconnect with school and work. The Toronto Northwest Pilot will focus on the needs of racialized youth between age 12 and 17 and aims to decrease high levels of community violence and its traumatic impact on young people and their families. In Downtown East, the Pilot will serve adults with multiple risk factors, including insecure housing, mental illness, developmental disabilities, substance use disorders and/or concurrent disorders. In Kenora, the model will include parallel criminal and Indigenous restorative justice processes with the aim of increasing referrals to existing Indigenous restorative justice programs, reducing bail and remand populations and providing multi-sectoral trauma-informed supports delivered by Indigenous organizations to youth and adults, including Indigenous women and girls who have experienced or witnessed trauma or violence.
PRESENTERS:
Dayna Arron | Provincial Justice Centre
Holly Loubert | Provincial Justice Centre
Miriam Henry | Toronto Northwest Justice Centre
Kaffie Abdirashid | Toronto Northwest Justice Centre
Kemi Jacobs | Toronto Northwest Justice Centre
Jennifer Drever | Kenora Chiefs Advisory
Moderator: Scott McKean | City of Toronto
