State of the Criminal Justice System Dashboard
Federal Youth Justice Funding Programs
In Canada, governments, police, lawyers, judges, and other justice professionals work in close partnership with communities and families to prevent youth crime and ensure a fair and effective youth criminal justice system. Specifically, the federal and provincial/territorial governments share joint responsibilities for youth justice. The federal government is responsible for criminal law including the Criminal Code and the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), while the provinces and territories are responsible for its administration, including the delivery of youth justice programs and services.
The Youth Justice Initiative was put in place in 1999 by the federal government to respond to new and emerging youth justice issues, and to support the implementation of the YCJA through funding to maintain programs and services. The Initiative is composed of three funding components that reflect the shared authority between federal and provincial/territorial governments over the youth criminal justice system in Canada, and provide funding to the provinces and territories and other organizations to support the legislative and policy objectives of the YCJA. These funding components are: the Youth Justice Services Funding Program; the Youth Justice Fund; and the Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision Program. Each is described below.
Youth Justice Services Funding Program
The Youth Justice Services Funding Program supports the policy direction of the YCJA by financially assisting the provinces and territories in their provision of a range of youth justice services and programs that are consistent with the federal policy objectives.
Programs and services funded through this program are delivered throughout the entire youth justice process, from front-end diversion to assessment and treatment as part of community-based and custodial sentences. Priority funding areas include:
- Diversion/extrajudicial measures and extrajudicial sanctions programs;
- Rehabilitative and reintegration services;
- Judicial interim release programs;
- Reports and assessments;
- Intensive support and supervision and attendance programs;
- Culturally safe programming; and
- Conferencing and other community based sanctions.
Youth Justice Fund
The Youth Justice Fund supports projects that encourage a more effective youth criminal justice system, respond to emerging youth justice issues, and enable greater citizen and community participation in the youth criminal justice system. The Fund supports the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs and services for justice-involved youth, the development of research on youth justice issues, and training and conferences for justice professionals and youth service providers.
Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision Program
The Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision Program provides funding to provinces and territories to ensure they have the capacity to perform assessments and provide the specialized therapeutic services for the implementation of Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision sentences (i.e., sentences that provide court approved treatment and rehabilitation plans) and other sentencing options applicable under the YCJA to serious violent youth offenders with mental health issues. By providing jurisdictions with specialized resources to assess and treat violent youth with mental health needs, this funding program aims to promote the effective rehabilitation and reintegration of these youth and to reduce their likelihood of re-offending.