‘So vulnerable’: Youth court pilot project aims to stabilize, divert Indigenous kids from justice system
CBC
It all started with a 14-year-old Indigenous boy who was sitting in jail last year, not because he couldn’t get bail, but because he had nowhere to go once released.
The teen — whom CBC News will call Trevor — was one of defence lawyer Krysia Przepiorka’s clients. Przepiorka’s drive to address Trevor’s complex needs led to him becoming the first participant in a youth court pilot project.
If all goes according to plan the pilot project will become a weekly specialized therapeutic court for family and youth, where kids address long-term issues driving addictions and criminal behaviour. It’s being modelled after Calgary Indigenous Court (CIC) for adults, which sits every Wednesday.
That court brings agency workers, a judge, lawyers and the accused person together to discuss how best to support them.
There is a real effort to connect accused Indigenous people with their cultures and communities, and a focus on peacemaking and restorative justice.
Przepiorka says many of the Indigenous kids involved in the justice system are “so vulnerable.”
Przepiorka, along with Sgt. Chris Warren from the Calgary Police Service’s diversion program and Katelyn Lucas, executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Calgary, are deeply involved with CIC.
And Warren wondered: “How do we bring this to youth?”
They started with Trevor.
“This file opened our eyes to the significant gaps that were happening on the youth side, especially where child welfare was involved,” said Przepiorka.
Indigenous youth are drastically over-represented in the justice system, accounting for 40 per cent of admissions to jails despite making up just eight per cent of the Canadian youth population.
As part of the pilot project, the young people are offered help with things like housing, addictions services, counselling and connecting with their culture.
Once they’re stabilized and supported, there’s a simple yet lofty goal: “Get them out of the justice system,” said Warren.
Trevor was connected with his Indigenous culture through access to an elder, he got a specialized case team, and he now has stable housing.
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