The Impact Of A Program For Crossover Youth In Ontario On Stakeholder Collaboration, Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes

Crossover youth, those involved in both the child welfare and youth justice systems, are more likely to receive detention and harsher sentences than youth with no child welfare involvement. In Ontario, the Crossover Youth Project (COYP) was formed to ameliorate these systemic issues. To evaluate the success of a Toronto pilot site, a convergent parallel mixed methods study was completed. A total of 19 stakeholders, mostly from youth justice and child welfare, were interviewed at the closure of the pilot and 15 nine months later. Interviews were analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis and interpreted alongside quantitative data from questionnaires. Themes indicate that stakeholders’ knowledge of crossover youth and skills in advocacy increased, as well as their ability to collaborate. While their learning was maintained at follow-up, their ability to collaborate was impaired by loss of the case coordinator who was essential to facilitating conferences. Results can inform future interventions.

The Impact Of A Program For Crossover Youth In Ontario On Stakeholder Collaboration, Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes

Crossover youth, those involved in both the child welfare and youth justice systems, are more likely to receive detention and harsher sentences than youth with no child welfare involvement. In Ontario, the Crossover Youth Project (COYP) was formed to ameliorate these systemic issues. To evaluate the success of a Toronto pilot site, a convergent parallel mixed methods study was completed. A total of 19 stakeholders, mostly from youth justice and child welfare, were interviewed at the closure of the pilot and 15 nine months later. Interviews were analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis and interpreted alongside quantitative data from questionnaires. Themes indicate that stakeholders’ knowledge of crossover youth and skills in advocacy increased, as well as their ability to collaborate. While their learning was maintained at follow-up, their ability to collaborate was impaired by loss of the case coordinator who was essential to facilitating conferences. Results can inform future interventions.

Cultural Values and Practice When Serving Children, Youth, and Families

Three case studies will be shared in this paper in the context of organizational values and practices implemented at the PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families, located in Annandale, VA. The youth voices integrated in the case studies provide reasons for participating in special education and family strengthening programs. An overview of services and support received is given. Key challenges, successes, and emerging outcomes are considered. This study provides information on how to make organizational and cultural values come to life and how to recognize the positive youth development practices in special education and family strengthening services. This study also includes information on those working with crossover youth in special education day schools and family strengthening programs.

Intersectionality: A Means for Addressing the Needs of Children with Mental Health Issues who are Engaged with the Family Law and Criminal Justice Systems?

Huge numbers of children in Canada suffer from mental health issues, yet only a fraction gets needed supports and services. Left untreated, childhood mental illnesses carry serious consequences for children, families, and society as a whole. This public health crisis is significantly more pronounced for children who are engaged with the family law (child welfare) and youth criminal justice systems (“crossover youth”). Crossover youth face multiplicative challenges, including disproportionate rates of mental health issues. In this article, I explore how the failure to provide crossover youth with needed supports and services, and the related dire consequences suffered by these children and society more generally (e.g. deteriorating mental health, repeated engagement in the criminal justice system) is tied to the failure in the family law (child welfare) and youth criminal justice systems to recognize the effects of the intersection of the various challenges and disadvantages (e.g. poverty, racism, instability) experienced by these children. I describe the paradigm of intersectionality, and argue that the adoption of an intersectional approach by the family law (child welfare) and youth criminal justice systems is imperative in order for the legal system to meet its mandate and protect and promote the well-being of these vulnerable children.

Responding to Crossover Youth: A Look Beyond Recidivism Outcomes

Crossover youth are involved in both child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM) promotes collaboration between these systems to inform decision making between the two agencies and better serve these youth. Yet, few outcome evaluations of the CYPM exist, especially those that assess outcomes beyond recidivism, such as case dispositions, case closure, or placement or living situations. This study examined whether the CYPM ( n = 210) decreased recidivism and increased system/case responses and positive outcomes among youth within 9–18 months after the youth’s initial arrest relative to a comparison group of crossover youth ( n = 425) who were arrested 1 year before the CYPM was implemented. Overall, the findings suggest that the CYPM in the jurisdiction under study dismisses or diverts crossover youth more often, closes delinquency cases more often, and leads to more home placements than was previously done in the jurisdiction, but it does not significantly reduce recidivism.

Specializing Justice for Youth and Families

‘Specialized justice’ is deeply rooted in a movement toward socializing and humanizing crime and justice in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Structurally and ideologically, this movement influenced courts to maintain their law-upholding purpose while simultaneously operating as a public service to communities in need. Based on this ideological and structural shift, specialized justice via specialty courts is one mechanism through which citizens should be able to access justice, therapeutic jurisprudence, and restorative forms of justice. Given this reality, this chapter serves as an entry point for a critical assessment of alternative and specialized justice initiatives, their historical roots, and the potential collateral consequences of specializing justice for crossover youth and families in particular. This chapter posits some of the benefits, challenges, and potential drawbacks of alternative justice initiatives of this kind, especially in relation to the adversarial and punitive justice model from which they derive.