Helping the youth

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

Jennifer Cuthberston, chair of the Strathmore Youth Justice Committee, was on hand at the Strathmore town council meeting on Nov. 2 to explain the purpose of the youth justice committee and the important work that the committee has done with young offenders in the Strathmore area.
Cuthbertson also revealed case success rates over the course of this year. Out of the 16 youth justice committee cases seen this year, Cuthbertson revealed that only three cases went back as unsuccessful.
“We work with first-time young offenders aged 12 to under 18 with the goal of helping them avoid further criminal activity,” said Cuthbertson. “Each young person we work with has been charged with a minor criminal offence and they have accepted full responsibility for their actions.”
The committee is funded by the Alberta government and receives grant money each year, depending on the volume of cases involved. It is able to spend monies allocated by the government as it wishes and it generally uses funds to train volunteers, acquire needed resources and give donations back into the community.
There are 148 youth justice committees across the province of Alberta, and the Strathmore committee consists of seven volunteers.
According to Cuthbertson, young offenders have a one-time opportunity to go through this alternative measures program. However, if the young offender re-offends, they are required to go through the court system and would likely have a criminal record.
“Our committee is sanctioned after section 18 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act and is empowered to determine and supervise consequences given and agreed to by the young offender,” said Cuthbertson.
Consequences are an important component of the process and young offenders are given consequences such as community service hours, letters of apology to the victims/parents or making charitable donations.
“Our committee is quite creative when determining consequences, but everything is done with the goal of helping the young person to avoid re-offending,” said Cuthbertson.
The committee receives a copy of the police report prior to meeting with young offenders and determines if the case is appropriate for the committee. Next, the committee holds an open invite discussion as to why the young offender chose the actions they did.
“Many are surprised to learn what impact their criminal record might have on their parents, their siblings, their career choices and their school choices,” said Cuthbertson.
After determining appropriate consequences, a committee member is assigned to see the completion of the consequences, and a legal document is signed and a timeframe established for completing consequences.
The turnaround time for each case is no longer than three months.
“If we deem them successful in completing consequences, we mark their file successful,” said Cuthbertson.
In this case, the judge informs the youth that the charge has been withdrawn and they do not have a criminal record. However, if the young person is deemed unsuccessful, their file is marked accordingly. In both cases, the young offender is required to attend court.
Cuthbertson believes the number of cases will increase as the committee continues to work with the RCMP.
“Right now we’re working with Chestermere and Strathmore to get direct referrals,” she said.
At the meeting, Strathmore town councillor Bob Sobol said, “I’m just so happy that you [Youth Justice Committee] are in existence because I think it’s an important part of our judicial system.”
Coun. Rocky Blokland agreed.
“I think this is obviously something that’s needed in every community.”