New law credited as fewer youths jailed
March 14, 2007
Canadian press

The number of young people jailed or put on probation fell in two consecutive years after the Youth Criminal Justice Act was passed in 2003 and experts say this suggests the legislation is working as planned.

The number of youths aged 12 to 17 sent to custody and community correctional services declined 33 per cent following the act's adoption, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday. Admissions to probation declined 54 per cent, sentenced custody admissions were down 50 per cent, and remand dropped 22 cent.

The report said there were about 39,000 admissions to youth custody and community correctional services in eight reporting jurisdictions during 2004-05.

The data on custody followed the release last year of statistics showing a drop in youth crime in 2004.

"I think . . . that the (new) act is working to divert youth away from custody, which is a major intent of the legislation, to save custody for really serious cases," said Ruth Mann, a professor of sociology at the University of Windsor. "Under the YOA, we were sending a lot of kids to custody for administrative offences and minor property offences, a lot of things that many would argue were not only a waste of money but counterproductive in terms of getting youth to turn away from crime."

"We've seen a very significant, very substantial decline in the use of courts and custody for young offenders," he said. "We are increasingly using community-based dispositions and sentences and also diverting some young people from the courts system altogether and dealing with them in a less formal way."

Those alternative methods can include warnings, counselling, or community programs aimed at diverting young people from crime.

Bala said this hasn't meant being "soft on crime," nor has it produced rising crime statistics. Statistics Canada reported last fall that youth crime fell six per cent in 2004-05, the second consecutive decline. The youth crime rate, which had declined throughout the 1990s, was generally on the rise between 1999 and 2003 before turning down again.

"We've managed to reduce our use of courts and custody, which I think is often inappropriate with young people, and we're not experiencing an increase in crime," Bala said.

" It shows we were probably sending too many young people into custody under the old law."

He said the worst offenders are still being jailed and rightly so. But in the past, he said, non-violent young offenders would be more likely to go into custody, where they would mingle with more experienced and often violent offenders. That experience was more likely to tip them toward further crimes on their release.

"I don't think we should be soft on crime, but we should be smart about whom we are sending into custody and why."

Source: thestar.com
Statistic Canada Report