Youth Justice Committee receives special training

News — 06 December 2011

By Ally Dunham

The Youth Justice Committee (YJC) has hosted another full weekend of training for their dedicated volunteers, in order to help youth have a second chance when falling into the justice system.

“We have held five conferences since late June, when we had our first one, we have two more on the go and I am hopeful that those will be completed before Christmas. We’ve had successful resolution in all but one of them, but the process has shown that it can work well, but we still need the buy-in and cooperation of the young people as well,” said Bill Hovi, YJC Coordinator.

The training sessions were hosted by Restorative Justice Coordinator, Rajendar Sud of the OPP, and were open to all provincially accepted volunteers, including members of the Dryden Police Service and Treaty Three Police. The YJC currently has seven volunteers with another five coming on board in the new year.

The program is focused on diverting low risk young offenders away from the formal court process. The crown and police have the option of referring these youth to the DDYJC instead of putting them through a formal court procedure, depending on the nature of the charges and the history of the youth.

“I think we’re very lucky to have not just the numbers we have, but also the quality of people we have. We’ve got people who are very committed to being in the process and that’s exactly what we want,” said Hovi.

During the training, volunteers were taught more in-depth what their role is as a facilitator and how to help the community be safer.

“To build in those pieces around repairing the harm, empowering young people to take accountability, and overall making the community safer,” said Sud.

The volunteers were also learning about brain development of teens, and how that relates to their behaviour leading them to the justice system.

“We have great background information on the kinds of things that are going on in the teenage brain, and how they might impact on decisions they make or don’t make, bringing them into our program,” said Hovi. “We’ve gained much greater insight into the importance of our role, not that we ever took it lightly. There is much more to it, in terms of making sure that the process works well for everybody who is involved, and our volunteers are certainly going to leave much better prepared for the work that lies ahead of them.”

Hovi says the YJC is still growing, and is looking at enhancing their relationships with the local police partners.

“Our steering committee is focused on supporting the work that we do locally. We have our first volunteer approved for Ignace, so we’ll be able to spread our wings that way a little more and offer the program to all the communities served by the Dryden court. It can only be better for all our communities,” said Hovi.

Related News

Youth Justice up and running

Six months after the Dryden and District Youth Justice Committee (DDYJC) program began, volunteer conference facilitators have been trained. The program is focused on diverting low risk young offenders away from ...

Ice Dogs have busy week

By Ally Dunham The Dryden Ice Dogs started out last week with the Mayor’s Challenge, facing the Sioux Lookout Flyers with some home and home action on Feb. 14 and 15. ...

Staff Sergeant Chuck Wesley (left) and project manager, Dan Stewart stand in the main reception area of the new OPP Dryden detachment. Photo by Ally Dunham

Dryden OPP detachment on time and on budget

By Ally Dunham The new detachment for the Dryden OPP is right on schedule, as well as on budget, according to Staff Sergeant, Detachment Commander Chuck Wesley. A walk through the new ...

New vacancy on police board

By Ally Dunham Bill Hovi, chair of the Police Services Board has decided to end his term early, and has officially resigned his position as chair, as well as a board ...

Warm Up for Winter Coat Drive

A winter coat drive is underway in Dryden to provide winter clothing to those in need. Until Nov. 10, residents can drop off their clean, new or used jackets, hats and ...

Cops versus Dogs

By Ally Dunham The Dryden Ice Dogs and the OPP partnered to play for the Vermilion Bay Minor Hockey Association fundraiser. With OPP officers on hand from Dryden, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake ...

Construction begins on OPP detachment

Construction is underway on the new Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Dryden Detachment located three kms. east of Dryden at the former Marston Motors/U-Haul site. The year-long construction project is expected to ...

Vandalism/theft at Dryden Ski Club

Sometime during the night of Feb. 28, vandals broke into the Dryden Ski Club, stole merchandise and vandalized the building. Club Manager, Paul Taylor arrived at the hill early morning, March ...

Community rallies for local athlete

Local athlete, 17-year old Candace Glowa, was chosen to compete in the Canada Games competition in Halifax. Due to financial constrictions, it was looking like she may not be able ...

Motion would take OPP costing off the table

Ongoing discussions have been taking place in the community for the city to enquire about costing from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). At the Jan. 10 Committee of the Whole meeting, ...