Searching for Justice And Mental Health Programs

Provides support to individuals who are involved in the criminal justice system and who suffer from mental health and substance use problems
Offers the following programs:Mental Health Court Outreach

• Supports individuals in the court system
• Collaborates with legal counsel and family members
• Assists with bail release planning
• Helps secure beds for forensic assessments

Release from Custody

• Provides case management to individuals who are incarcerated
• Assists with release from custody and up to 3 months after release
• Helps with accessing community resources, such as housing, financial, and medical care

Mental Health Diversion

• Supports individuals who have been charged with a minor offence where mental health has been determined to be a factor in the offence

Provides the following support services:Youth Court Support

• Attends court with the youth every Thu morning
• Helps youth navigate the court system

Youth Mental Health Court Diversion

• Works with youth to help them take responsibility and ownership of their offence
• A youth's charges may be withdrawn following successful completion of the program

Bail Release Planning

• Provides a Youth Mental Health Court Worker in bail court as needed
• Services may include advocacy, interviewing family members, and referring youth to community services

• Provides a non-residential attendance centre for youth who have been in conflict with the law
• Offers support, services and programs that address the identified risk and needs of the young person

Services are usually offered on a group basis but can be individualized upon request and may include but are not limited to:

• Anger awareness and management skills
• Cognitive skills
• Employment, job search skills and literacy/tutoring
• Healthy self-esteem development
• Gender-specific programming for both males/females
• Life skills and problem-solving
• Recreation
• Substance abuse
• Violence and victim awareness

Addresses youth crime by providing the following services:

• An alternative to custody
• Intensive clinical support and community supervision
• Focus on treatment

Provides various services including the following:

• Individual counselling and referrals to other resources
• Library Services for inmates
• Community Education through displays, discussions
• Guest speakers to speak on various topics

Institutional Visitation

• Visits people at the local jail in response to requests
• Advocates with legal aid and involvement with the family

Pre-Release Planning

• Meets with inmates, at their request, to develop an individual plan of action that can be followed upon release
• Develops a plan based on individual need and may involve networking and collaborating with service providers to assure assistance to clients
• Provides follow-up and support once released

Community Service Order Program

• Provides an option to jail sentences and can be a condition of a probation order for adult and youth offenders
• Works a specific number of hours of community service work
• Focuses on assistance for seniors, non-profit organizations, and physically challenged persons

Reconciliation Between Victims and Offenders

• Facilitates reconciliation between victim and offender where both parties are willing to undergo a group conference to discuss the offence, the effects of the offence on the victim and appropriate consequences for the offender

Youth Referral Project

• Determines the most appropriate consequences with the alleged young offender, parent(s)/caregiver(s), John Howard Society and the police

Anger Management Program

• Teaches people to use appropriate thoughts and actions to express anger
• Teaches skills to help understand themselves and how to identify and express their anger appropriately

Extrajudicial Sanctions/Enhanced Extrajudicial Sanctions

• Provides community based post charge sanctions for youth, outside of formal judicial proceedings, where a young person cannot be adequately dealt with by police cautions, warnings or referrals to community support programs

Sudbury Youth Rocks Program

• Provides music lessons to youth who are at risk of conflict with the law or who do not have the opportunity to play a musical instrument and who want to learn music and join a band

Addresses youth crime by providing the following services:

• An alternative to custody
• Intensive clinical support and community supervision
• Focus on treatment

Primarily delivers the Miwdoodaa Minomaadiziwin Diversion Program

• Acts as a pre/post-charge diversion program that offers culturally appropriate services to help Indigenous people deal with the criminal justice system
• Offers culturally appropriate alternatives upon sentencing before a conviction is entered
• Provides an opportunity for the community member to enter into a mutually agreed Healing and Wellness Plan which will be taken into consideration upon sentencing
• Elders, Band officials, victims and community service providers may assist the community member during the Council process
• Facilitates mediation between the victim and offender to allow each party to be seen, heard and believed in order to repair the harm done to the community
• Offers assistance with victim services, legal aid and advice clinic, probation, and bail supervision

Some typical Healing and Wellness Plans may include, but are not limited to:

• Attending cultural events, such as Ceremony and Justice Circle
• Some form of restitution
• Community service hours
• Counselling and/or treatment

Community Justice Committee

• Acts as an advisory committee to the Justice Coordinator
• Participates in Justice Circles and development of Healing Plan
• Supports the offender and the victim