TERRITORY TO CREATE COMMUNITY COURT

The Yukon will soon be offering a community court option to offenders
who suffer from addictions, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and other
mental health problems.

"The Yukon community court will establish a process that will allow
the offender the opportunity to make a concerted effort to break the
cycle of drug use and criminal recidivism by providing therapeutic
opportunities for offenders," Justice Minister John Edzerza told a
press conference this morning.

The $300,000 court program is expected to be functioning in
Whitehorse by the fall.

It will be offered as an option to individuals who have committed a
summary conviction offence, such as a break and enter, vandalism, and
drug- and alcohol-related crimes, said Dennis Cooley, the deputy
minister with the Justice department.

The exact criteria that must be met for an individual to be streamed
into the community court system have yet to be determined, but will
be decided on over the summer by a steering committee.

"The purpose of the court is to target services to those offenders
who need it most, when they need them most," said Edzerza.

He added he believes it will address some of the most significant
factors relating to crime in the Yukon.

The minister described the program as a multidisciplinary court
similar in its modeling to the Yukon's Domestic Violence Treatment
Option (DVTO) court, which provides abusers and their families with
support and treatment options.

Though offenders entering the community court will be screened before
being provided with the option, it will have to be the individual who
makes the final choice to go that route, said Cooley.

"The key is focusing on the individual - the right individuals - who
have a willingness to enter into court, take responsibility for their
actions and then follow through with the program."

If there isn't an sort of buy-in from offenders, it won't be an
effective option in helping change their lifestyle, said Edzerza.

Offenders opting to go through the community court will be assigned a
strict treatment plan that will include substance abuse treatment,
random drug testing, incentives and sanctions, clinical case
management and social service support.

The multifaceted approach will likely touch on substance abuse,
housing, education, family, abuse, child care, residential schools
and spirituality, said Edzerza.

While going through the program the individual will be required to
appear before the court on a regular basis to ensure the treatment
plan is being followed and will then be sentenced at the end of the
process based on their success in the program.

The court will likely be more effective than giving an offender a
conditional sentence with treatment requirements built into it, said
Sandra Bryce, manager of the Department of Justice's Victim Services
and Family Violence Prevention Unit.

"It's giving people an invitation. You get a different kind of
feeling when you're invited to do something rather than told to do
it," she said.

In essence, Bryce added, the program will be inviting individuals to
take responsibility for the situation while receiving support,
encouragement and incentives along the way.

It will also move away from the tendency to "compartmentalize" people
and have them enrolled in a number of programs without any
established communication, she said.

"We've found it's very helpful to have everyone who is involved in
their life around the table. That way, you're working in a
collaborated more co-operative, co-ordinated way and you're able to
streamline those services," said Bryce.

The community court will be conducted in partnership with the
judiciary, Crown and defence lawyers, the police, the Department of
Justice and Health and Social Services, various community groups and
first nation governments.

"We're very pleased that there will be an opportunity for flexibility
and modifications specific to each individual's capabilities," said
Judy Pakozdy, executive director of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Society of the Yukon (FASSY).

Pakozdy said she sees the court being beneficial to individuals who
have trouble comprehending the justice system and how sentencing works.

"In the current system, with the current language and process, they
are not competent but it's not being recognized," she said.

The program will modify the way an offender is able to communicate
with the court and how lawyers communicate with their clients, she
said. It is those changes that could make the community court very
useful, she added.

"People who aren't able to comprehend the current justice system, for
whatever reason - for disability or mental health issue or just plain
literacy issue, are not receiving true justice the way things go now."

The programming is not anything new in North America, said Cooley. It
is basically a combined approach of aboriginal circle sentencing,
therapeutic courts and drug courts, he said.

Similar programs exist in Toronto and Vancouver.

"What the court does is brings all the programs and services together
in a concerted way. It allows you to target programs and services to
offenders when they need them most," he said.