“A lot of our girls love arts and crafts,” Danielle Stang explains as she points to the bright peach and purple walls, each adorned with artwork that depict a variety of subjects, from cartoon characters, to desert sunsets, to calming blue waves. The paintings are memories of the past and present inhabitants of Talitha House, an Ottawa-area open youth custody facility for young female offenders aged 12 to 17, where Danielle is the director. “They find it to be a great way of relaxing and expressing themselves.”

Since 2011, custody rates for youth aged 12 to 17 in Ontario have dropped by 51 percent, according to an analysis of Statistics Canada data related to youth custody rates. For girls, such as the ones that Danielle works with, the numbers have dropped by 52 per cent. In boys, the custody rates have dropped by 51.5 per cent.

Danielle credits this drop to the 2003 Youth Criminal Justice Act. The YCJA focused on reducing the number of youth who went to court or and were jailed for less serious offences, focusing instead on community programs and reintegration. It replaced the Young Offenders Act, which had previously been in place since 1984.

“Before the Youth Criminal Justice Act came along, you’d have an unfair mix in youth jails,” Danielle laments. “You’d have kids who made fake phone calls in there with ones who had committed more serious offences.”

Under the YCJA, young offenders are commonly given open custody sentences, in smaller custody facilities under staff supervision, like Talitha House. Typically, young offenders spend two thirds of their open custody term in an open custody facility, and undertake community service for the final third of their term. The stay in these types of facilities can vary from a few days, to several months.

Dan O’Rourke has worked with young offenders for over 20 years. He currently works at Laurencrest Youth Services, a custody facility for young male offenders in Cornwall, Ontario. Dan explains that the YCJA has had both negative and positive impacts. On one hand, Dan says, “We’ve found that early, up front services have more of a long-term impact on the youth than just  putting them in a custody facility.” But the youth custody decreases have led to the provincial government to close down youth custody facilities and decrease the number of beds at these facilities. Dan says that these changes lead to increased pressure on the remaining facilities to apply their programs.

Jim MacDonald is the Executive Director at Phoenix House, one of the few Ottawa-area youth detention facilities that remains. He identifies another kind of frustrationdue to the YCJA. Lower conviction rates for youth and the conditions of the Phoenix House contract mean that the Navan-area facility, about 30 minutes from Ottawa, is frequently empty.

Under Phoenix House’s contract with the Catholic School Board, only offenders who have been sentenced to custody can attend the facility.
“There’s a real reluctance to dole out a sentence,” Jim explains. “Youth have to have gone through the justice system a lot before they are given custody.”
For Jim, it’s an annoying situation to be in. “We have funding, and we want to fill our desks, we want to fill our beds and we’ve budgeted for five to seven youth a week.” Jim clarifies. “We want to work.”

Jim is hoping to temporarily work with at-risk youth in his community, even if they haven’t received a custodial sentence. For Danielle, her purpose remains the same: to help the remaining girls who come through the doors of Talitha House. “At the end of the day, they’re our girls,” Danielle adds thoughtfully. “All we want is to help them to improve their self-image and find strength in themselves.”