Trent University Forensics

Victim Services seeks to maintain high quality services to crime victims by maintaining officer awareness of victims' concerns while also liaising with other networks and resources in the community. Victim Services are responsible for implementing and maintaining a comprehensive program to address the broad needs of victims. The Victim Services team has long considered the potential positive impact that a volunteer program could have towards helping victims of crime in the City of Peterborough. I administered a survey responsible for addressing questions regarding the recruitment and training process, as well as the job description of volunteers. The survey was conducted with seven Victim Services units across Ontario that have volunteer programs. These areas include: Windsor, Guelph, Toronto, Durham, Hamilton, Ottawa and Waterloo. From the survey, it can be concluded that all volunteer programs with Victim Services Units operate in their own unique way depending on the needs of their corresponding geographical area. Using the information gathered from the survey, I developed recommendations pertaining to how a volunteer program should be implemented in Peterborough. The main recommendations are further outlined in the report and include: approximately six to eight volunteers, with a minimum age of 21. In addition, I recommended that volunteers must commit to a minimum of one year of volunteering with Victim Services while completing a minimum of four shifts a month. Lastly, I suggested that the training for the volunteers should be conducted with online modules and in-class sessions.

The purpose of the present project was to help the staff of the YES Shelter for Youth and Families to understand when their clients' personal information is required to be shared with others, primarily those in law enforcement. To fulfil the purpose, legislation surrounding the sharing of personal information was researched, along with other homeless shelters. Privacy policies of homeless shelters similar to the YES Shelter were obtained through email and telephone interviews. Research from the legislation allows for the personal information of clients to be shared with the police when the information is used to help an investigation and to protect the life and health of a person. With the exception of one shelter, all the shelters that shared policies lack privacy policies. However, all the shelters do not permit the sharing of client information to those outside of law enforcement. Eva's Initiatives was the only shelter to have detailed privacy policies, which allow for the disclosure of client information to those in law enforcement when the information is used to protect the life and health of a person. The research gathered from the present project is being used by the YES Shelter to create privacy policies for their staff.

Previous research has determined that having a sense of community belonging can help reduce youth's criminal involvement. Given this, the HKPR Regional HSJCC initiated the current project to explore and identify youth programs that promote and/or create the conditions to enhance youth's sense of belonging. The aim of this project was to determine what types of programs promote community belonging; identify how these programs were distributed within Haliburton, the City of Kawartha Lakes and Northumberland; and analyze how these programs were structured in terms of barriers and commonalities. Using a qualitative approach data was collected through a literature review, an environmental scan and interviews. Results revealed that multiple terms indicate community belonging, and that a diverse range of programs can help enhance this feeling. Programs identified in each of the research areas tended to be located within close proximity to one another, and were not evenly distributed. Comparisons of the programs also revealed that the most common barriers youth face to participation are financially and accessibility related. Future suggestions include: addressing these barriers, and working to better inform these communities of the impact that having a sense of community belonging can have for youth. Considering educationally based programing, program structures that view at- risk youth positively, and incorporating positive role models are recommended as future directions in developing an ideal youth program. Involving youth in continued research is also strongly suggested to enhance their sense of belonging while mitigating potential criminal involvement.

The aim of the present project was to identify the questions or ambiguities that concern the staff members of the YES Shelter for Youth and Families regarding the sharing of personal information of youth clients with law enforcement agencies. To accomplish this, the relationship between homeless youth and the criminal justice system was initially researched through journal articles within the past five years to determine why homelessness can lead to criminal behaviour and why homeless youth potentially receive more attention from police. Current policies and procedures from the YES Shelter were also reviewed for ambiguities when sharing information with law enforcement. Survey question were administered to YES staff regarding the release of client information when communicating with police and probation officers. Research through a literature review identified numerous factors leading to homeless youth becoming involved in criminality, such as drug use. In addition, homeless youth often receive extensive attention from police whether they are criminally involved or not, because they are often socially profiled as "dangerous" by the public. Survey responses from YES staff showed a high and consistent level of confidence when releasing client information to the police; however the confidence level when sharing client information with probation officers was low and inconsistent. Overall, youth clients at the YES Shelter felt that their privacy was secured and protected. The research gathered from the present project aims to help the YES Shelter create privacy policies for their staff. Lastly, a list of recommendations was suggested for future research.