Grants and Contributions

The main objective of this project is to adapt, test and implement the Therapeutic Justice Program (TJP) in Pond Inlet, Nunavut. The TJP is an Inuit-led diversion program that aims to reduce recidivism and overrepresentation of indigenous offenders and victims in correctional facilities, increase front-line services to Nunavummiut for mental health issues, substance abuse, and trauma as well as enhance community-resource capacity by empowering local leaders and organizations. The TJP will offer activities to youth, 12 to 30 years of age, in the legal system under two main components: a clinical component that provides mental health support such as mediation, counselling, or healing circles and a cultural component that provides community-based cultural programming. An evaluation will be conducted to assess the overall effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of the Program in Pond Inlet.

The Today’s Flowers Tomorrow’s Fruits (TFTF) will address community needs by providing culturally responsive and wraparound programs to Black and racialized youth that will increase their protective factors through positive school experiences. TFRF aims to disrupt the school-to prison pipeline by strengthening cultural and personal identity, providing culturally affirming and mental health programs, employment readiness, learning workshops and engagement sessions with the goal of resulting in a reduction in the disproportionate contact of Black and racialized children and youth in the criminal system.

Beyond the Bell will be an Enhanced Support Infrastructure project delivered by Chilliwack Community Services to reduce youth crime and gang involvement. It will achieve this by strengthening community support systems, focusing on middle school students during after-school hours, a time when youth violence peaks in their community.

A direct intervention project to reduce youth violence and increase protective factors among at-risk youth in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. Youth will be provided access to case-managed, wraparound, and culturally responsive supports and services including, but not limited to, improv-based social-emotional learning, mental health literacy and engagement with other relevant community supports.

Youth of Today Society will deliver a mural-based, community-driven intervention across multiple Yukon communities to engage at-risk and Indigenous youth through artistic creation, cultural mentorship, and community collaboration, with funding from the Crime Prevention Action Fund. The project is expected to strengthen emotional resilience, cultural identity, and positive community attachment, while reducing risk factors associated with violent crime and supporting longer-term pathways to wellbeing, education, and employment.

The Restore, Rebuild, Reclaim, and Reinvent (R4) project will address community needs through culturally responsive programs that empower Black and racialized families in Durham Region.  By addressing the overrepresentation of Black youth in the justice system and offering targeted supports that will assist with reducing risk factors and increase protective factors for participants, this program offers much needed culturally anchored spaces for parents and caregivers to heal, connect, and navigate the complex challenges associated with youth justice issues.

“Empire Fighting Chance: The Guardians of Tomorrow” is a coordinated crime‑prevention initiative led by REACH Edmonton that supports vulnerable youth (9–17) and young adults (18–30). The project integrates two evidence‑informed models—Empire Fighting Chance and Guardians of Tomorrow—to provide a continuum of supports ranging from early intervention to transition‑to‑adulthood programming. Through culturally grounded partnerships, mentoring, boxing and martial arts programming, mental health supports, and life‑skills development, the initiative helps participants build resilience, reduce risk factors, and pursue positive, prosocial pathways.

The Public Legal Information Association of Newfoundland and Labrador will develop and pilot a culturally informed restorative justice program for youth in Natuashish through collaborative partnerships with the Innu Round Table, the Mushuau Innu First Nation, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). This initiative will establish a community‑driven framework that promotes diversion, healing, and accountability, with the long‑term objective of expanding restorative justice practices across Labrador.

The Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society will implement a five-year direct intervention project called the Community Shield Initiative. This project aims to reduce the involvement of at-risk youth in the criminal justice system, particularly newcomers, immigrants, refugees, Indigenous youth, LGBTQ2+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirited, inclusive of all other sexual orientations, romantic orientations, and gender expressions) individuals, and other marginalized groups in the communities of Victoria, Langford, and Saanich (British Columbia).

The overall objective of the project is to prevent violent crime among young people aged 18 to 30 in the City of Québec after a period of emergency or transitional housing, or after having been placed under the Youth Protection Act (LPJ) and/or the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA)