This report was published by the Cross-Over Youth Project.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS REPORT:

The Cross-Over Youth Project (the Project) was designed as a four-year pilot project, and set out to implement and evaluate a range of best practice options that were aimed at improving outcomes for young people who were dually involved in the child welfare (CW) and youth justice (YJ) systems in Ontario. The four sites were: Toronto, Thunder Bay, Brantford, and Belleville. The intent in the Belleville site was to develop intersectoral solutions to issues cross-over youth were facing when they entered the justice system and to change the system’s responses. The Belleville site was selected due to the high number of group care settings in the locality. There is international recognition of group care settings as a gateway to the youth criminal justice system. The community also recognized the issue, and were dedicated to cultivating a systems response to better meet the needs of cross-over youth. Many young people from other jurisdictions are placed in Belleville. This caused problems of communication and coordination within and across multiple sectors between and within jurisdictions.