Girls in the Youth Criminal Justice System:

Responding to girls in the justice system has always remained a contested topic amongst Canadian policymakers. When the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) was first enacted, it was widely accepted due to its efficacy in reducing offending rates and promoting youth accountability (Bélisle, n.d.; Cesaroni & Peterson-Badali, 2017; Sprott & Doob, 2010). However, with the proliferation of research initiatives related to youth justice, there have been a number of flaws being accentuated pertaining to various facets of the justice system. Current programs and interventions designed for justice-involved youth fail to consider the multifaceted complexities and traumatic experiences contributing to girls’ system involvement. So, it is crucial to develop comprehensive strategies that: (a) help young girls effectively manage and cope with these risk factors to reduce their likelihood of offending, and (b) encourage the use of more appropriate and effective responses to girls who have committed a crime. The following policy reforms aim to specifically target and address female youth offenders’ risk factors: (a) the use of mental health programming/screening as both a preventative measure and a response to justice-involved girls, (b) implementing new interventions and restructuring previous ones to be more gender-responsive, and (c) learning from European policy reforms. My overall policy recommendation involves implementing more gender-responsive mental health and resilience programming for young girls.