Program Description

The Youth Diversion Program is a charitable organization which has offered service to youth in the Kingston area since 1974. The goals of the organization are to allow youth to take responsibility for their behaviour, to reduce the number of youth involved in the young offender system, to reduce the number of people victimized by youth in our community, and, to involve the community in youth corrections.

The Program offers two young offender services which hold youth accountable for their actions, by giving them the opportunity to make amends to their community. The Youth Court Committee meets with first time minor offenders, their parents and victims to mediate an appropriate response to the crime. By participating, the youth does not go through the formal Youth Court System. The Community Service Order Program ensures that youth complete the volunteer hours of work ordered by the Youth Court Judge. This work is performed in the community, and last year represented almost 5,000 hours of work in our community.

Since 1996 the Program has started two new initiatives to prevent crime. REBOUND, a program which originated in Sarnia , Ontario is a 10 week program for adolescents. Each week, young people attend a 2½ hour session working on such skills as communication, decision making, anger management and conflict resolution. A recent evaluation conducted by a noted psychologist shows that REBOUND has a promising effect on reducing crime, and parents report improvements in their children's attitudes and behaviours .

The Student in Need Attendance Program (SNAP) provides an alternative to home suspension program, designed to assist students from local schools who have been suspended for violence, aggression and opposition to authority. Rather than spend the suspension period at home, students attend our Program for the duration of their suspension where they receive tutoring on school work, anger management, and other social skills training. Upon their return to school, students and the school receive a report of the youth's performance, as well as recommendations for continued assistance.

Our Mentor Program provides at risk and delinquent youth with adult volunteers who act as mentors with the youth. Volunteers work with their assigned youth to accomplish specific goals which have been set for the relationship, while providing support and advocacy to the youth.

Common to all programs is the extensive use of volunteers. Over 100 people provide direct service to our young people during the year, in all aspects of our program. This past year, over 400 youth received support through the Youth Diversion Program's services. This commitment by people in our community is the element that makes the quality of our programs so high. At the same time , the community support for these initiatives has been incredible, with various service clubs, private citizens and corporations donating money and services to assist the Program to continue the operation of these programs in our community.

For further information please contact Daren Dougall, Executive Director at (613) 548-4535 or by email at ddougall@youthdiversion.org