Residential resource for aboriginal youth
on probation

In 1992, Swo Weles Lalem became the first
community residential resource developed for
native youth probationers. Located in the
Fraser Valley, the program was for youth
probationers between the ages of 12 to 17. The
seven-bed facility was staffed primarily by First
Nations people and included an educational
program as well as psychological, recreational,
cultural and spiritual components.

Swo Weles Lalem was located in a former
residential school in Mission, B.C. and accepted
referrals from throughout the province. The
program assisted youth by enhancing their
culture and heritage. Youth were sent to the
program for up to six months as a condition of
a probation order. The Chilliwack probation
office managed the contract.

Conditional supervision for young
offenders

Parliament proclaimed an Act to Amend the
Young Offenders Act and the Criminal Code on
December 1, 1995."' This represented the most
significant change to the youth justice system
since the introduction of the YOA in 1984.

The legislation involved major changes
affecting young offenders, from investigative
procedures through judicial intervention, to
administration of dispositions and maintenance
of records. The spirit of the YOA, embodied in
the Declaration of Principle, was modified to
reflect new approaches in achieving two primary
objectives of the system—trehabilitation of
offenders and protection of the public.

This amendment introduced conditional
supervision to protect the public. It also offered
a gradual release program that would assist the
reintegration of youth into the community.
Conditional supervision ts like adult parole,
except the court makes the decisions. It allows
a youth court to make an order, with
conditions, to release a youth from custody.

Conditional supervision is an option for all
offences.” For offences of first degree and
second-degree murder, conditional supervision
may be ordered as part of the disposition,
following the custodial portion of the sentence.
A conditional supervision order is in effect until
the end of the custodial disposition, unless it is
suspended, Changes to the conditional
supervision order or status require a youth
court review,

Development of specialized programs

Specialized programs for young offenders, such
as sex offender programs, emerged during the
1990s. In the 1980s, young offenders from two
facilities that specialized in the management of
sex offenders attended outpatient sex offender
treatment programs run by Forensic Psychiatric
Services in Burnaby.

A residential attendance program, attended as a
condition of probation, was established in
Burnaby. Prince George Youth Custody Centre
developed a sex offender assessment and
therapy program in the 1990s. During the same
period, residential programs for young sex
offenders were developed as probation
resources in Campbell River, Victoria and
Terrace.

41 Bill C-37.

42 Pursuant to sections 28 and 29 of the Young Offenders Act.

208

Corrections in British Columbia