Changing the Way We See Youth in Conflict with the Law

How can youth workers draw from a Critical Positive Youth Development framework to support youth in conflict with the law as partners and agents in their own change process, and to create a sense of mutual ownership?

Join us for this workshop to discuss the importance of leadership and skill development, social awareness, social responsibility, and restorative practices. We will discuss strategies for engaging youth who are involuntary participants.

The workshop will be led by Laurel S. Springer, founder and principal consultant of Springboard, and Alisha Kara, Youth Centre Deputy Administrator of Programs at the Roy McMurtry Youth Centre.

Through guided discussions and interactive activities, we will explore:

• How to integrate the principles of Critical Positive Youth Development into interventions for youth in conflict with the law
• How to set expectations and indicators of “success” with youth
• The benefits of youth engagement on the micro (individual), mezzo (community), and macro (institutional) levels
• Practical tools and best practice approaches to engage with youth in conflict with the law

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Workshop Facilitators:

• Laurel S. Springer holds a Master of Social Work degree from York University and is currently the founder and principal consultant of Springboard. She has held various positions in the Ontario Government, including Social Worker and Manager of Social Work at the Roy McMurtry Youth Centre, a secure custody detention setting for youth in conflict with the law. She has managed and implemented interventions and support services for youth, especially those involved in the youth justice system. She has provided policy and program development direction on several issues, including services for children with autism, mental health services, cannabis legislation, and other initiatives aimed at supporting youth.
• Alisha Kara holds a Master of Social Work degree from York University and is currently the Youth Centre Deputy Administrator of Programs at the Roy McMurtry Youth Centre, where she provides oversight of all clinical and rehabilitative areas, interventions, and programming. Alisha has worked within residential day treatment programming with dual-diagnosed youth and young adults and has facilitated programming in the community with men who are before the courts for domestic violence offences.

We will use Zoom for this workshop. Live transcription/closed captioning will be made available for all participants. You will receive the link to join the live workshop by email no later than the day before the live event, and the Zoom Meeting details will be accessible through the Online event page (click on the Access link button above). Please note that the workshop will be recorded, but contributions from attendees will not be shared.

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Learn More on YouthREX's Knowledge Hub:

• Supporting Positive Outcomes for Youth Involved with the Law (YouthREX, 2017)
• ‘They Really Should Start Listening to You’: The Benefits and Challenges of Co-Producing a Participatory Framework of Youth Justice Practice (YouthREX, 2020)
• Navigating the Youth Criminal Justice and Mental Health Systems (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2013)
• Integrating Positive Youth Development and Racial Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Approaches Across the Child Welfare and Justice Systems (ChildTrends, 2022)
• Considerations for Justice-Involved Youth Programming (Urban Institute, 2019)

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Youth Research and Evaluation eXchange (YouthREX) is a province-wide initiative based at the School of Social Work at York University. Our Mission is to make research evidence and evaluation practices accessible and relevant to Ontario’s grassroots youth sector through capacity building, knowledge exchange, and evaluation leadership. Our Vision is an Ontario where shared knowledge is transformed into positive impact for all youth.