Youth Probation Officer

Probation officers are members of the criminal justice system whose purpose is to supervise offenders to ensure that they are following court orders and are on good behaviour for a period of time (Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, 2016). Youth probation officers work in the community to regulate and maintain the order of juvenile offenders. The goals are to prevent youth offenders from reoffending and to help them find a positive role in society. According to Umamaheswar (2013), to build a better relationship with the youth offenders, the probation officers will refer to them as “clients.” In the city of Toronto, youth probation officers have participated in programs and have effectively worked with youth but there are
The outcomes of the interviews demonstrated how officers use their role to hold their clients responsible for their actions, encourage them to assert control over their lives, and maintain optimistic about living a life away from deviance (Umamaheswar, 2013). To address these roles, youth probation officers aid their clients in finding resources and making those resources available (Umamaheswar, 2013). The interview consisted of open-ended questions that asked about the officers’ professional goals, how they interacted with different types of youths, their beliefs in the youth criminal justice system, and rehabilitation versus control
The Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy classified the area as a place with high level of gang activity (Public Safety Canada, 2011). The MY Regent Park project was to reduce and prevent crime, specifically gang activity, in Regent Park by mentoring and mobilizing youth (Public Safety Canada, 2011). The program targeted youth in the neighbourhood between the ages of twelve to seventeen, who were already in a gang or were at risk of joining one. It consisted of several components, including suppression. Project staff had ten hours of training about gang behaviour to ensure they can address the concerns on youth behaviour. Youth were being mentored and supervised by the staff members working with the police and probation organizations to increase their chance of successful probation (Public Safety Canada, 2011). Overall, the implementation of the MY Regent Park project has been a success when it was observed. All partner organizations collaborated to form a thorough training program for the staff to work with the community. Nonetheless, the project still faced obstacles, such as staff turnover, before reaching its general