Counselling the Released Young Offender

By Brigid Murphy

• Lack of normal life experiences
• Inadequate role modelling
• Discrimination
• Employer attitude’s
• Inadequate education
• Illiteracy
• Poor social skills
• Cultural differences
• Perceived reality
• Negative self concept
• Poor work attitude
• Marginalization
• Identity confusion
• Values clash
• Low self esteem
• No support systems/no family
• Language barrier
• Alcohol or substance abuse
• History of emotional, physical, sexual abuse
• Developmental disabilities
• Gender confusion
• History of failures
• Emotional instability
• Young dependants
• Lack of vocational skills
• Depression
• Involved with child and family services
• Physical appearance
• Learning difficulties
• Stereotyping
• Medical problems
• Economically and socially disadvantaged

The top three critical barriers noted by NYIC are: lack of education due to early independent living and the need to focus on meeting basic survival needs; no personal support networks – family or otherwise; and no financial resources. For others it is: court ordered client resistance; lack of work experience; confusion about vocational choice; health issues; poor adaptation skills; lack of problem solving skills; low self esteem; lack of trust; and, an unstable home life.

Legal Rights and Responsibilities:

According to those who work with young offenders, any young person who has fulfilled or is currently fulfilling probationary obligations to the courts, and thereby society, is under no obligation to reveal the nature of any past offence to career counsellors or employers. The anonymity of offences is currently protected under the law of the Young Offenders Act. If, however, as a counselling practitioner, the nature of the offence is revealed to you, there are likely some ethical issues you may want to consider.

Ethical Issues:

With this client group the key ethical issues revolve around disclosure and confidentiality. Suppose you have been working with a released young offender for three weeks and you have placed your client in a part-time position with a major department store. Then your client discloses that his/her past offence was one of theft from a retailing competitor! Your client has already served time, and has really good intentions…. Is there a potential problem?

You might decide to advise the client to look for another position, or to let the employer know; you may decide to refer your client to someone else or you may decide to do nothing! The choice is yours. But while you’re considering those ethical options and outcomes, are you also considering the personal assumptions that will motivate your decision?

For the purposes of this exploratory article, counsellors from a range of work settings were asked if they were comfortable working with this client group. If no, what made them uncomfortable? The honesty of responses was refreshing. Some counsellors said they felt perfectly comfortable while working with this population, while others admitted feeling personally fearful, threatened and unsafe by either the nature of a revealed offence or a client’s non-communicative manner. While some practitioners are uncomfortable simply working with anyone who has been in conflict with the law, still others recognized that any perceived threat could be equally as real with an unknown non-offender.

When working with this client group, it is important to assess one’s own personal feelings and beliefs so that the client is assured the most objective and case sensitive guidance possible.

Counselling released young offenders may present interesting challenges and rewards for career developers and employment counsellors. From the barriers to life and employment with which they are daily faced, to finding resources and services that will move them successfully down an appropriate career path, these young people bring to us a unique and complex array of needs and considerations.

I hope the following article will increase counsellor awareness of this particular client group, and stimulate discussion from others with experience or interest in this field to share with fellow practitioners. A number of service-delivery organizations were consulted in its development: National Youth In Care (NYIC) in Ottawa, Ontario; McDonald Youth Services (MYS), Winnipeg, Manitoba; Operation Springboard, Ontario-wide; Blake Boultbee Youth Outreach Services in Toronto; and the John Howard Society (JHS), which operates across Canada.

By legal definition, when a young person between the ages of 12 and 17 years comes into direct conflict with the law, and has been accused and found guilty of committing an offense, s/he becomes known as a young offender. At some point, perhaps as part of a court order, or upon having completed a sentence, these youth will need to find jobs and they may come to you. Consider the following example:

Jessica is 17. She has snapping bright eyes, a great sense of humour and doodles continuously, legs swinging back and forth, as she sits and talks. She has repeated grade ten twice, apparently because she can’t sit still and prefers socializing instead of doing homework. Since the age of 14 she has been charged with and found guilty of shoplifting, drinking under age, driving without a license and in possession of a stolen vehicle. She has finally completed her probationary sentence, including 200 hours of community service work, at a senior citizens home where she took the residents for walks and told them funny stories. Jessica has been advised by her parents that she either figure out how to get a job and get at it, or get out of the house. Jessica has been advised by her probation officer that she has the potential to turn things around. Jessica is very serious about doing something right; so serious she has skipped class to come and see you.

Critical Barriers:

There are possibly multiple and overlapping barriers facing Jessica and others like her. In some cases, the obstacles facing positive personal development and future employment are staggering. The list of potential challenges could include:

Ethical Issues:

With this client group the key ethical issues revolve around disclosure and confidentiality. Suppose you have been working with a released young offender for three weeks and you have placed your client in a part-time position with a major department store. Then your client discloses that his/her past offence was one of theft from a retailing competitor! Your client has already served time, and has really good intentions…. Is there a potential problem?

You might decide to advise the client to look for another position, or to let the employer know; you may decide to refer your client to someone else or you may decide to do nothing! The choice is yours. But while you’re considering those ethical options and outcomes, are you also considering the personal assumptions that will motivate your decision?

For the purposes of this exploratory article, counsellors from a range of work settings were asked if they were comfortable working with this client group. If no, what made them uncomfortable? The honesty of responses was refreshing. Some counsellors said they felt perfectly comfortable while working with this population, while others admitted feeling personally fearful, threatened and unsafe by either the nature of a revealed offence or a client’s non-communicative manner. While some practitioners are uncomfortable simply working with anyone who has been in conflict with the law, still others recognized that any perceived threat could be equally as real with an unknown non-offender.

When working with this client group, it is important to assess one’s own personal feelings and beliefs so that the client is assured the most objective and case sensitive guidance possible.

Guidelines and Philosophies:

The Canadian justice system does not currently provide any national guidelines for working with released young offenders in an employment-related capacity, though provinces may have developed their own guidelines. We took a look at several agencies across Canada to learn about their operating principles:

NYIC and MYS both recognize the need of youth to be meaningfully involved in decisions affecting their lives and future development. MYS upholds the cultural and spiritual values of the youth and their families, while providing them both with opportunities for personal achievement and growth. NYIC strives to give youth a voice in the services and decisions affecting them, and advocates peer role modelling and training.

Operation Springboard and the JHS both advocate and maintain programs before, during, and after incarceration for their clients. These programs include, but are not limited to, community awareness, education and development, crime prevention, residential care, youth advocacy, employment counselling, anger management, substance abuse counselling, life skills training and post-release support.

At Blake Boultbee, hidden in the heart of the city of Toronto, pioneer and psychotherapist Rod Cohen stands in a class all his own. He believes the key to serving and meeting the needs of the youth here, in the multicultural urban ghetto, is by building relationships with them for the long haul. There are no quick fixes to generational unemployment, poverty, and poor rolemodelling. Stable relationships, long term support and advocacy, mutual respect, and trust built through experience and over time, are the beginnings of healthy patterning and a hopeful future for this client group. The challenge is enormous and rewarding. This project is a labour of love.

Each of these aforementioned agencies provides their own delivery models and utilizes a wide variety of tools and resources to assist them in reaching their goals with the youth they serve.

Products and Resources:

What works and what doesn’t with these young clients is a unique experience for all individuals involved. Practitioners in a variety of roles with this client group have offered their recommendations for resources that may be used. They include:

• Self assessment
• Career exploration
• LIFE SKILLS exercises
• True Colors
• Life role portraits
• Resume and pre-employment workshops
• Advocacy and employer outreach
• Employability checklists
• On going support counselling
• Reintegration videos about successful youth
• Social and life skill training

In the final analysis, counsellor intervention plays a major role and leaves a lasting impact in the hearts and minds of our released young offender youth. Pre-assessing and addressing any core issues, such as sexual or physical violence, and/or substance abuse issues, prior to moving into career or employment counselling, allows us to clear the path for the young person’s potential success. We also become models for them, which may include disclosure by example of aspects of our own life and work.

As social and relational beings, it is important that these released young offenders are given the opportunity to increase their level of personal development. To bridge some of the gaps for the young offenders released from custody into the world, programs and opportunities must be designed to:

• build self esteem;
• facilitate the learning of appropriate methods of communication;
• teach positive assertiveness, and foster the ability to learn to manage anger in a healthy way;
• train how to deal adequately with stress and help create a vision for the future;
• invite exploration of new methods and skills to become problem solvers and decision makers; and,
• develop job search and employability skills for the changing world.

As employment counsellors and career developers, to coin an old phrase: if we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.

You are invited to share your own responses, resources, experiences, solutions and further comments or questions at the Contact Point Discussion Groups: “Counselling the Released Young Offender”.

Need more Information?

I would like to thank the following for their contribution to this review:

Terry Kostiw, Coordinator of the Correctional Worker Program, Sheridan College, Oakville, ON. (905) 845-9430 ext.2391

Operation Springboard. 2 Carlton St., Ste.800., Toronto, ON. M5B 1J3 (416) 977-0089

National Youth in Care Network. Somerset Street West, Ottawa. ON. K2P 0J8

McDonald Youth Services.175 Mayfair Avenue, Winnipeg, MB. R3L 0A1 (204) 477-1722

St. Stephens Employment and Training Centre. 1415 Bathurst Street. Toronto, ON. M5R 3H8

Blake Boultbee Youth Services. 41 Blake Street. Toronto, ON. (416) 465-1410

World Wide Web

Canadian Criminal Justice Association:http://home.istar.ca/~ccja/angl/

Correctional Services Canada:http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca

John Howard Society (AB): www.johnhoward.ab.ca/

MacDonald Youth Services (MB).http://www.mys.mb.ca

Ministry of Community and Social Services (ON): www.cfcs.gov.on.ca/cfcs/default.htm

Ministry of the Attorney General (ON): http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca

National Youth in Care Network. http://www.youthincare.ca

Youth at Risk Strategy (HRDC): http://youth.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/common/home.shtml

Brigid has worked as a correctional officer and coordinator of a volunteer program for youth in custody. She has a BA in dance, a correctional worker diploma, and has almost finished the CDP program at Conestoga College. This article was written during a practicum with Contact Point. She can be reached at: inspired@idirect.com.