Aboriginal Courtwork Program, Summative Evaluation

4. CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND MANAGEMENT RESPONSE

• 4.1.  Conclusions
• 4.2.  Recommendations and Management Response

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4. CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS
AND MANAGEMENT RESPONSE

4.1. Conclusions

The main findings and conclusions arising from the evaluation are as follows:

1. There is a strong and continuing need for the ACW Program.

Key factors that contribute to the need for the Program include:

• Over-representation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system.
• A history of inequitable treatment of Aboriginal people by the justice system.
• A high incidence of issues that can constrain the ability of Aboriginal persons to gain access to justice such as language barriers, lower education levels, substance abuse issues, health issues including mental health issues, and high rates of poverty.
• Limited access to legal and other services, particularly in rural and northern communities.
• Increasing demand for services as indicated by a significant number of respondents.
• The unique type of support that Aboriginal accused need to understand the system.

The Program is specifically well positioned to bridge the gap that has traditionally existed between Aboriginal people and the justice system. The ACW Program contributes to fair, equitable and culturally sensitive treatment of the Aboriginal accused before the courts, by enabling them to understand the justice system including their rights, obligations, charges and sentencing, obtain access to available resources and programs, and being able to communicate with justice officials who have been made aware of the socio-economic issues, cultural traditions, circumstances and relevant court decisions facing Aboriginals.

2. There are significant differences in how the ACW Program is delivered across jurisdictions and even across courtworkers within jurisdictions.

One of the strengths of the ACW Program is its ability to be tailored to meet regional priorities, the needs and characteristics of the communities in which it operates, the availability of other programming, and the capabilities of the individual courtworkers.

3. The ACW Program has been successful in achieving its objectives.

The ACW Program is viewed as particularly successful in ensuring that Aboriginal accused are represented in court; explaining the charges and process to the Aboriginal accused; enabling the Aboriginal accused to feel more at ease in a highly stressful situation; connecting the accused to appropriate services in the community; both educating the Aboriginal community about the criminal justice system and justice officials about the Aboriginal community; and helping to instill a more trusting relationship between Aboriginal people and the criminal justice system. The Program is considered somewhat less successful with respect to attracting, training and particularly retaining Aboriginal courtworkers, fully meeting the demand for services due to resource constraints, and being able to provide referrals to alternative measures due to the limited availability of community justice programs and other resources in some communities.

4. The ACW Program is successful in providing support and information to Aboriginal accused, which enables them to make better informed decisions regarding their case and about pursuing alternatives to sentencing.

The results of the evaluation indicate that the Program:

• serves a large client base. According to the latest available data, the Program served nearly 70,000 adults and youth clients with charges around one incident in 2005-06;
• provides much needed support and assistance to the accused at various stages during the process, particularly during the pre-court and in-court stages;
• satisfies the information needs of Aboriginal accused; and
• increases awareness of their rights, obligations and resources, which enables Aboriginal accused to make better informed decisions regarding their cases before the courts and about pursuing alternatives to sentencing.

Examples of impacts included a greater understanding of the charges, reductions in the failure of Aboriginal accused to appear, and reduced likelihood of breaches of the conditions for release. This is important because offences related to the administration of justice (such as failures to appear and breaches) are the single most common charge of clients served under the Program – courtworkers help to reduce the number of breaches that otherwise would have come before the court. Courtworkers enable Aboriginal accused to make better informed decisions about pursuing alternatives to sentencing by communicating with justice officials about the various services available in the community, determining client eligibility for alternative measures, explaining the options to the accused, and facilitating referrals to alternative measures as well as to other resources in the community.

5. Courtworkers play an important role in enhancing communication within court proceedings by facilitating clients access to legal representation, assisting both the accused and counsel in preparing for court proceedings, assisting accused in speaking with justice officials, and confirming that the accused understands the process, charges, potential outcomes and instructions.

The simple presence of the courtworkers often improves communication by making the parties feel more comfortable and at ease in the court. In the absence of a courtworker, it is not unusual for accused to say they understand the charges when they do not or to simply plead guilty without understanding the entirety of the charges. Courtworkers are also active in facilitating communication outside of the court room between the accused and justice officials such as defense counsel and Crown counsel through participating in meetings, advocating on their behalf, and providing basic interpretation services. Most Aboriginal accused reported that courtworkers assisted them in speaking with justice officials and in understanding the information required.

6. The Program enables justice officials to become more aware of socio-economic conditions and traditions, to take relevant court decisions into account, and to consider alternative measures.

The results of the evaluation indicate that:

• Justice officials are generally satisfied with the information provided by the Aboriginal courtworkers and believe that information to be important.
• Justice officials view courtworkers favourably, noting that they are respectful and courteous, help to move the process along, and provide valuable services to the court.
• Courtworkers enable justice officials to become more aware of the socio-economic issues and circumstances facing Aboriginals through information provided in court, presentations, disseminating materials on Aboriginal culture, and informal communication.
• Courtworkers may play an integral role in enabling judges to consider sanctions other than imprisonment (e.g., by providing information and recommendations regarding programs and alternatives) and to better understand the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders (e.g., by providing information on the background of the accused or mitigating factors related to the offence).

7. The ACW Program has strengthened the relationship between the Aboriginal community and the formal justice system.

In addition to working with clients, most courtworkers interact directly with local communities by serving on various committees and promoting the Program through presentations, brochures and promotional materials, meetings, forums, workshops and other means. Through these efforts, progress has been made in improving understanding of the justice system and raising the profile of the ACW Program within the Aboriginal community. In addition, the presence of the courtworker in the formal justice system helps to improve its credibility, builds greater trust in the system, and reduces the sense of alienation for the Aboriginal community. However, while significant progress has been made, interviews with courtworkers and observations during field trips highlight that there still are situations where Aboriginal persons are not dealt with fairly, equitably or in a culturally sensitive manner. Furthermore, the expectation is that much of the significant progress that has been made would dissipate should the services of courtworkers no longer be available.

8. The Program contributes to the success of the community justice initiatives.

The federal government as well as provincial and territorial governments support initiatives aimed at reducing the rate of incarceration and making the justice system more responsive and culturally sensitive to the needs of Aboriginal people. Courtworkers complement these initiatives, where available, by serving as a vital source for referrals (in effect, courtworkers serve as the frontline for many of these initiatives by identifying suitable clients), creating awareness of the programs among justice officials and potential clients, working with program representatives and sharing information with respect to particular clients as well as broader issues, sharing resources and best practices, sitting on Aboriginal justice committees or committees established to oversee specific initiatives and, in some cases, taking a lead role in the development of community-based initiatives.

9. Progress has been made in addressing some of the issues raised in the formative evaluation.

In particular, progress has been made in increasing communication and understanding between different parties, better balancing of participation among members, and gaining more input from SDAs regarding topics such as best practices.

10. The effectiveness of the Program is largely determined by the capabilities and experience of the courtworkers, which determined in part by the rate of attrition and access to training.

Attrition has a negative impact on the success of the Program. The effectiveness of courtworkers is largely a function of their visibility, credibility, connections, skills and experience – all of which take time to develop. When a courtworker leaves, services are disrupted and it often takes an extended length of time to fill positions (particularly in smaller communities and in regions where the economy is strong). The attrition rate among courtworkers averaged about 11% over the past year. Factors that contribute to staff turnover include lower wages relative to competing employment opportunities; increasing demands adding to an already heavy workload; limited opportunities for growth, advancement and professional development; and a feeling of isolation attributed to the location of some communities as well as a lack of direct interaction with other staff. However, courtworkers generally enjoy and value their positions.

Courtworkers obtain the bulk of their training on-the-job. Other common methods include formal training programs, mentoring, assistance from justice officials, self-teaching, orientation sessions and job shadowing in some communities. These methods can be supplemented by training materials and curriculum developed nationally (e.g., materials developed by the TWG) or locally (e.g., developed by the local SDA and other courtworkers). Opportunities for improvement include providing additional training for new and existing courtworkers as well as more opportunities to share information and best practices, developing and maintaining a comprehensive online curriculum, staging more national training events and annual seminars, and increasing the focus on particular topics. Improved training would benefit the Program by shortening the learning curve for new courtworkers, reducing the rate of turnover, enhancing the quality of the services provided, and better enabling courtworkers to keep abreast of changes in the law.

11. The cost of the Program, expressed on a per-client or per-courtworker basis, is very low.

Due to differences that exist in the way clients are counted across jurisdictions, it is not possible to accurately calculate the cost of the program per client. However, dividing the federal contribution by the best available estimate of the number of clients yields a federal cost of about $79 per client and $25,000 per courtworker. According to data obtained from a variety of sources, the funding provided by the federal government is equal to an average of about $79 per client or about $25,600 per courtworker. Six different delivery models operate across the country, varying in terms of the number of SDAs operating in the region and the type of employer. Across the participating jurisdictions, courtworkers vary from being government employees to working for one or multiple non-profit Aboriginal SDAs. While there might be certain advantages or disadvantages associated with a given model, no model is inherently more cost effective than others.

Factors other than the type of delivery model tend to have a greater impact on cost effectiveness. In addition to factors such as attrition, access to training, and local access to other resources and programs, such factors include:

• The geographic territory that is served (and related travel costs and times);
• The scope of the Program (e.g., whether courtworkers are involved in family court and youth court);
• The depth of services provided;
• Competitive remuneration rates for the region;
• Access to supporting infrastructure (e.g., access to office space and equipment in the courthouse where courtworkers can work and meet with clients);
• The level of the awareness of the Program among justice officials and within communities; and
• The extent to which the justice system itself is overburdened in the region.

12. Opportunities to further expand the impact of the ACW Program are constrained by resource issues.

Federal government funding for the Program has remained fixed at $5.5 million per annum since 2002-03. Resource constraints affect the ability of the Program to fully meet the demand for services, address gaps where communities may be underserved or not served at all, increase courtworker compensation to reduce the rate of attrition, ease heavy workloads, broaden services to provide assistance in areas such as family law, provide greater assistance in helping Aboriginal accused to appear, promote the Program more aggressively to key target groups, further strengthen relationships with justice officials and other programs, increase access to training, and increase access to the infrastructure required by courtworkers.

4.2. Recommendations and Management Response

4.2.1. Achievement of ACW Program objectives:

The Program has been successful in achieving its objectives. However, it is considered less successful with respect to:

• Fully meeting the demand for services -- most notably, the evaluation concluded there are gaps in the provision of services in remote areas and for family law matters;
• Attracting and retaining Aboriginal courtworkers due primarily to low rates of pay;
• Training existing courtworkers and new recruits; and
• Creating awareness of the Program. The profile of the Program is low in some communities and justice officials are not always aware of the Program or the services provided by courtworkers.

4.2.2. Coordination between ACW Program and other AJIs :

Most stakeholders see opportunities to further improve information sharing and coordination between the ACW Program and other AJIs. Particular areas for coordination include communications regarding the range of options available to Aboriginal accused through the ACW Program and other justice initiatives and clarification and communication of the respective roles of staff involved in the delivery of these programs.

4.2.3. Performance measurement and reporting requirements:

There are continued challenges with the performance measurement strategy. For example, due to jurisdictional differences in the definition of client, and the approaches used to count the number of courtworkers and measure the level and type of services, it was not possible to conduct a rigorous analysis of the cost effectiveness of the Program of the sort that would include comparisons across jurisdictions and delivery models.

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