Evaluation of the Justice Canada Federal Victims Strategy

Executive Summary

Introduction

This report presents the findings of the Evaluation of the Justice Canada Federal Victims Strategy (Justice FVS) which was part of the Justice Canada 2019-2020 Integrated Audit and Evaluation Plan. In accordance with the Treasury Board’s Policy on Results (2016), the evaluation examined the continued relevance, effectiveness, design, delivery, and efficiency of the Justice FVS and covered the fiscal period of 2015-16 to 2019-20.

Program Description

Justice Canada has been taking steps to respond to the needs of victims of crime since the 1970s, when it entered into cost-sharing agreements with provincial governments for provincial criminal injuries compensation programs. After these cost-sharing agreements ended in the 1980s, Justice Canada began funding pilot projects to encourage the development of victim services and implementation of Criminal Code reforms. In 1988, the federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) ministers responsible for Justice signed the Canadian Statement of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime, which was part of a broader federal initiative that included a package of Criminal Code amendments informed by the United Nations (UN) Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power and co-sponsored by Canada in 1985.

In the spring of 1998, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights launched a comprehensive review of the victim’s role in the criminal justice system, which resulted in the creation of the federal Victims of Crime Initiative in March 2000. The Initiative included funding to support policy development, consultation, research, coordination, and communication activities. It also established a modest Victims Fund transfer payment program that provided grants and contributions (Gs&Cs) to provincial and territorial (PT) governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to develop, promote, and enhance services and assistance for victims. In 2007, the Victims of Crime Initiative was significantly expanded and re-launched as the Justice FVS.

The Justice FVS is based on the premise that although many significant advances have been made in services, legislation, policy, and programs related to victims of crime, many challenges remain. There are also varying approaches across the country in victim services, programs, and policies and many opportunities for the federal government to demonstrate federal leadership in addressing priorities and emerging issues. The overall objective of the Justice FVS is to increase access to justice for victims and survivors of crime and give victims of crime a more effective voice in the criminal justice system.

Justice Canada works closely with other federal institutions, PT governments, victim advocates and service providers (e.g., NGOs) involved in the criminal justice system to coordinate and implement the Justice FVS objectives. To achieve this, Justice FVS utilizes a multi-pronged approach, including:

  • Criminal Law Reform - Drafting legislative amendments to the Criminal Code that are focused on victims and witnesses, monitoring case law and trends regarding legislative provisions intended to benefit victims, implementing federal legislation – such as the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, bringing a “victim focused policy lens” to federal legislative initiatives to help ensure that victims rights and issues are considered as criminal law reforms are developed, as well as providing legal policy advice.
  • Program Development and Delivery - Providing Gs&Cs funding through the Victims Fund to PT governments and NGOs to support, for example, the development of victim services, the delivery of training and information resources, and the promotion of partnerships to support victims.
  • Policy Development and Federal Leadership - Developing policy, implementing initiatives, and providing federal leadership through the Policy Centre for Victim Issues on topics related to victims and programs including the development of specialized initiatives, training opportunities and public awareness of victim of crime issues, legislation, and services available.

The Justice FVS was allocated $157M over five years (2015-16 to 2019-20), with the majority of this funding allocated for Gs&Cs through the Victims Fund ($125M). Victims and survivors of crime are the ultimate beneficiaries of Justice FVS activities. A large part of the policy and program work undertaken focuses on supporting those who deliver victim services, victim advocacy organizations, as well as criminal justice system and allied professionals. A small proportion of the funding provided through the Victims Fund benefits victims directly (e.g., funding for Canadians victimized abroad and funding for registered victims and a support person to attend Parole Board of Canada [PBC] hearings).

Findings

Relevance

The evaluation found that there is a continued need for the Justice FVS and the multi-pronged approach to identify and respond to the ongoing and emerging needs of victims in Canada in a multifaceted and collaborative manner. This was particularly evident through examination of ongoing and emerging needs of victims and survivors. Evaluation findings indicated that certain communities of victims continue to experience barriers to accessing services and supports due to intimidation, hesitation, and mistrust of the justice system that are intensified for several reasons (e.g., the type of offence, ongoing impact of colonization, racism, poverty and marginalization, location of the victim/geography, and other factors). In terms of emerging needs, there were increased rates of, gender-based violence, violence against children and cybercrime due to COVID-19 pandemic isolation measures. There has also been an increase in understanding about the need for trauma-informed methods in victim services and (victim-centred) innovations and new practices among those working in the criminal justice system.

Demand for funding through the Victims Fund remained high throughout the evaluation period, in which 73% of the 1,820 applications received over the five years from PT governments and NGOs/community-based organizations were approved. The most common reason for applications to be rejected included “insufficient resources in the Fund”, suggesting an ongoing strong need for the Fund.

Continued demand for the Victims Fund, and increased awareness about the ongoing and emerging needs of victims and survivors of crime, highlight the necessity for the continued effort of the Justice FVS, in partnership with FPT and NGO partners, to respond to the needs of victims through its effective multi-pronged approach.

The Justice FVS was also aligned with government priorities, roles, and responsibilities, respecting jurisdictional responsibilities in relation to victim issues in Canada and its emphasis on collaboration with FPT partners in support of seeking opportunities to give victims a more effective voice in the criminal justice system and increase their access to justice. Specific efforts were made in the period of this review to increase access to justice for families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG), child victims, and victims of gender-based violence (e.g., victims of human trafficking, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence).

Performance

The evaluation found that, through the multi-pronged approach, the Justice FVS has improved criminal justice system responses to victims and increased access to responsive services that support victims.

In particular, the Justice FVS enhanced the capacity of those working in the justice system to develop and deliver responsive services (e.g., funding through the Victims Fund, knowledge exchanges); increased the awareness of victim issues, legislation, and services (e.g., public legal education and information [PLEI], symposia, research); and improved legislative and policy response to victims (e.g., criminal law reform with a victim focused policy lens, support to implement legislative changes). In addition, leadership was provided that supported a more coordinated and collaborative approach to identifying and responding to victim issues across FPT governmental partners, PT governments, NGOs, victim advocates and international partners.

Some of the key initiatives funded through the Justice FVS, where the multi-pronged approach was used to improve criminal justice system responses and increase access to responsive services in the criminal justice system were:

  • Testimonial Aids - promote awareness and facilitate the use of testimonial aids and other supports for victims and witnesses to make it easier for them to give their testimony during court proceedings;
  • Supports for Families of MMIWG - support families of MMIWG through strengthened or new service delivery models, policies, and approaches that seek to ensure families have access to information (e.g., Family Information Liaison Units [FILUs]), and connection to available resources in the community; and,
  • Sexual Assault Initiatives - increase awareness and understanding of Canada’s sexual assault laws, and trauma-informed practices, among justice system professionals as well as piloting and enhancing specialized services for victims of sexual assault.

Overall, the Justice FVS is meeting expected performance outcomes; however, key informants noted that there are some ongoing barriers to accessing victim services. For example, in relation to access to services and supports in rural and remote areas, there is varied awareness of available training for some justice professionals regarding new approaches (e.g., trauma-informed practices), and limited access to appropriate aftercare services for victims of crime (e.g., services outside the formal criminal justice system that support healing including counselling).

To continue to address these barriers, it was indicated by most key informants that the Justice FVS, through its multi-pronged approach, mandate, reach and resources, should continue to focus on supporting the development and delivery of responsive models of care which have demonstrated success. Some examples include the FILUs and Child Advocacy Centers which include collaborative models of care for specific communities of victims which are interdisciplinary, create partnerships (between provinces and territories, NGOs and communities) and are trauma-informed and culturally safe. The need to continue to focus on awareness raising and training for justice system professionals and other stakeholders interacting with victims to support these new, more innovative approaches was also highlighted.

Program Design, Delivery and Efficiency

The findings related to design, delivery and efficiency focussed on the Gs&Cs funding through the Victims Fund. The evaluation found that Victims Fund funding agreements were flexible to support provinces and territories and NGOs to undertake projects and initiatives that responded to the needs of their jurisdictions which were aided by responsive Innovations, Analysis, and Integration Directorate program personnel and good working relationships with the funding recipients. Further, the Victims Fund agreements were efficiently delivered, with the majority of the funds being expended between 2015-16 and 2019-20.

One limitation identified by the evaluation was the inconsistent data collected from recipients regarding the activities funded under the Victims Fund, primarily due to differences in reporting practices. For example, there was a lack of consistent quantitative information from funded recipients across activities as well as a lack of concise and targeted qualitative information to support accessible performance data. It was identified that more consistent data collection across recipients is needed.

Recommendations

  • Recommendation 1: To continue to address the ongoing and emerging needs of victims and survivors of crime, it is recommended to engage in annualcollaborative priority setting exercises to inform the activities of the Justice FVS.
  • Recommendation 2: It is recommended to improve reporting templates and tools to allow for more consistent and strategic data collection of Victims Fund projects.
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