Conclusions and Recommendations

The CJC Initiative enabled nine jurisdictions to explore the actual or potential use of the community justice approach to remedy systemic inequities in the criminal justice system and address root causes of crime.

Through its design, the Initiative provided the necessary flexibility to support this type of justice innovation that enables communities to design an approach that considers their current and emerging priorities and needs. The CJCs supported by the Initiative align with best practices in the literature and provide evidence that can inform a potential future national CJC program, such as the importance of the planning phase, the use of cross-disciplinary teams, ongoing community engagement, and wrap-around supports.

The CJC Initiative has met its objectives. It demonstrated early success by funding CJCs that promoted the use of alternative measures and restorative justice in appropriate cases. This should provide more proportionate outcomes for individuals as well as reduce the number of cases with low-level offences so that courts can focus on more serious cases. The Initiative funding also served to help increase the capacity within the communities served by CJCs to offer integrated services by enabling the CJCs to develop partnerships and a network of services to support CJC participants. In so doing, the Initiative increased access to community supports to address the root causes of crime.

The CJC Initiative’s flexible management approach enabled it to achieve its objectives within its limited time horizon of five years.

Recommendations

No recommendations are included, as the CJC Initiative was implemented as expected, and there are no identified barriers to the achievement of expected results within the time horizon of the Initiative.