This case study of youth involvement in public decision-making is one of several done for Health Canada by the Canadian Association for School Health. To return to the beginning of Selected Case Studies of Youth Involvement in Public Decision-Making click here.

The Ottawa-Carleton Police Youth Centre is a recreational center for young people in the west end of Ottawa. 1400 youth of all ages and backgrounds participate in a variety of programs that include recreational activities, events and clubs. The Centre was created by the Ottawa Police Department following a drive-by shooting incident. The Centre has grown from very humble beginnings to now include a building, three full-time and several part-time staff and many volunteers. The Centre is now a model of preventive style community policing within the regionalized Ottawa-Carleton Police Services. Youth are encouraged to participate in activities, organize their own activities and develop their leadership skills. A Youth Council provides feedback to the staff. A Staff Sergeant has managerial responsibility for the Centre. The Centre now provides consulting support and coordination with schools and other agencies. Centre staff also interact with families and the youth themselves outside of the Centre.

This example of youth participation in decision-making is a testimony to the resiliency research that suggests that a trusted adult can make a huge impact on the lives of young people. There is considerable evidence such as reduced youth crime rates and many individual success stories that attest to the impact of this Centre. Using a community Recreation Center as the site within the community setting, the Centre offers a secure physical and social environment for the young people and shows how sports and other recreational activities can be the basis for healthy development and other interventions. This example is actually driven by the adult and trained youth staff who are acutely aware and responsive to the needs of their "members". The example is totally focused on the developmental needs of their youth, offering a variety of involvement options to youth, from drop-in, to organized activities, to volunteer roles, to leadership training and to paid work or job training at the centre. Although this example is not youth-led (except for the choices and organization of recreation activities) it is a wonderful example of a youth program making a difference.

A.     Basic Descriptive Data

The Mandate of the Centre is Clearly Defined

The Centre has clearly defined its role in assisting youth at risk to develop in a healthy manner.

The Purposes of the Centre are Clearly Linked to the Goals of Police Department

The mandate is to build a positive relationship between the police and youth. The Centre is part of the police department's policy and program to prevent crime. The Centre reports to the Staff Sergeant responsible for youth crime. The Centre was created in response to a high youth crime rate in that part of the city.

The Centre is trying to articulate long term goals and is being encouraged to do so by the Police Department to enhance accountability. But the focus stays on responding quickly to the issues and needs of the youth who are members of the Centre.

The Youth Division of the Ottawa Police department has been established for many years. The Department had school liaison officers, like many other police forces for several years. These school liaison officers continue to operate as well.

Parents can refer youth to the program. The deferment (alternative to incarceration) program at the centre involves parents, but the regular activities of the centre do not involve parents.

The Activities and Youth Leaders Reflect the Target Youth Audience

The youth of the city, aged 6-19, are the target with a particular focus on the local neighbourhood. The audience is from a low income, new Canadians, disadvantaged community but there is real mixture among the participants in the Centre each year. The youth sub-culture of youth leaders reflects that mix. Often high risk youth use leadership roles at the Centre to turn away from difficult lives.

The Assigned Resources are Adequate but Fragile

There is a budget for the core staff and the use of the building has been donated to the Centre. The Centre is now sharing their building with an alternative school. The Centre began as a half gym. It now occupies and entire small building. Facilities continue to expand. The Centre uses nearby outdoor facilities. There two full time, eight part time staff none of whom are police officers. About 100 kids visit the Centre a night. Other resources include 30 older youth, coop students and a youth council of 12 youth act as an advisory committee. Several companies and service clubs donate to Centre, which is dependent on those donations. The Centre coordinates with the local child welfare agency, alternative schools and other programs but does not receive funding from them.

The Recruitment of Youth Participants is Sustainable

The paid youth leaders stay involved with the Centre for long time The trained youth volunteers usually last for two years, then either become staff or move on. Untrained youth volunteers work about three months on an activity. The youth audience members number about 1400, with 100 coming to the Centre each evening. Some come three times per week and stay involved for years.

The Overall Policy Framework is Stable, with the Police Department Committed to Working with Youth

There is no formal written statement of long term goals for the Centre. The ethics and goals of Police Department aply. There is a written plan for the operation of the Centre.

Good and Bad Examples of Involvement are Understood and Acted Upon

The Homework Club was cited as an example of youth initiating the activities. It was started by a youth and has grown into 50 kids a night. The Centre's Scholarship Program which provides small scholarships to Centre youth, is another example where a program or activity has evolved from youth interests. There is a process used and understood by all about how to start an idea, to check with staff, for staff to help flesh out their idea and for staff to help promote the activity.

An example where the process did not work was an attempt to offer music lessons. Staff recognized then that the Centre needs to stay away from anything that resembles school or teaching.

B.     Levels of Youth Involvement

There are Two Levels of Collective Involvement at the Centre

About 100 youth come to the Centre for episodic involvement each night. (See the CMHA description of student involvement in the Investigative Framework.) All members can use the Centre to develop their skills. 12-14 members of Youth Council play leadership roles and many more can propose and then organize activities These activities are more developmental in nature, enabling youth to develop within a stable organization dedicated to their needs,

Individual Youth are Offered a Variety of Involvement Levels

Youth can act as core leaders on the Centre's Youth Council, become trained volunteers or coaches, volunteer to organizeactivities or simply be participants in activities at the Centre.

C.     The Roles of Youth

The Roles being Assigned to Youth Vary and are Appropriate to the Purposes of the Centre.

Specific roles or tasks can be undertaken by youth in organizing activities and programs. Youth are consulted on programs. Some programs are started by staff and some programs are started by youth. In most cases there is a process where the youth suggest the activity, discuss it with staff, write a proposal and then organize the activity with staff support.

D.     The Quality of the Process

Principles of Involving Youth are Respected

Many of the basic principles regarding involving youth are respected at the Centre. First and foremost, the Centre makes the youth feel safe to speak about their interests and concern. The relationship is built first on recreational activities. After trust has been built, the youth are able to ask for support on other issues. Staff are trained to make a consistent effort to ask questions and to encourage the youth to speak up. Sometimes other youth are asked to speak for their friends if the other person is shy. The respondents to our interviews called the Centre "like a home". They were confident that it "stays in the Fire Hall" and that whenever they wanted something they "just asked the staff".

The opinions of youth are solicited and acted upon. Ideas are encouraged from youth regarding activities. The Youth Council decides if they will go ahead. The staff meet after every Youth Council meeting to implement their decisions about activities. Ultimately, the youth decide on the fate of programs by voluntarily participating or not. (Decisions about staffing and budget and Centre policies are decided by the staff and Police Department.)

Formal surveys of the youth members of the Centre are not used, but the Centre staff are constantly seeking feedback from the youth. A formal survey would likely not be appropriate for this setting.

Youth can move to different roles within the program easily and "training" (more aptly called member orientation) begins immediately upon arrival.

Barriers to Youth Participation are Addressed

The participation of youth is meaningful and relevant because youth choose to participate or not in all of the recreational activities. Youth Council decides on whether an activity will be organized or not. Staff meet after each Youth Council meeting to follow-up on their decisions about activities. Youth apathy and the fluctuations in their involvement are counteracted by constant attempts to "spice up" the activities.

Adult assumptions about youth were overcome by Centre staff meetings with shopkeepers, police officers and the community when the Centre opened and afterwards as well. Potential adult resistance, particularly from older Officers, was reduced by the support from the Deputy Chief of Police and because the Police Department already had a Youth Division in place.

The inexperience of youth in participating is overcome by staff willingness to help and by assuring that the individual youth is ready to take on a new role or challenge. Staff are also very willing to step in and help a youth with the tasks they have set for themselves.

Several Factors Enable Youth Participation

The youth leaders (Youth Council members, volunteers and part-time staff) reflect the diversity of the target audience of the Centre and the community. Consequently, they are credible with the youth audience. Staff are always seeking to recruit new volunteers and organizers of activities, thereby ensuring a succession process.

A positive message about youth is constantly presented. In the Centre, staff are trained to "catch" and recognize good deeds in a visible way. Youth are asked to make presentations to the community. A future focus is maintained as well, with youth taught "to play the cards they have well, even if they were not dealt the best hand".

The type of involvement offered to individuals is very flexible, offering everything from just dropping in to highly organized activities.

Within the Police Department, the Centre is seen as one of the ways that the Department is achieving its youth related goals.

The Developmental Needs of Youth are Being Met Well

The youth are recognized in a variety of ways, including banquets at the end of activities, in community meetings, in short, verbal compliments given by staff, (Personal, Immediate, Enthusiastic-PIE approach). There is a clear ladder to success within the Centre.

The Centre has a defined set of competencies or life skills that they seek to develop within all members of the Centre. Other leadership programs are aimed at developing other skills. Fun, the basis of Centre programming, is the essential drawing card for youth participants. Although there is no definite strategies to enable youth to form new friendships, the Centre creates the opportunities to do so for all participants.

The security needs of the Centre members is closely monitored. No area is left unsupervised long. There is a walk-home program from the Centre. Care is taken to mix up racial groups and avoid inappropriate age or gender combinations in the activities. A procedure is used to diffuse situations quickly, first removing the individual from the situation and the audience, then talking them through the incident and then assuring that offenders are required to deliver appropriate compensation.

The Youth are Accountable

The members of the Youth Council are accountable to the members of the Centre. Coaches and volunteers report to staff when organizing activities. Volunteers have to write a proposal when they want to suggest activities. These proposals list the supplies, time and space required as well as the timelines.

The youth are expected to keep up with their schoolwork and do the best they can with other parts of their lives. Centre staff will intervene with other agencies and support the young person in their family context if it is deemed to be appropriate. Sometimes the expectations set by the Centre staff are perceived to be higher than any other source in the young person's life.

Adults Support Youth

Adults, usually the Centre Staff, speak on behalf of the youth in the community, at special events and with corporate sponsors. Adults promote active participation among the youth by mixing up the teams, changing the nature of the activities often and allowing young people to make mistakes in organizing activities or events.

The Centre staff provide emotional support, with "a huge part of the job being listening". Staff also guide meetings of volunteers organizing events and activities. Centre staff also try to help the youth understand the constraints of the systems operated by adults. For example, Centre staff helped one teen adjust to a family placement . This is particularly important for many of the youth who are new Canadians and often don't understand the vocabulary or intent of some of the procedures.

F.     Evidence of Impacts of Program

The evidence of the outcomes of the Centre have been documented in a report. The first data that indicates success is the high level of participation in the programs and activities of the Centre. Statistics show that over 100 youth attend the Centre each day, with over 1400 members registered with the Centre.

Youth Leaders and Volunteers Benefit

There are numerous individual case studies of personal success with youth at the Centre who have changed their behaviours and improved their lives through participating in the Centre.

The Youth Audience has been Affected

There are impact data that show the Centre has had an impact on the youth of the neighbourhood. Calls to the police for youth related disturbances have declined. Drug related arrests have gone from 57 in 1988 to 0 in 1993.

Other Health Determinants have been influenced

When one reviews the impact of the Centre on the health determinants other than the knowledge, coping skills and behaviours of the youth, one can understand the success of the Centre.

First, a safe physical environment is provided to over 100 youth each day.

Second, the Centre has become a hub to deliver a variety of health, social and other services to youth in the community.

Third, new preventive services, in the form of a deferment (alternatives to incarceration) program, have been introduced to the community, thereby increasing the services available to those youth. As well, more health promoting services, in the form of $50,000 worth of recreational services are offered through Centre programs.

Fourth, a Scholarship Fund and a Homework Club have made basic educational achievement more achievable for several youth.

Finally, the social support available to the youth has been increased, both in the form of a trusted adult (staff) as well as a more supportive peer group.