Provincial & Regional Program Service Delivery

Workshops & Conferences

The Provincial Branch works in association with local Branch / Affiliates in the delivery of provincial and regional conferences/workshops providing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary understanding of the causes/determinants of crime and criminal behaviour, criminal law and its administration, and the social and institutional responses to crime. Workshops focus on primary criminogenic needs that must be addressed by institutional and community-based treatment services and are related to: education, employment, accommodation, drugs and alcohol, mental health, social networks, cognitive skills, and attitudes.

JHSNB brings together key government, academic and community organizations to develop patterns of critical thinking using criminological and sociological perspectives to analyze:

Core Correctional Services

Reintegration

The Provincial Society with local Branch / Affiliates promote provincial and regional wide interventions, based on a continuity of care, to provide consistent assistance to offenders within and beyond the institution. JHS recognizes that preparation for reintegration should commence before the offenders’ release, should support their immediate transition from the institution to the community and continue until a successful reintegration is completed. Interventions are best delivered as part of an integrated program designed to address an individual offender’s specific issues and challenges by using a “strength-based” approach and making use of personal and community assets to assist them in overcoming challenges and successfully reintegrate the community.

Reduction of Risk

JHSNB collaborates with local Branch / Affiliates in the development of provincial and regional wide services which target and reduce core risks (Risk-need-responsivity model) and reduce recidivism.

Cognitive Behavioral Programming

The Provincial Society with local Branch / Affiliates promote provincial and regional wide evidenced based interventions that teach participants strategies to manage risk factors. Cognitive Behavioral Programming places heavy emphasis on skill building activities to assist with cognitive, social, emotional, and coping skill development, targeting motivation, cognitive restructuring, emotional regulation, social skills, problem solving, and success planning. This type of programming is readily modified to meet the unique needs of clients who have addiction or mental health concerns, individuals with low literacy or cognitive deficits, offenders with specific offences and those clients of different ethnicity’s or cultural backgrounds.

Restorative Justice / Alternative Measures

JHSNB collaborates with local Branch / Affiliates in the development of provincial and regional wide services designed to offer options to the criminal justice system that are visible, accountable, and accessible to victims, offenders, and the community. Processes which provide a person with the opportunity to admit responsibility for criminal behaviour and participate in a program designed to best fit the circumstances.

Employment Services

The Provincial Society with local Branch / Affiliates actively design and implement services which assist clients in securing employment. Sustained employment is one of the best predictors of success in those offenders who transition from the institution to the community and acts as a protective factor for those who exhibit other precursors to criminal behavior. Ex-offenders encounter a myriad of challenges with respect to securing employment such as: personal factors (low self-esteem, low motivation, skills deficit, lack of training, mental illness, substance abuse; a lack of stable accommodation) and social factors (negative peer influence, an absence of family support and a poor employment record).

JHSNB, including Branch and Affiliates have developed comprehensive employment programs targeting a variety of at-risk populations and delivered within different regions, dependent upon community needs. Developed programs range from employment/career counselling, Workplace Essential Skills to wage subsidy work/career placements.

Youth Services

The Society collaborates with local Branch / Affiliates in the design and implementation of “Evidenced Based” Best Practice interventions for youth and their family members which: address early risk factors among vulnerable families and youth; respond to priority crime issues (youth gangs, drug-related crime); prevent recidivism among high-risk groups; and foster prevention in Aboriginal communities.

JHSNB promotes the need for multi-level strategies targeting several risk domains (e.g., individual, family and community) such as delinquency prevention, probation community support, community service, school-based programs, conflict resolution, family therapy, parent training, mentoring and restorative justice.

Educational & Skills Enhancement Services

The Provincial Society with local Branch / Affiliates actively design and implement Educational programs and Social, Emotional & Cognitive Skill Development Services based upon Adult Learning Principles and the use of active training methods which engage the client. Skills transform lives, generate prosperity and promote social inclusion – without the right skills individuals can become marginalized within their own communities. It is widely recognized the importance of literacy and educational skills however of equal importance are communication, relationship, thinking, problem solving, decision making and emotional control skills.

Housing First Supportive Residential Services

Housing First is a recovery-oriented approach to ending homelessness that centers on quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into independent and permanent housing and then providing additional supports and services as needed. The basic underlying principle of Housing First is that people are better able to move forward with their lives if they are first housed. This is as true for people experiencing homelessness and those with mental health and addictions issues as it is for anyone. Housing is provided first and then supports are provided including physical and mental health, education, employment, substance abuse and community connections.

JHSNB promotes a range of Housing options to meet the needs of individuals within their own socio-economic and culturally distinct communities. The provincial branch supports less resourced communities in their development of housing options which can meet the needs of diverse groups. Housing services link a person’s unique challenges with a range of treatment and support services that are individualized and culturally-appropriate, addressing: supervision concerns; housing stability; addictions, disability and mental health needs; educational and employment options; relationship and communication difficulties and life skills.

Supportive Housing

For people with moderate to severe mental illness, secure housing with supports is an important component of recovery, providing several advantages including a reduction in hospital re-admissions, psychiatric symptoms, and substance use, as well as improved housing and financial stability, quality of life, and satisfaction with living situation. Homes aimed specifically at treating people with complex and serious mental illnesses, which are often resistant to treatment, provide counselling, address psychotherapy and promote recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration.

Youth Treatment Centers

Specialized Youth Treatment homes, service young people with, serious complicated behavioral difficulties and mental illnesses, who have not responded to other forms of treatment. Services are designed to decrease symptoms and improving coping mechanisms and includes development of long-term, multi-disciplinary support and treatment plans. Inter-disciplinary teams aim to empower, educate and support youth and their families to better cope with ongoing and complex needs in order to prevent the high cost need for emergency services, hospitalization and institutionalization.

Transitional Apartments

Transitional housing provides supportive, temporary accommodation that bridges the gap from homelessness to permanent housing by offering structure, supervision, support (for addictions and mental health, for instance), life skills, and in some cases, education and training. The aim is to address critical issues necessary to maintain permanent housing and maximize self-sufficiency – developing stable social connections and neighbourhood supports.

Homes of Safety

Provides for the physical and psychological safety of aboriginal families victimized by domestic violence and for women in crisis with the law, experiencing violence and abuse and in need of a safe house. Part of providing these safety measures includes providing basic necessities for persons who have been displaced or have fled their home due to domestic violence in a supportive environment that helps to prepare them for success in the community.

Community-Based Residential Facilitates (CBRF)

Community-Based Residential Facilitates (CBRF) provide a bridge between the institution and the community working on a system of gradual, supervised release and offering programming which may include life skills, substance abuse, mental health assistance, education, employment and/or crisis counselling. A safe and value added means of community reintegration providing cost reduction outcomes within the community.