Foundation History

Youth justice committees are groups of volunteers working in partnership with Alberta's justice system to deal with youth in their communities.

Youth Justice Committees allow citizens to work out differences between young offenders, victims and community members provide support for young offenders provide community-based resolutions to youth crime provide young offenders with an alternative to the formal court process and the possibility of time in custody resolve legal conflicts through extrajudicial sanctions, community-service work, and meeting with victims and community members provide sentencing advice to the youth court

Section 18 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act provides an opportunity for citizens to become directly involved in the administration of youth justice by forming Youth Justice committees.  These committees are alternatives to the court system. A panel of community members volunteer to work with young people in conflict with the law, their families, victims, the legal system and the community to find appropriate and meaningful consequences for the young person.