	Youth Custody Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

CA-YC 10: Development of Social and Independent Living Skills

Youth are engaged in programming and activities that help them acquire and strengthen the social and independent living skills needed to become responsible, connected, and law-abiding members of their communities.

Interpretation: When youth are only in custody for a short period of time, there may be limits to the extent that these standards can be implemented.

Research Note: Some research suggests that cognitive behavioural interventions and interpersonal skills training are promising ways to address youths’ risks and needs and help them develop the competencies that can help them succeed.

NA The organisation provides only remand services.

CA-YC 10.01

Youth are helped to develop social skills needed to:

solve problems, resolve conflicts, and make decisions;
control impulses and manage anger; and
interact appropriately with others.

CA-YC 10.02

Youth are helped to understand the impact of past actions and behaviours, and taught how to make responsible, pro-social decisions in the future.

CA-YC 10.03

Youth are helped to develop age-appropriate skills they will use in daily life after custody.

Interpretation: Relevant skills may include, but are not limited to: identifying networks of support; time management; accessing and using community resources; pursuing educational and occupational opportunities; household management; budgeting and money management; and accessing available financial assistance.

CA-YC 10.04

Pregnant and parenting youth are helped to develop skills and knowledge related to:

basic caregiving routines;
child growth and development;
meeting children’s health and emotional needs;
environmental safety and injury prevention;
parent-child interactions and bonding;
age-appropriate behavioural expectations and appropriate discipline; and
pregnancy planning and the spacing of children.

NA The organisation does not serve pregnant or parenting youth.

CA-YC 10.05

Personnel model pro-social behaviour and attitudes in daily interactions at the facility, and youth are expected and encouraged to do the same.

CA-YC 10.06

Youth have opportunities to practice and demonstrate their skills outside the facility, when possible and appropriate.

Interpretation: Relevant opportunities to practice and demonstrate skills may include community service projects, vocational placements, and visits to the family or home community. As referenced in CA-YC 5.06, it may be appropriate to collaborate with others to identify meaningful ways for youth to contribute to the community.

Research Note: Literature emphasises that there is more to competency development than skills training, and notes that youth also need opportunities to use skills in productive, valued activities.

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	PURPOSE: Youth Custody Services promote public safety by helping youth overcome problems and develop the attitudes and skills needed to make responsible choices, avoid negative behaviours, and become productive, connected, and law-abiding citizens.

RELATED FILES


	CUSTODY The care, control, and maintenance of a child. The court legally can award custody to an agency in abuse and neglect cases or to parents in divorce, separation, or adoption proceedings. Child welfare departments retain legal custody and control of major decisions for a child in foster care; foster parents do not have legal custody of the children for which they provide care.


	SERVICE One or more organisation-operated programmes or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organisation’s material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organisation that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licenced to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	CONNECTED The means by which individuals access services that may or may not be provided by the organisation itself. These terms are used interchangeably when individuals are connected to services either directly or by referral. See also LINKED.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal programme evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality, and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, residential neighbourhoods, business districts, recreational sites, and health and human service sites.


	PREVENTION Actions taken to minimise and/or eliminate social, psychological, or other conditions. Prevention can occur at the individual, group, community, and societal levels and enhances opportunities to achieve positive fulfilment.


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organisation’s tasks under the organisation’s administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organisational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialisation, income support, long-term care, and other care giving are among the functions of family life. The definition of “family” will rest with an individual’s indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, or significant others. Organisations that believe family is the central constellation in a child’s life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of “family.”