Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services

Chapter 14: Justice Sector
Building on the progress of the JOT program in Ontario’s criminal justice courts, MAG should
implement the principles of the program to family law and family courts. Working with justice
participants across the sector, the focus should be to remove less contentious family disputes
from the court resolution stream, and divert them to non-court alternatives (mediation,
information services). This builds on the previous initiative that expanded family mediation and
information services to all courts in the summer of 2011. Expansion of family mediation would
help families avoid the courtroom by providing faster, more affordable, out-of-court resolutions.
Mental Health Diversion Programs
Recommendation 14-3: Expand diversion programs for low-risk, non-violent offenders with
mental illness as an alternative to incarceration.
The sector should implement additional mental health diversion programs to divert low-risk,
non-violent offenders with mental illness away from incarceration and into the mental health
treatment system. In 2010–11, MCSCS estimated that 19 per cent of remanded inmates in
the Ontario correctional system required some form of clinical intervention for mental health
issues, and, over the last decade, the number of accused with mental health alerts remanded
to provincial custody increased by 69 per cent. This would help those with a mental illness
(who commit minor, low-risk offences and come into conflict with the law) receive appropriate
support outside the criminal justice system. The sector will need to assess the impact of these
initiatives on other ministries, including the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The sector
should also collaborate with the Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) on youth
custody. The MCYS is undertaking a needs assessment of government-owned, youth-justice,
secure-custody facilities across the province to determine their ability to meet the unique
programming needs of youth in conflict with the law. The sector, with MCYS, should ensure
that services for youth are aligned with the principles and provisions of the Youth Criminal
Justice Act and contribute to community safety by focusing on prevention, diversion and
rehabilitation, and addressing the underlying causes of youth crime.
Review of Core Responsibilities for Police
Recommendation 14-4: Review the core responsibilities of police to eliminate their use
for non-core duties. This review would include an examination of alternative models of police
service delivery. Criteria for the review would include determining the relative costs of the
various security providers and an evaluation of their respective comparative advantages.
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