VFCYJC regular meetings 2025

Thursdays, January 23 (AGM), April 24,  June 26 and Oct. 23, all from 11:30 to 1:30 PM ~ Capital Regional District boardroom, 625 Fisgard St. with virtual attendance option. Resource agencies are welcome to provide short updates in each meeting’s opening minutes; longer formal presentations can be booked into our future schedule.  Please contact vfamcourt@gmail.com for details.

April 24, 2025

Access Pro Bono‘s Jamie Maclaren provided a powerpoint update on priority recommendations within his 2019 Roads To Revival review of BC legal aid services. Full credit to the Province for heeding the report’s priority calls for more Indigenous Justice Centres and independent community legal aid clinics; establishing the Immigration and Refugee Legal Clinic  at the Immigrant Services Society of BC‘s Welcome Centre in Vancouver; and delivering support to pro bono lawyers working on complex criminal cases. Much still to accomplish, he argued, in creating a client-centred legal aid system as the report envisions. Maclaren suggests that the Attorney General next be asked to establish an Access to Justice Commissioner to provide independent oversight on justice institutions, including courts and government, and create standardized performance data on the principle of “what’s measured gets managed.” The Committee plans to advocate with Attorney General Sharma accordingly.

Evan James, Manager of Strategic Initiatives for the Umbrella Society, shared outcomes from last year’s VFCYJC grant support of its Navigating Substance Use and Mental Health for Students program. Another guest, Youth Empowerment Society Operations Director Kisae Petersen, confirmed the effectiveness of Umbrella’s work with young people experimenting with substances, primarily alcohol and nicotine.

In other business, the VFCYJC’s third annual open house is set for Wed. May 28 from 3 to 6 PM at Victoria City Hall; the committee voted to ask Chair Little to write the Attorney General in support of recommendations raised by the Be Amazing campaign’s Cathy Peters; the VFCYJC is joining a growing number of local governments that have suspended their X accounts; the latest School Police Liaison Officer Backgrounder was circulated; and there was initial talk of a panel discussion this fall that would focus on three of the essential youth services delivered by Greater Victoria Police Integrated Units , namely the Integrated Mobile Crisis Response Team, the Regional Domestic Violence Unit and the Mobile Youth Services Team.

January 23, 2025

Annual General Meeting:  Members welcomed back Marie-Terese Little (Metchosin), Kimberly Guiry (Langford)  and Esther Paterson (Oak Bay) in re-elections as Chair, Vice-Chair and Treasurer respectively for 2025. Returnee Sub-Committee chairs are Marcie McLean (Priorities/Grants), Bill McElroy (Capital Region Action Team), Rose Stanton (Youth & Family Matters) and Jeff Bateman (Communications/Website).

The 2024 Annual Report was received and approved. Members agreed to cut the annual meeting schedule to four per year plus an Open House; sub-committees will continue their work in interim periods and meetings can be called by the Chair as required. Guest speaker Jamie Maclaren, Executive Director of Access Pro Bono and author of the Roads To Revival review of BC legal aid services, could not attend due to illness and will be invited to a meeting later this year. (His AGM keynote in 2021 led to VFCYJC advocacy and we look forward to his update). 

At our regular meeting, Chair Little presented the 2025 orientation for new committee appointees (see 2025 membership list). Bill McElroy’s report on the ad hoc MYST planning group states that the Pacific Centre Family Services Association has secured federal funding for sexual assault and exploitation prevention work through mid-2027; how these funds might apply to the MYST work of Mia Golden and her new Saanich Police partner Shauna Bainbridge is to be determined. The committee approved a Marcie McLean motion for the VFCYJC to develop a call-to-action strategy to alert responsible Provincial ministries to service shortfalls and other critical gaps in the youth justice system. The latest School Police Liaison Officer Program backgrounder (Ver. 8) updated through early this year was received for information, as was a report on last fall’s youth issues panel discussion.

Year In Review – 2024

A busy 12 months as captured in this file of  meeting summaries.  In support of the Mobile Youth Services Team, we called for renewed CRD Board advocacy, funded a MYST business case study and submitted a Times Colonist Op Ed. In the fall, we hosted a panel discussion centred on gang recruitment, sexual exploitation and the School Police Liaison Officer Program.  Grants in 2024 were awarded to the Human-Nature Counselling Society, the  Youth Empowerment Society and the Umbrella Society. Our second annual open house in June provided a meet-and-greet opportunity for members and resource agency reps. Regular meeting presentations over the year featured the Hon. Grace Lore speaking on youth justice services, Cathy Peters re: her Be Amazing campaign, and representatives from the Moose Hide Campaign and the University of Victoria’s The Law Centre.

November 28

Victoria Youth Empowerment Society Operations Director Kisae Petersen hosted an inspiring tour of its 533 Yates St. drop-in centre prior to this month’s meeting, then joined us in the CRD boardroom to present the outcomes report from the VFCYJC grant that partially funded the YES Summer Opportunities Program. Hungry, cold, isolated and often desperate youth from across the region find safety and solace at YES, she told us. There they can access basic needs (shelter, food, clothing, hygiene), navigator services, life skills workshops, hot lunches and a relaxed, non-judgemental hang-out space. Newly established with assistance from the Victoria Foundation is a food pantry stocked with donated dry goods and matched with food-prep training classes. (Independent youth under 19 often cannot access food bank services.) Donations are always welcome.

CRAT’s Bill McElroy reported out on a new ad hoc Westshore group working to help the Mobile Youth Services Team overcome still further heightened funding challenges following Westshore RCMP’s decision to withdraw support for Regional Integrated Units given other localized initiatives. Treasurer Esther Patterson presented and received approval for the 2025 draft budget. The VFCYJC-funded MYST Policy Report (Sept. 26) will be circulated to a full range of provincial and other decision-makers thanks to a motion by Priorities/Grants Subcommittee Chair Marcie McLean. Chair Marie-Térèse Little welcomed first in-person attendance by two pending 2025 VFCYJC appointees, Colwood councillor Misty Olsen and Central Saanich Councillor Sarah Riddell. Special thanks was extended by Communications Subcommittee Chair Jeff Bateman to VFCYJC secretary Marnie Essery and the CRD’s Sharon Orr for their exceptional work in delivering the committee’s minutes and agendas.

October 24

The Times Colonist has published the Committee’s Op Ed expressing strong support for the Mobile Youth Services Team — “The most vulnerable youth are about to lose their most valuable support team.” It was signed by Chair Little and written by the VFCYJC’s Communications Subcommittee. Meeting guest Cathy Peters discussed the Be Amazing campaign. Her urgent message: “Organized crime and international syndicates operate freely in British Columbia. Drug and sex trafficking are lucrative and increasing with no deterrent. Currently, gang recruitment is occuring around the province. I am in touch with all 60 School Districts to warn them that youth are being aggressively targeted (online and in person).” Her suggested next steps: 1. Funding/training for law enforcement to better enforce the federal Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act.  2. A provincial public awareness campaign. 3. A human trafficking task force in BC similar to those in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

(In June, the VFCYJC forwarded a motion to enforcement authorities seeking revisions to sections 152 and 153 of the Criminal Code to more effectively stop online sexual exploitation. Lt. Governor Janet Austin spoke at the UBCM conference last month about the establishment of the Human Trafficking Prevention Network of British Columbia.)

September 26

The Committee hosted a panel focused on issues impacting vulnerable youth in Greater Victoria. Saanich Police Inspector Damian Kowalewich, Victoria/Esquimalt Police Deputy Chief Constable Jamie McRae and MYST’s Mia Golden and Gord Magee highlighted two evolving crises: gang recruitment, always a deep concern in the region but now dramatically more frequent, organized and aimed at younger children; and sextortion, in which young boys in particular are lured into sharing intimate images online and then being subject to shame-based blackmail (in at least one tragic case leading to suicide). Cyber crime experts are being employed by local police to investigate and stop online crime, we learned.  The School Police Liaison Officer program (see our latest SPLO Backgrounder Ver. 7 – Sept 25, 2024) was again championed as a critical intervention in gang recruitment.

Inspector Kowalewich shared his talking points for inclusion in a summary of the panel discussion the VFCYJC has prepared. The committee moved that an op-ed commending recent Les Leyne columns in support of the MYST team be submitted to the Victoria Times Colonist. The MYST Business Case Report — authored by Royal Roads University’s Rebeccah Nelems (PhD) with VFCYJC funding and presented in July to the Greater Victoria Area Police Chiefs — was circulated along with a disappointing funding update from Minister Farnworth.

In other business, Langford Councillor Kimberley Guiry was unanimously elected as VFCYJC Vice Chair and warmly welcomed to the role by Chair Little. The Committee awarded grants to the Human-Nature Counselling Society ($5.5k for its 2024 New Roots youth program) and the Umbrella Society ($4,746 for its Navigating Substance Use and Mental Health for Students program).

Year In Review – 2023

Click this link for a summary of news briefs, including renewed advocacy on behalf of MYST; presentations by SD 61 Chair Nicole Duncan, UBC researcher Bill Warburton, the Hon. Mitzi Dean and The Village Initiative‘s Cindy Andrew;  discussion of Greater Victoria’s School Police Officer Liaison Program; our meet-and-greet Open House at Victoria City Hall; and much more as we navigated our welcome first year as a delegated commission of the Capital Regional District (following 56 years under the same VFCYJC banner). Immense thanks to CRD staff for their vital contributions to this evolving transition.

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(Relatively) New to the website …

– 2024 Annual Report

– VFCYJC 2025 orientation

– Panel Discussion Notes: Greater Victoria Youth Issues and Youth-At-Risk ~ Mia Golden, Youth and Family Counsellor, Mobile Youth Services Team; Constable Gord Magee, MYST/Victoria Police Department; Inspector Damian Kowalewich, Saanich Police Department; Deputy Chief Constable Jamie McRae, Victoria Police Department, Sept. 27, 2024 

– Proposal to Increase Strategic Support and Budget for the Mobile Youth Services Team ~ Dr. Rebeccah Nelems, Sept. 26, 2024 

– Youth Justice Services: Strengthening Abilities and Journeys of Empowerment ~ presentation by the Hon. Grace Lore, Minister of Children and Family Development (June 2024) 

– UBC researcher Bill Warburton’s report on the importance of upstream intervention in keeping youth out of the justice system

– Presentation by the Village Initiative’s Cindy Andrews

– MYST funding update – April 2023 Good one-year news re: Greater Victoria’s Mobile Youth Services Team + our 2022 advocacy + the Crime Reduction and Exploitation Diversion (CRED) program + support from the CRD Board and municipal councils

– 2023-2026 Strategic Plan (approved April 27, 2023)

– Our 2022 Annual Report  + 2023 Annual Report

– VFCYJC is a delegated commission of the Capital Regional District

– For more information about the Victoria Family Court and Youth Justice Committee please contact:

Chair:  Marie-Terese Little, email mtlittle@metchosin.ca

Vice Chair: Kimberly Guiry, email kguiry@langford.ca

Secretary:  Marnie Essery, email vfamcourt@gmail.com

Tel 250-474-5939

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Call For Submissions: VFCYJC Grants

Call for Submissions + Application Form (word or .RTF) [VFCYJC considers small grants at scheduled meetings. Applications received after May 15 will not commence processing until Sept. 02. This is due to when the Granting chair of the sub-committee actually receives the application from CRD staff or our secretary, completeness of the application, potential questions to applicants for clarity of information and processing time, and the fact that the the committee does not meet in July and August. As a condition of receiving grants from VFC&YJC, successful applicants are asked to use this form to file a brief written outcomes report within 2 months of completion of any funded program/project.]  

The Victoria Family Court & Youth Justice Committee provides modest funding for community projects educating and assisting youth and families who are at risk or may come into contact with the criminal or family legal systems. Projects should focus on prevention, education and/or diversion.

Email submissions and/or send questions to the VFCYJC or the CRD’s Steven Carey.

If an organization, the Executive Director or Chief Executive Officer (or designated signatory) must sign all submissions.

Grants over the years have been awarded to Greater Victoria organizations for events, workshops, scholarships, and special projects and programs. These include:

Young people and families in the Capital region who become entangled with the justice system for any number of potential reasons are often faced with a daunting journey into the unknown.

Established in 1966, under the BC Provincial Court Act and expanded under the Federal Youth Criminal Justice Act  to also be the Youth Justice Committee in 1987, the Victoria Family Court & Youth Justice Committee is dedicated to educating the public about the juvenile justice system, reviewing family and youth legislation, advocating to legislative bodies, and monitoring court hearings and custody facilities.

The committee directly connects regional and municipal decision-makers with frontline service providers. Its voting members are a mix of school district trustees, local government elected representatives and appointees of the Capital Regional District, which collects and provides annual funding.

Our subcommittees include Court Watch, Restorative Justice, Youth Mental Health, Family Matters, Youth Matters, Communications, Priorities and the Capital Region Action Team (CRAT).

As a result of its broad legislated mandate, the VFCYJC engages with many sectors of our community:  children, parents, caregivers, teachers, youth-serving agencies, social workers, lawyers, judges, police, probation officers and restorative justice and victim services workers, among others.

In February, 2022, following a comprehensive two-year review involving committee members and CRD staff, the VFCYJC became a delegated commission of the Capital Regional District with the adoption of CRD Bylaw No. 4553.

Our committee members are asked to:

  • Be aware of the circumstances for youth in the justice, protection, divorce and custody systems.
  • Review and comment on legislation.
  • Facilitate collaboration between community service providers and governance bodies in the interest of better supporting youth and families.
  • Be involved in maintaining the connections between youth and family serving agencies for each community.
  • Advocate for policies and initiatives that improve outcomes for families and youth who may come in contact with the justice system.
  • Increase awareness of the issues facing families and youth involved in the family or youth justice systems.
  • Pursue and promote meaningful reconciliation with the Indigenous community.
  • Support equity of access to resources across the region.

Important Links