GREATER SUDBURY, Ont. — There are many programs and supports available at the Elizabeth Fry Society of Northeastern Ontario, but all of them are centred around one idea: walking alongside women and gender-diverse people as they move through the criminal justice system.
Cory Roslyn, the executive director, said the agency focuses on providing one-to-one support for clients, as well as group programming.
“We're helping people transition back to communities from the institution, going through the court process, attending programming to address whatever their personalized needs are,” she said.
There are hopes to have more programs than ever, having moved into a newly renovated building in the wake of a devastating fire that ripped through the more than 100-year-old structure.
But no matter the service, it’s about focusing on the true goals of a correctional facility, to rehabilitate and then reintroduce people back into their community; offering services to women and gender-diverse people who are at risk of being criminalized or are currently incarcerated, said Roslyn.
And programs are needed now more than ever.
While the effects of the opioid and housing crises were already rearing their ugly heads in the north, the pandemic blew it all wide open.
Though women and gender-diverse individuals are statistically more likely to be the victim of a crime than the perpetrator, and research shows that women are more likely to be one-time offenders than men, there are still many facing serious charges.
Statistics Canada, in its most recent tally, states the most serious charges in “adult court cases involving a female accused,” included theft (17 per cent), assault (11 per cent), impaired driving (10 per cent), failure to comply with a court order (nine per cent), breach of probation (seven per cent) and fraud (seven per cent).
Combined, these six offences accounted for more than 60 per cent of all cases in adult criminal courts. Theft and assault Level 1 were also the most common offences for girls in youth court (accounting for 21 per cent and 14 per cent of completed cases respectively), followed by Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) offences (11 per cent) and failure to comply with a court order (eight per cent).
These charges often involve only short-term incarceration periods, but even short term can completely upend a life, including job loss, housing loss, and even loss of custody of children.
Elizabeth Fry Society programming assists with this process involved with interacting with the criminal justice system, but also, that support extends outside of the system, with preventative aspects that keep people from becoming criminalized.
The agency also assists with the side effects of short-term incarceration, like housing loss. While only away for a month or two, many lose stable housing and end up homeless or in the shelter.
The North Bay chapter of the Elizabeth Fry Society is located at 510 Main St. East, Suite 201. For contact information, click here.
Not only does the agency have two housing case managers that work with the Homelessness Network, supporting those who are chronically homeless and who might become criminalized or are likely to re-offend, especially if they cannot provide for themselves.
That was also the impetus for the creation of the Safe Harbour House Emergency Overnight Shelter, providing food and shelter to women and gender diverse persons in Sudbury.
“That's part of the reason that we ended up opening that program, [it’s] just really seeing that the community was unable to meet the needs of [people] in that circumstance in terms of sheltering. And so we stepped up to the plate and fill a gap that we saw.”
The agency also has prevention top of mind.
“We also have our restorative justice and conflict mediation program, which is a program that operates within a number of schools in Sudbury,” Roslyn said.
Staff from the Elizabeth Fry Centre train team members on conflict mediation to become peer mediators. When conflicts arise at the school, these trained mediators support their peers using a restorative justice and conflict mediation approach.
“It helps build communication skills, conflict mediation skills and their social skills; it allows them to support their peers who may be experiencing conflict within the school communities, and they come up with their own solutions to problems,” Roslyn said.
She said that the agency is always trying new programs based on the need they are seeing in the community, and right now, that is the need for free or low cost mental health support.
“We have a pilot project going right now for free counselling psychotherapy with a registered psychotherapist that we have on staff here,” said Roslyn. “There's no waitlist, there are no requirements in terms of your particular situation — it's just for people that are involved in our services who want to access counselling and need it to be free.”
But for however many programs they create, there is always the need for more, she said. There is an increase in people needing support in Sudbury, and across the province, and there is a disproportionate number of Indigenous people who face these struggles.
“The things that we're seeing within the marginalized populations here in Sudbury, many other communities across Ontario and across Canada are also seeing: the housing crisis, the opioid crisis, access to the mental health supports that are needed, those who have experienced violence in their lives and the lack of regular, sufficient health care for people who are are experiencing homelessness or living in poverty.”
And while there is a need for the services Elizabeth Fry provides, Roslyn said there are systemic issues within the justice system itself that challenge the work they do.
“We're not really seeing a solution in terms of the housing crisis and, I think, in terms of that, we need more pieces to the puzzle,” said Roslyn. “We need housing. We need proper support for people who are in housing. We need mental health care, and we need treatment and supports for people who use substances whether that be harm reduction, supports or treatment.”
For now, Roslyn and the staff at the Elizabeth Fry Society work with their clients, helping to redefine what success looks like for them.
She said the society’s philosophical approach is to provide the support, but have clients lead the charge, that way their success is theirs alone and not what she or others expect them to achieve.
“What might be a big success for one person, may be unachievable for the next,” she said. “But if you really get to know people individually, and meet them where they are and find out, from them, where they want to go, then you can help them be successful. And it’s going to be different for each person, so we do our best to meet them where they’re at, and go from there.”
For more information about the programs and services at the Elizabeth Fry Society of Northeastern Ontario on their website, found here.
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter with Village Media's Sudbury.com, covering the diverse communities of Sudbury, especially the vulnerable or marginalized, including the Black, Indigenous, newcomer and Francophone communities, as well as 2SLGBTQ+ and issues of the downtown core.
