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Abstract: 

For more than 10 years, Donald Evans has had the privilege of having a small office provided by the John Howard Society of Toronto in their Crossroads Day Reporting Center for use in his research and writing and editing tasks. A useful result of this arrangement is that it has allowed the author to observe and interact with both the case managers in the center and from time to time with their clients. The clients are referrals from the Canadian Correctional Service (CSC) through its local parole office, and the program is funded by CSC. The general objective of the program is to provide individualized counseling in support of community stabilization and long-term success in integrating into the community. The individuals referred to the program are high-risk/high-needs parole releases, statutory releases, and persons on long-term supervision orders. The basics of the community stabilization comprise locating suitable and safe housing, assistance in finding employment, and, when the individual’s situation warrants it, assistance in securing welfare benefits. Once these basic needs are met, the focus shifts to finding ways and means to assist the individual in his or her efforts to stay out of the criminal justice system and to generate a desistance-focused approach to activities and associates. This sometimes means that some clients will return to the case managers after sentence expiry for further counseling and will express the need for assistance with issues they were not comfortable discussing while under supervision. What follows are the author’s reflections from discussions over a period of time with various case managers and clients.

Keywords: Day Reporting Centers

Affiliations:  1: Journal Editor.