Summary
The objective of this report is to contribute to the development of local approaches to helping youth in the city of Ottawa "exit" from their involvement in criminal youth gangs. The project involves three inter-related activities: 1. Conducting a review of the research literature and of youth gang exit programs in an attempt to describe the lessons learned from current programs and to identify features of these initiatives that might be relevant to the Ottawa context. 2. Developing an inventory of the services currently available in Ottawa for gang-involved young people (ages 16 to 25) who may wish to exit from gang life. 3. Identifying promising practices and approaches to intervention with youth and to service delivery that may be relevant to helping youth in Ottawa exit from gang involvement.
Contents
Executive summary -- Acknowledgements -- Table of contents -- Appendices -- Introduction -- Key concepts: youth, criminal youth gangs, and "success" in the context of exit strategies -- Review of the literature -- Youth gang exit programs -- Service map: services and resources in Ottawa to help youth exit gang life -- Strengths, limitations and barriers of existing resources and services for gang-involved youth in Ottawa -- Recommendations -- References.