Aboriginal Legal Services is pleased to introduce a new position to the Gladue Department: the Gladue Correctional Caseworker Liaison. This permanent position, funded by the Department of Justice Canada, is designed to assist Indigenous offenders in transitioning from custody back into the community.
This position formed as a response to a gap of service and an intense need of our client base – a lack of services in the transitional period when one is being released from custody. Some of the existing programming is made available to offenders while incarcerated, but not after release; other programming has the opposite mandate. However, the addition of the Gladue Correctional Caseworker Liaison allows for a wrap-around approach to client care, ensuring that the offenders receive the assistance they need and deserve throughout their release process.
The Gladue Correctional Caseworker Liaison will maintain relationships with correctional staff at various provincial facilities across Ontario in order to receive referrals for Indigenous inmates who are set for release. The Gladue Correctional Caseworker Liaison will work with the offender and correctional staff to determine what services and programming are available to the offender while they are incarcerated, with a view to encouraging the empowerment, initiative, and self-esteem of the client. They will also discuss the client’s future goals and assist in starting the processes required to achieve them. Finally, when the client is due for release from custody, the Gladue Caseworker Correctional Liaison will then coordinate with a local Gladue Caseworker with Aboriginal Legal Services who will take over the offender’s file and assist in following up with their goals, cementing the wrap-around approach. Currently, this position is focused on assisting offenders in provincial custody, serving two years less a day. As the program grows, we hope to assist those serving more than two years, or a federal sentence.
We welcome Ms. Connie General into the role of Gladue Caseworker Correctional Liaison, and Aboriginal Legal Services is looking forward to the many ways that we may expand this program in the future.
Desirée Duplessis (she/her), BA JD
Senior Manager, Gladue Caseworker Program