Sergeant Danielle Bouchard
Sûreté du Québec (District de l'Estrie)

Sergeant Danielle Bouchard was nominated by the Sûreté du Québec for a project designed to integrate the services of a social worker to ensure that the measures taken by police officers are appropriate and encourage restitution to victims. Sgt. Bouchard got the idea for this project in 2001, before the YCJA came into effect. Once the YCJA replaced the Young Offenders Act in 2003, Sgt. Bouchard worked to make her project a reality that would be consistent with the objectives of the new Act. The social worker's interventions are all related to youths in trouble with the law, including encouraging extrajudicial measures in respect of the principles and objectives of the YCJA; encouraging young people to be accountable for their actions; ensuring that the use of these measures is monitored; creating ties with the large network of partners; offering counselling services to police officers and training on the application of the Act; encouraging problem and conflict resolution; directing information exchange between police and alternative justice agencies; and ensuring administrative monitoring of all youth cases. With more than 1,000 youths affected by the project, the results have been very positive.