INTERPROVINCIAL VARIATIONS IN THE USE OF CUSTODY FOR YOUNG OFFENDERS - A FUNNEL ANALYSIS

One of the purposes of the Young Offenders Act (YOA) was to correct in equities that existed under the Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA), and wh ich were potentially subject to challenge under the ''equality before the law'' provision of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Th is paper analyzes data for 1990 from the Uniform Crime Report and the Youth Court Survey to assess the extent to which the YOA has eliminate d one such disparity, variation among the provinces in the use of cust ody. In 1990, six years after proclamation of the YOA, there was still substantial variation in the per capita rates of juveniles charged, a nd in serving custodial dispositions. This variation appeared to be du e mainly to interprovincial variation in the per capita rates of juven iles charged, and in the lengths of custodial dispositions. Interprovi ncial variations in proportions of juveniles who were screened out bef ore their cases reached court, and in proportions of juveniles convict ed and sentenced to custody made smaller contributions to variations i n the use of custody.