Forensic reports shall be completed by qualified persons. Qualified persons are defined as licensed psychologists and physicians. The identified qualified person will be responsible for the provision of the entire Section 34 report and will accordingly be the team leader. The team leader will work with other members of the multidisciplinary team in identifying and obtaining relevant information needed to adequately complete the specific assessment defined under Section 34.
The type of assessment noted in Section 34 will define the nature of the assessment process.
The assessment process is geared to meeting the needs of the Court and will accordingly address the specific forensic issues raised by the Court.
The qualified persons and all members of the multidisciplinary team assessing a young person under Section 34 will inform the young person, prior to the assessment, as to the nature and purpose of the evaluation and to whom the evaluation will be sent.
All members of the multidisciplinary team must, before the evaluation begins, provide the young person with sufficient information so that they understand the purpose of the evaluation and the lack of confidentiality. While consent is not required, all efforts should be made to engage the co-operation of the young person and their family. The evaluating team must be aware of sensitive individual and family issues and evaluate to what extent these personal details are probative to the forensic report. Sensitive personal or family issues that are necessary to understand the individual, their treatment needs or their risk to the public must be included, while information not probative to the legal issue may be given more limited exposure. The author must be sensitive to the possibility that the report may be disseminated outside the limits of the people listed in the Act.
The forensic report shall define the nature and purpose of the assessment and describe the assessment process by itemizing the interviews with the young person and significant others, other persons contacted and records reviewed.
The forensic report must describe the information and the sources of information used in reaching any opinion about a young person. The Court must be aware of the sources of information to adequately weigh the reliability of sources or omissions that, in turn, may affect the credibility of the report and how much weight the Court may choose to give it.
The qualified person must ensure that sufficient information is included in the forensic report to support the opinions reached. Both Crown Counsel and Defense Counsel require this detail in order to weigh the data, especially when incorporating hearsay statements. Ultimately, a forensic opinion is only as good as the data upon which it is based and substantial changes in the data may alter the ultimate opinion. The Court must be aware if the information is either incomplete or erroneous and how that may ultimately affect the opinion of the qualified person.
Any forensic opinion must be evidence-based.
Any forensic opinion should be rooted within acceptable clinical standards and based on sufficient data to justify the conclusions. If there is insufficient information to allow the examiner to reach conclusions that are scientifically justifiable, any forensic opinion must be suitably qualified or limited. The Court must be informed if a full opinion cannot be reached until further information is obtained. Opinions in controversial areas where there is no scientific consensus must be appropriately noted. Assessment procedures must be scientifically acceptable.
The conclusions and opinions must be stated in a clear and concise fashion so that the report can be easily understood by non-mental health persons.
The Youth Justice Court shall be appropriately informed if all or part of the report should be withheld under Section 34 (10).
A Youth Court Justice may decide to withhold all or part of a Section 34 report if disclosure would seriously impair the treatment or rehabilitation of the young person or lead to endangering a life or risking serious psychological harm to another. While the Court also must take into consideration other factors, the qualified person must alert the Court to any risk to the young person or others caused by disclosure of the document.
The qualified person will include an executive summary that summarizes the critical factors relied upon to reach the specific forensic opinion and describe the specific psychological, psychiatric or medical concerns, the recommended treatment or rehabilitation plan and potential risks of self-harm or harm to others.
The YCJA prohibits full disclosure of a Section 34 report to individuals directly involved in the rehabilitation or supervision of young offenders. Such persons, however, have need of critical information, including treatment and rehabilitation plans and any potential risk posed by the young offender. Executive summaries may be given to probation officers under the authority of the Provincial Director. The executive summary should be brief and capable of being read as a stand-alone document.
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