Examining the Impact of Race & Culture Assessments

It is difficult to celebrate Black History Month without also acknowledging and trying to address the harsh realities that Black communities continue to face in (and beyond) the criminal legal system. Canada’s Black Justice Strategy, the federal government’s response to anti-Black racism and the over-representation of Black people in the justice system, reminds us that Black people continue to be over-represented in stop and search practices by the police; are more likely to be detained before trial than their white peers; are over-represented in federal corrections, and are granted temporary absences, day parole, and full parole less than the general prisoner population; while also experiencing poor outcomes in education, healthcare employment, and housing. And as this Strategy – together with the literature, research, and lived experiences of Black communities – tell us, these outcomes are not a small coincidence. They are the result of historical and ongoing processes, systems and contexts that marginalize Black communities.

One of the many tools that tries to unpack this in the criminal justice system are Impact of Race and Culture Assessments or “IRCAs”, also known as Enhanced Pre-Sentence Reports or “EPSRs”. These reports are written by experts who interview a defendant and people in their life, and collect any school, health, child welfare and criminal records that they may have. The expert then maps out how anti-Black racism and other systemic factors directly impacted the defendant’s involvement in the system. These can also recommend culturally relevant, restorative sentencing options, which can help judges consider alternatives to prison or custody, helping efforts to address over-incarceration by extension.

The Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) reported that in 2020-2021, Black Canadians remained overrepresented in the federal prison system, making up 9.2% of the total federal prison population while only representing 3.5% of the overall Canadian population.

With generous funding and support from the Law Foundation of Ontario, Peacebuilders led the Making a Difference project which researched the different impacts that IRCAs/EPSRs can have. To do this research, we held thirty-nine consultations with community members, community agencies, justice professionals, and subject matter experts; as well as reviewed literature, including legal cases, about IRCAs/EPSRs. This included a Lunch and Learn with Drs. Carl James, the Jean Augustine Chair of Education, Community & Diaspora; and Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and Black Justice Strategy Steering Committee Member; both of whom were some of the first IRCA/EPSR writers authors of one of the first IRCAs/EPSRs in Ontario.

This research presented different responses about IRCAs/EPSRs. Discussing their benefits, participants including those who have had an IRCA/EPSR prepared on their behalf, talked about how it gave them the opportunity to finally talk about and confront traumatic experiences in their lives and have their story heard, which then helped them heal the wounds left by those experiences. We also heard that IRCAs/EPSRs could be a helpful educational tool for legal professionals who may not be knowledgeable in anti-Black racism better understand its impacts and make more informed decisions. Some of the legal cases we reviewed also suggested that IRCAs/EPSRs may have been useful in helping judges give a defendant a more lenient sentence than what the Crown proposed.

On the limitations that IRCAs/EPSRs present, we also heard concerns from subject matter experts about the lack of or need for consultations with Black communities about whether they felt that IRCAs/EPSRs were meaningful to them. Furthermore, we heard that the stories that IRCAs/EPSRs ultimately tell can risk playing into racist stereotypes about Black people, as well as flattening the diversity and richness of what it even means to be Black. A recurring limitation in our consultations as well, was the time it takes to obtain an IRCA/EPSR due to growing demand, and the costs of IRCA/EPSR, especially where an individual may not qualify for legal aid funding for an IRCA/EPSR. Finally, at the time of our research, participants also voiced concerns about how courts in Ontario were not applying IRCAs/EPSRs as extensively as they thought the courts could and how that was limiting the positive impacts that IRCAs/EPSRs could have.

With these mixed responses, it became clear that the impacts of IRCAs/EPSRs are not black and white. Moreover, because IRCAs/EPSRs have only been around since 2014, we are all still learning about them. As such, our findings were similarly not so straightforward. As we tried to capture these diverse findings and make recommendations on how to navigate the delicate landscape that IRCAs/EPSRs present, part of what remains clear is the ongoing importance of trying to address over-incarceration and anti-Black racism within the criminal justice system. Whether or not IRCAs/EPSRs are part of the solution, what our findings suggest is that at the very least, they help continue these conservations.

At our Youth Justice Transformation Lab’s Community Forum on September 24, 2024, we shared some of this research on a panel with Dr. James; Dr. Ardavan Eizadirad, Executive Director of YAAACE and Associate Professor at Wilfred Laurier; Christopher Husbands, Social Justice Advocate; Dr. Danardo Jones, Associate Professor at Windsor University Faculty of Law; Gregory Leslie, Founder Director of Educare Selfcare Studio Inc. and social worker at YAAACE; and Chris Rudnicki, Lead Counsel at Rudnicki and Company. Now, we are happy to share the public launch of the Making a Difference final report during Black History Month. We also extend our gratitude to Drs. James, Eizadirad, Rai Reece, Assistant Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University; and Marsha Rampersaud, Assistant Professor at York University, reviewing and ensure the quality of our final report.

For further information about the Making a Difference project, including workshops, please contact gaquino@peacebuilders.

Click the following links to read the Making A Difference Reports: