Celebrating 50 Years of St. Lawrence
Youth Association:
A Trauma-Informed Journey
This year, the St. Lawrence Youth Association (SLYA) celebrates a remarkable milestone—50 years of service to youth and families throughout Kingston and surrounding communities. It’s an ideal time to reflect on how the SLYA has evolved, particularly in its approach to trauma-informed care.
Christine Brook, Executive Director of the SLYA, has been reflecting on the organization’s history in preparation for its 50th Annual General Meeting. “When I was reading through old board books and looking at pictures from the 1970s and 80s, I realized just how much has changed,” Christine says. “In those early days, our work was really about accountability and consequences for youth—not punitive in a harmful way but focused on the offenses and making sure kids were held accountable for what they did. We didn’t always see past the behavior that got them involved with us in the first place.”
Over the past decade, however, the SLYA’s approach has shifted dramatically. “We’re now much more interested in understanding what led these young people to come into conflict with the law,” Christine explains. We brought trauma-informed principles into our agency about five years ago, and we’ve continued to embed them into all our programs, from leadership right through to the clients we serve.”
Christine emphasizes the importance of this shift: “If we are not addressing trauma, then we’re really missing an opportunity to rehabilitate these kids. Our whole mission is to rehabilitate and get them on the right path. In the 70s and 80s, we were a bit shortsighted in how change could best happen. Now, we see that we really do need to go deeper into the emotions and the emotional level of what got them there—understanding trauma and the impact it has on their brain and then teaching them about that, so they understand why they do things.”
The results of this trauma-informed approach have been striking. “We’ve seen some real success,” Christine says. “Our recidivism rates are down to about 15% in some of our programs, compared to the national average of 75%. We’re also seeing increased high school and postsecondary completions, more employment opportunities, and more stability in general for the youth we work with.”
One of the most innovative new initiatives is the “Safe Expressions Sensory Room” at the St. Lawrence Youth Association, made possible by a grant from the Community Foundation. “When kids are starting to escalate, get anxious, or frustrated, the typical societal response is to tell them to ‘cut it out,’” Christine notes. “But we know that in the trauma brain, that approach doesn’t work. So, we’ve created this room where they can safely express their frustration—scream, kick, punch a punching bag—without getting into trouble. Then, when they’re ready, they can move to another part of the room with soft music, lighting, and chairs to calm their nervous system. It’s groundbreaking in Canada; most sensory rooms just focus on calming, but nothing lets them get that frustration out first.”
Christine is proud of how the SLYA and the broader Kingston community have embraced trauma-informed care. “I always say we’re in the hope business, and we have to stay hopeful,” she says. “The community has really taken a leadership role in this, with about 32 partners now providing this type of intervention. Our agency is proud to be one of the leading youth justice organizations in this area.”
As the SLYA celebrates its 50th anniversary, it stands as a testament to the power of hope, understanding, and community collaboration in supporting young people toward brighter futures.