FORENSIC ASSESSMENT
& TREATMENT UNIT
(FATU)

What is an IRCA™?

Impact of Race and Culture Assessments™ (IRCAs™) are structured, clinical assessments used at sentencing to help judges consider how anti-Black racism, poverty and discrimination have contributed to a Black person’s interactions with the criminal justice system. 

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The Origin of IRCAs™

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• In 2012, lawyers in Halifax were becoming dissatisfied with the ability of pre-sentence reports to capture the rich, meaningful, and relevant social context of the lives of their Black clients.  They asked Robert Wright, a well-known, African Nova Scotian social worker to draft reports that they could enter as supplemental presentence material.  The first reports were used by defense lawyers to negotiate with prosecutors and never were presented in court.
   

• R. v. “X” is the first IRCA™ presented to the court by a defense lawyer.

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IRCAs™ - Made in Nova Scotia
 

• IRCAs™ had their origin in Nova Scotia.
   

• Black presence in Canada started here.
   

• African Nova Scotians have a 400 year history of presence and resistance against anti-Black racism.
   

• IRCAs™ would not exist without the legacy of African Nova Scotian struggle, survival, and commitment to increasing liberty for future generations.

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The Progression of IRCAs in NS

 

• R. v. “X”, 2014, NSPC - the first IRCA™ presented to court:  The court said the IRCA “provides a more textured, multi-dimensional framework for understanding “X”, his background and his behaviours”
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• R. v. Middleton, 2016, NSPC - the first IRCA™ ordered and paid for by the Court
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• R. v. Anderson, 2021, NSCA - Nova Scotia’s leading case law:  “It may amount to an error of law for a sentencing judge to ignore or fail to inquire into the systemic and background factors detailed in an IRCA™ or otherwise raised in the sentencing of an African Nova Scotian offender.”

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Timeline of IRCA™ Development

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National IRCA™ Training Project (NITP)

 

• In 2021, the Government of Canada announced its commitment to address anti-Black racism within the criminal justice system and funded the NITP.​
   

• Through the NITP we mentored assessors in jurisdictions that had their first IRCA™ requests.
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• The NITP developed a microcredential course in partnership with Dalhousie University and trained 3 cohorts of assessors.  We also produced an accompanying training manual.
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• Conducted the first IRCAs™ in Manitoba, Newfoundland and New Brunswick.
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• We completed the IRCA™ for British Columbia’s first reported decision.
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• NITP future forecast - 5 training cohorts; currently working on the first IRCA™ in Yukon.

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