J.W. was not transferred and has therefore never been identified publicly. She has, however, been provided with opportunities for growth and development, as opposed to regression, thanks to the particular interventions of her family and some very committed staff within the youth justice system. The results of the positive, racially-cognizant, youth-directed, and supported approaches she experienced are underscored by her current reality. As I write this, J. is preparing for her final classes and examinations to complete her third year of university. Had she not been retained in the youth justice system, I would likely be visiting her in one of the four segregated maximum-security units for women located in men's prisons. Suffice it to say that if that were the case, experiences of other women reveal that the chances of her future ever resembling her current reality would be virtually non-existent.

In juxtaposition to J's story, is that of K. Like J, K was involved with a number of other young people and a few adults in the death of another young person. Also like J, K, a racialized young woman and, the only young woman charged in that particular case, was vilified, assessed and treated as a greater risk and threat to public safety than the young men and even some of the adults involved. This was despite a distinct lack of evidence clearly linking her to the actually planning of the event and, aside from her undenied presence, a lack of evidence of her direct involvement in the deaths. Despite the marked similarities of J and K's cases and backgrounds, from the point at which the respective decisions in their transfer hearings were made, however, their paths underwent a sharp and marked divergence.

K was transferred "up" and thereby essentially fast-tracked for the adult system. After serving approximately 18 months in two maximum security units in men's prisons, followed by a further six months in a men's halfway house, and several returns to prison as a result of administrative breaches of the conditions of her parole and subsequent probation order, K is still "just struggling to survive." In fact, as I write this, she is just completing her third year of probation, and seems be losing hope that she will ever complete her high school education, let alone embark on her dream of a post-secondary education.

Both of these young women started out with similar backgrounds, educational opportunities, and "offence" involvement. The manner in which the system dealt with each of these young women exemplifies the extent to which assessment, classification, and the resulting treatment of and by the respective criminal and social justice systems can and does have a lifelong influence on the lives of young people. Later, the discussion in relation to the systemic response to Lisa Neve will further elucidate some of the most damning elements of current actuarial assessment trends.