Sixty-bed facility should provide treatment and program options for its vulnerable population, says Stan Hyatt
I would like to follow up Barb Kane’s letter of August 6th, “put trouble makers in jail”, with some comments and observations having worked within the criminal justice system in Prince George for over 30 years.
First, a bit of history. In 2003 the Youth Criminal Justice Act replaced the Young Offenders Act. This new Act made it more onerous on prosecutors and Judges to impose a custodial sentence on young offenders . This resulted in a dramatic reduction of youth sentenced to jail across Canada and, in BC , the number of youth custody centres was reduced from seven to the current two .
Requests from local advocacy groups for MCFD to re-purpose PGYCC have been ignored and the Ministry of Mental Health & Addictions’ political response has been to advise of how much provincial money they have dedicated to mental health/addiction programs. Yet we have no substance misuse treatment facilities for women in the north, very limited services for those with mental health issues and a frustrating unhoused population problem in our city.
Where is the Provincial Government’s obligation to work with its local partners who are trying to provide services? . Why is the Ministry of Children & Family Development not being held accountable for the gross underutilization of the tax dollar paid PGYCC? It is time to put pressure on relevant Provincial Government bureaucrats to start listening and for local politicians to make some noise. Then, perhaps we can make a dent in minimizing the number of “trouble makers” on local streets.
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