Roy McMurtry Youth Centre in Brampton, Ont.
Last week, publicly run youth jails in Sudbury, Simcoe and Brampton were either at or over capacity, according to CBC News sources. Ontario closed roughly half of its youth detention centres three years ago, and now there are concerns overcapacity issues are having a negative impact on staff and youth.
"They've been coming back into custody for these serious crimes," said Fallon, who's with Local 290 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union . Fallon said because corrections jobs are considered essential, the pressure to work longer hours exists to ensure someone is present to ensure the building is safe and run properly.The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services said in a statement that it monitors the utilization of custody and detention systems to maintain "appropriate capacity" and respond to changing needs within the youth justice system.
Brown said she's not surprised some youth detention centres are overcapacity because she sees it consistently first hand."We no longer have a facility where I can simply go down the street or meet the client — or their parents can come and see them locally," she said."The turnaround doesn't allow them to continue to get settled, to get acclimated a bit, to get connected to counseling support and start to build a rapport with the staff.
Ministers have to come together and look at what can we do, because if we lose those beds and we're already in a state of overcrowding, what's the alternative? Are you going to house them with adults? What are we doing next?When there's a bail hearing, said Brown, and it's taken place via video, the child would still be in that detention facility hours outside their hometown.
In 2021, Ontario closed 26 centres. There remain 20 privately run transfer payment facilities and five public direct-operated ones. Overcapacity issues are causing concerns about their impact on youth and their families, as well as on staff. "This particular program served our region very well. It was working very well. And I think we just need them to open beds back in this jurisdiction.
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