A report from the Québec Ombudsman raises “questionable practices” in a Lévis youth center
Posted at 1:43 a.m.
Updated at 5:00 a.m.
Confinement to their room for up to 15 hours a day, periods of isolation “without reason”, silence when traveling, lack or even deprivation of food in certain cases: a report from the Public Protector reveals “questionable practices” governing daily life adolescents housed in a youth center in Lévis.
What there is to know
- The Public Protector unveiled an investigation report Thursday on the Le Boisé unit of the Protection and Rehabilitation Center for young people with adjustment difficulties in Lévis in Chaudière-Appalaches.
- The report reveals practices that are questionable or deviate from the Center’s rehabilitation mandate, including the high number of hours – up to 15 per day – that adolescents spend confined to their rooms.
- The CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches undertakes to follow all the recommendations of the Public Protector.
The Public Protector intervened following a report of “concerning practices” concerning the Le Boisé unit of the Protection and Rehabilitation Center for young people with adjustment difficulties – commonly called the youth center – in Lévis.
This is a secure unit which welcomes adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old. Young people in accommodation are subject to legal action under the Youth Criminal Justice Act or an intensive supervision measure.
Le Boisé does not always provide care and services promoting rehabilitation, concludes the Québec Ombudsman, Mr.e Marc-André Dowd. In his 19-page report, Me Dowd feels the need to remind the CISSS that the youth center is not a “prison environment”, but rather a health establishment.
The time of confinement in the room is very long (around 4 hours daily and up to 8 hours on Saturdays) and it is difficult to grasp the clinical significance of this practice in a rehabilitation course.
Extract from the Public Protector’s report
In his report, Me Dowd insists he is “concerned about the rigidity of the framework exercised”. Teenagers are confined to their rooms for up to 15 hours a day, he found.
Elsewhere in Quebec, in centers with the same criminal clientele requiring a high intensity of supervision, young people do not spend as much time in their rooms, reveals Me Dowd.
Mold and lack of food
The Protector also reminds the CISSS that adolescents must… “eat their fill”. In fact, he noted an “insufficiency of food” for the young people housed in this unit. He also discovered that in certain cases, punitive measures involving food were taking place in the establishment, even speaking of “deprivation” – measures which “have no place in a rehabilitation center”, recalls- he.
Same thing for access to “capless” water bottles which is considered a privilege in the security unit. “I have a lot of difficulty considering hydration as a privilege,” adds M.e Dowd in interview with The Press Thursday, when his report was made public.
Mold was also found in the showers. “In the sanitary block, lighting is poor and ventilation is absent,” the report states. The CISSS recognized this problem and committed to carrying out renovations next fall.
That’s not all, the teenagers housed almost never went out into the outside courtyard, in addition to having to move around in silence. During the Public Protector’s investigation, the establishment corrected the situation and added two mandatory 15-minute outings per day.
“When we know that adults in prison are entitled to one hour of release per day outside,” underlines Me Dowd, this correction seems essential, but minimal. He felt that the center “trivialized” the importance of getting fresh air for its teenage clientele.
In interview with The Pressthe CISSS wishes to “qualify” certain conclusions of the report, although it assures that it takes the situation “seriously”.
Confinement for up to 15 hours a day, “this is a maximum”, and not the daily average, and this includes at night, specifies the director of youth protection for the Chaudière-Appalaches region, Caroline Brown.
“I too spend the night in my room,” illustrates the manager.
For his part, the Public Protector persists and signs: the young people’s rooms are locked, which prevents them from being able to leave at night. It is therefore indeed “isolation” within the meaning of the law, no offense to the local youth protection department, he says.
Concerning the fact that young people do not have enough to eat, “it is not true that we are depriving them of food”, reacts Mme Brown from the CISSS. This is a “supply” problem since the food is prepared “outside” – in a hospital – and then delivered to the center. It happened that the young people lacked food, admits the manager. But the staff then left him the portions intended for him, “precisely so that they could eat their fill”, and he “had fast food brought in”.
The speakers ate their fast food meals in front of the young people. The Public Protector considers that this demonstrates an “appearance of lack of sensitivity” towards young people in accommodation. This practice will stop, assures Mme Brown from the CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches.
Control measures… out of control
In his report, the Québec Ombudsman examines at length the control measures exercised against young people in accommodation, noting that staff do not always follow established provincial standards.
The time spent by the young people in their rooms clearly demonstrates that this is a practice of isolation which is not recognized by the staff of the rehabilitation center, despite the training that was offered to them at the spring 2022 on the new procedure.
Extract from the Public Protector’s report
“In fact, let us remember that young people cannot leave their rooms freely without first ringing the console during the day. […] If a young person fails to do so, he is quickly redirected and the staff reminds him of the instructions. This is therefore true isolation within the meaning of Law 10,” specifies the Public Protector.
Furthermore, the forms that must be completed in order to record information on the use of control measures are not always completed, the Public Protector discovered. This may seem “bureaucratic”, but this tool is “essential to ensure that the rights of young people are respected”, insists Me Dowd in interview.
The Press revealed last month that the isolation and restraint of young people housed in rehabilitation centers and group homes are on the rise in most regions of Quebec even though they are supposed to remain exceptional measures.
Read our file
In total, the Public Protector has done 11 recommendations to the CISSS – all accepted by the latter – which mainly aim to ensure respect for the rights of young people accommodated and to refocus interventions on their rehabilitation.
