An intervention officer who has 36 years of service at the Laval Youth Center denounces the forced cohabitation between young people placed in protection and young delinquents in facilities that he considers unsuitable.
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During crisis situations, children aged 6 to 12 are placed in protection and find themselves in the same spaces as young people who have committed crimes, said Michel Longpré on Wednesday in an interview on QUB radio at 99.5 FM Montreal.
“We have 27 children aged 6-12 in an environment that welcomes young people, who are young offenders, young people in youth protection, but we mix them all together when problems arise regarding withdrawal,” he explains.
Outdated infrastructure
The Cartier youth center, built in 1971, has hardly been renovated, underlines Mr. Longpré.
“We have the same taps as in 1971. There are toilets that have not changed,” he explains.
The intervention agent deplores the lack of suitable infrastructure.
“Me, personally, take a 6 year old child, there, because he is not doing well, or because he is in crisis, then put him in a room, 6 by 6, then he says, well stay there , then respect your living space, I don’t think it’s the right place to put them,” he says.
Isolation, withdrawal and restraint measures would have exploded “exponentially” between 2021 and 2023, particularly among 6-12 year olds, according to him.
Exhausted staff
Mr. Longpré reports that a social worker recently entrusted him with managing 28 files, while the norm should be 18 or 19.
“The staff is exhausted, the staff cries a lot in situations where what they say, I have no means, I have nothing to be able to help them,” he testifies.
The intervention agent claims to have sent a letter to Minister Lionel Carmant to alert him of the situation, but is still awaiting a response.
*This text, generated with the help of artificial intelligence, was reviewed and validated by our team based on an interview carried out at QUB.
