Editorial: Youth centre's time has run out

The Toronto Star, December 19, 2003

It's time to shut down the Toronto Youth Assessment Centre, an Etobicoke detention centre famously described by a family court judge as "a hellish institution reminiscent of both Dickens and Lord Of The Flies." In a disturbing report released this week, Ontario's child advocate, Judy Finlay, described "chaotic, unsafe" conditions at the centre, complete with violence, bullying, intimidation and mock courts.

After reading the report, one can only wonder what the staff and management are doing when teenagers are beating up other teenagers.

The report certainly is not the first inclination of serious trouble at the centre. An official at the centre testified last summer in court that violence was a regular occurrence, with up to 20 incidents a week, some involving gangs, weapons, and serious injuries requiring hospitalization.

More light will be shed on the inside workings of the centre at an inquest scheduled to begin next month into David Meffe's death 14 months ago. The 16-year-old's family has also launched a lawsuit, alleging jail staff failed to prevent the mentally ill boy from hanging himself, although they had been warned he was suicidal. The allegations have not been proved in court, and the government has said it will fully defend the case.

Still, Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter has agreed the centre should be closed. Plans are underway to replace it with a new facility.

But a new building is years away. He should act now and he can.

Recent changes in the young offenders laws have drastically cut the number of teens being incarcerated. That means there are lots of vacant beds in detention centres across Ontario, including nearby facilities in Hamilton, Oakville, Brampton and Cobourg. It is worth noting that none of these facilities suffer anything like the problems seen in Toronto.

Finlay believes conditions at the centre are so bad that the most vulnerable kids should be removed immediately. She also wants monitors from her office to be sent to the centre to ensure the safety of remaining youths.

Certainly, the building on Horner Ave. is not ideal. Until recently, it didn't have recreational facilities, the rows of cells are hard to monitor, and teen inmates are routinely kept in their cells for 21 hours a day.

But this is not just a bricks-and-mortar problem. Reading between the lines of Finlay's report, it's clear the problems stem partly from how the centre is run, and the quality of the staff and management.

"Staff misconduct occurs with a limited number of staff," Finlay writes at one point in her report. And at another, "Most youth believed that a lack of supervision and close observation by staff contributed to a fear of being at risk of peer violence." She adds: "The institution does not appear to have an overall strategy to address peer violence."

If true, then Kwinter should fire those in charge, and any staff found to have abused or unnecessarily provoked the teens to violence.

The public may be tempted to turn a blind eye to all of this, believing these troubled teens get what they deserve, or that harsh treatment in jail might make them think twice about getting into trouble again.

But the youths in the detention centre will be back on the street within a few short years. Do we want them to be ticking time bombs? Far better for them, and for society, that they take the courses in anger management, substance abuse, leadership and recreation that are the norm in other youth facilities in Ontario.