'Fear doesn't rehabilitate our youth': Southern chiefs call for changes after reports on youth in custody

A former Manitoba Justice employee who worked with incarcerated youth at the Manitoba and Agassiz youth centres says she's heartbroken, but not surprised, with the findings in two reports released this week about the treatment of youth in custody.

Chantell Barker, who is now the director of justice with the Southern Chiefs' Organization, said the reports — from the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth and the Manitoba Ombudsman — are consistent with what she saw working in the centres.

"I heard many stories of how our people get treated in the system," said Barker, who worked with Manitoba Justice for 10 years, including eight as a probation officer.

The two reports, both released on Thursday, examined the province's two youth correctional facilities.

They found that in a one-year period, segregation was used in the facilities 1,455 times, affecting more than one in three youths entering custody.

In one case, a teenager was kept in solitary confinement for 400 consecutive days in a cell smaller than a parking stall.

Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth Daphne Penrose said others were kept in solitary for weeks on end.

There is currently no maximum time limit for how long a young person can be kept in solitary confinement or isolation in Manitoba's youth custody facilities.

"What we discovered through the course of this two-year investigation was extremely concerning, unacceptable and must immediately change," Penrose said Thursday.

Barker, who left Manitoba Justice in December 2016, said while she can't share specific stories about the youth she encountered in the facilities or her work in them, there were common themes.

"I just think how heartbreaking it is," she said. "They go from the [Child and Family Services] system to the youth centre to segregation.

"It's heartbreaking to know that this is the beginning ... laying the foundation for their adult life, and it's been nothing but a struggle."

The reports were commissioned after the office of the Manitoba advocate received public complaints about the use of pepper spray and segregation at the province's youth correctional facilities.

Building relationships, seeing results

A former professor of social work at the University of Manitoba says the use of solitary confinement should be a last resort, and only if danger is an issue.

Stephen de Groot has been working in the areas of child welfare and youth justice for more than 20 years. 

"Now what's interesting is many of the situations that end up in a physical restraint often could have been avoided dozens of times prior," de Groot told CBC Up to Speed host Ismaila Alfa.

"Unfortunately, incident reports don't always reflect that youth [have] said, 'Please leave me alone, can I have some space, I'm not feeling good today,'" he said.

"And it just escalates from there and the report reads 'Youth out of control needed to be restrained, secure isolation.'"

According to de Groot, what's missing in juvenile facilities is meaningful connections between the staff and the youth.

"We equip the people that are on the frontline to be able to build relationships in a way where physical altercations and outbursts are minimized significantly," he said. "And that when there is one then that's when we have to take those extreme precautions."

He's worked with the Ontario government on implementing this kind of approach. He said that province is leading the way on building a rapport with the young people by getting to know them.

"That is getting way more of a positive response with youth than any formal intervention," said de Groot.

He said he wants to work with the Manitoba government and has reached out, but has not received a response.

End segregation in youth facilities: SCO

Barker said she wants to see the Manitoba government commit to ending segregation among youth.

Manitoba Justice Minister Cliff Cullen said Thursday that his department plans to act on the recommendations from the ombudsman. 

That report included 32 recommendations focused on oversight and reporting, including mandatory reporting when pepper spray or segregation are used.

However, he wouldn't commit to the six main recommendations from the advocate, which include limiting segregation and offering more mental health supports for youth.

"I'm hoping that the recommendations will be implemented," Barker said. "The minister never committed to changing segregation."

Barker said the Southern Chiefs' Organization is in the process of discussing and implementing its own measures in the hopes of rehabilitating youth in their own communities, as opposed to in correctional facilities.

"Fear doesn't rehabilitate our youth — love does," said Barker.