Young people speak out about violence, mistreatment at Yukon group homes
Yukon government says a 'systemic review' of group homes will take place
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- This story has been updated to protect the identity of a youth involved.
Some young people, and an anonymous whistleblower, are speaking out about Yukon's youth group homes, describing instances of physical violence and conflict.
The whistleblower — who works within Yukon's youth group home system who CBC has agreed not to name — calls the government-operated facilities a "continuation of residential school." The whistleblower described witnessing "discrimination, abuse and corruption involving Indigenous children and youth."
"Given the national spotlight on child welfare and Indigenous youth in care, this is a relevant issue," the worker stated in an email. The whistleblower estimates that between 80 and 90 per cent of youth currently in care are Indigenous.
In an interview, the worker described several disturbing instances, including one in which a teenage First Nations girl with a drug addiction was asking to be put into group home care but was refused.
"[The girl] had reached out and said, 'Please place me, this is what I need to get better,' and got no response. And there were comments made in meetings that she was 'too high risk' to place — she may overdose, she may harm herself, and that would reflect badly on the department."
The whistleblower recalled another instance where a First Nations girl from a rural community was asking to be placed in a group home but was told there were no beds available.
"We all knew full well there were beds available. In the meantime, this young person disclosed that she was being sexually harmed by the people she was staying with, and once that came forward, all of a sudden within 12 hours a bed magically appeared," said the worker.
Locked out after hours
Two youth who have lived at the boys' group home in Whitehorse are also talking about their experiences.
A 16-year-old Gwitch'in youth, who spent a year in the Yukon government's Transitional Support Services (TSS) program in Whitehorse between 2016 and 2017, says the home was fine at first, but things rapidly deteriorated. His identity is protected under a child protection services publication ban.
He described frequent arguments between workers and himself, some of which became violent.
"[A worker] got mad and grabbed me, I grabbed him back, and he grabbed my hands and his nails dug into my hand and it got pretty bad. It was pretty bloody," he said.
The youth says one night he returned to the group home around 11 p.m. It was about –25 C, but he says a worker wouldn't let him inside.
"I was like, this doesn't make sense. This is my house. And [the group home worker] said, 'Well, this is my workspace,'" he said.
The youth says he hadn't been drinking, but the door slammed and he was locked out. He says he then pounded on the door.
"A whole bunch of [workers] came out and they all started freaking out on me, yelling at me," he said.
The youth says that night he slept on the floor in a local bank foyer. He says no one from the group home ever spoke to him afterwards about what happened. He says he tried to get some resolution but eventually gave up.
"Nobody ever really believes a teenager like me, so I didn't think anything was gonna happen," he said. "I was trying for a bit, but after a while, I noticed that not many people really cared."
The youth later approached Yukon's child and youth advocate, and also spoke with the director of child protection services, and the social services minister, whom he says he had lunch with last month.
The youth acknowledges that, like many kids in care, he may not be the easiest person to deal with. But he says group home staff should expect that.
"We're all going through hard times in there as it is. No matter what type of kid is there in the group home, if you're working there, you should be qualified to deal with somebody like us," he said.
Yukon gov't conducting review
In a news release earlier this week, Minister of Health and Social Services Pauline Frost said the government is co-operating with the Yukon Child and Youth Advocate to conduct a "systemic review of the Transitional Support Services (TSS) program."
The Yukon government operates six child and youth group homes.
The statement said the "independent and impartial" review will date back three years, looking at the period between April 1, 2015 and April 1, 2018.
"We want to ensure children and youth in our care have the support they need to thrive. This process will include the views of previous and current youth residents and their families to help identify areas of focus for this review," Frost said in the statement.
"We want to know what concerns there may be throughout this area of service and involving the Child and Youth Advocate provides a safe and confidential place for people to raise their concerns."
Frost was also pressed on the issue in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. NDP Leader Liz Hanson asked why a government department is investigating itself, and urged protection for whistleblowers, and the Yukon Party asked Frost how long she knew about the youth's complaints and what she was doing about it.
Frost said staff are doing "an amazing job."
Speaking later with reporters, she said "internal assessments" had been done and children and youth are safe in the group homes.
"Why do I feel they're safe? Well because we have the facilities in place ... we provide a safe environment, we respect the children, and if there's any concerns, we have a process established and set up to allow for reviews to be triggered."
'I actually needed help'
Another teen, who can't be named because he is still in care, recounted his experience in the group home.
"I actually needed help with stuff. I needed someone there to talk to, and no one really seemed to care," said the 17-year-old.
"Most of the time, they'd tell me to get out of the house and come back when I'm more calm. Even when I told them I was coming here to calm down, they said, 'No, you can't be here right now.'"
That's supposed to be a safe place, that's supposed to be my home where I can go and feel safe.- Anonymous teen
The youth recounted an incident when he was 15 and had returned to the group home after being away for a few days. He went to get some milk out of the fridge.
The youth says a worker started yelling, "'Get the hell back here, that's not your effing milk.'"
"On my way out the door, [the worker] tried choke slamming me out the door, he tried to grab the jug of milk and pull it out of my hand, meanwhile, with his other hand, he grabbed me by the throat and shoved me out the door.
"He grabbed me, he tried to pull me back and throw me to the ground. He started yelling at me, 'Leave, get out, don't come back.' That's supposed to be a safe place, that's supposed to be my home where I can go and feel safe," said the youth.
The physical conflict escalated, and the youth says he eventually spat on the worker's shirt.
"I can admit, I was in the wrong," said the youth. "But that's because he was aggressive, he was violent, he was [using] foul language. I spat on his shirt and told him a grown man should know better than to beat on a little kid."
The youth says he was charged by RCMP the next day for uttering threats and assault.
The youth says he also witnessed a violent incident involving his girlfriend, who is nearly eight months pregnant, and living in the girls group home.
The youth says a group home worker recently slammed the door of the house in his girlfriend's face, and pushed her.
"Her worker tried to slam the door in her face, was pushing her, was being violent towards her — and she's a pregnant lady, she's probably seven-and-half, eight months pregnant now — and the door hit her stomach," he said.
"The door hit her stomach. This lady pushed her by the stomach, and was shoving her, put her knee up ... and I was standing there witnessing it all. [The worker] kept telling me to leave, and I told her 'No, if you are calling the RCMP, I am staying right here because I am an eyewitness.
"She laughed at me, and said 'eyewitness to what?' "
'Your job is to protect'
The worker who spoke to CBC as a whistleblower says a youth should never be locked out of his or her home, especially in extreme cold weather, and called that particular incident "troubling."
"First, that's their home. Number two, even if they're extremely escalated or acting out, there are other things that can be done. But locking a youth out is appalling. It just should never be done," said the whistleblower.
The worker says youth in care need to feel understood and supported by adults.
"When you are in this line of work, your job is to protect. That's your job. The youth who have come into care for reasons of abuse, neglect, abandonment — all of those issues, heavily trauma-related incidents — these youth suffer.
"No youth wants to be in care, no kid wants to be in care — no one does."
The worker fears for job security in speaking out, but has been frustrated in past attempts to raise issues at work.
"I have to sleep at night. I feel this is the only alternative. If there's wrongdoing, let's acknowledge and correct it. If there's people in the system that are supposed to be caring for kids and are assaulting them, then they need to go."
The worker says the young people's stories of assault should be taken seriously and there should be an external, independent investigation.
"Because let's be honest, staff are not going to say, 'Yeah, I assaulted a youth'. There may be criminal issues related to that."
The worker says ultimately, the youth need protection.
"They have no voice. The fact that they came forward [to CBC] is pretty significant."
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