Raucous public meeting at Saskatoon's Kilburn Hall

Around 100 people attended a raucous meeting at the Kilburn Hall youth correctional centre last night in Saskatoon.

The centre called the meeting to talk to residents about moving young offenders from the minimum security Yarrow Youth Farm into Kilburn.

Officials were often interrupted and shouted at during the meeting by residents concerned about the changes.

"The whole neighbourhood, I feel, was really left out in the decision making process," area resident Pat Bowers said. "This was thrown at us in the last five days."

Right now, Kilburn is a closed facility, meaning young offenders are not allowed to leave. 

However, at the end of the month, young offenders from the Yarrow Youth Farm will be brought to Kilburn. The provincial government plans to shut down the minimum security facility, located at the edge of Saskatoon, by the end of the month.

Youth at Yarrow leave the centre for school, and often attend programming located off-site.

Some people in the Buena Vista neighbourhood are concerned that will lead to an increase in crime.

"With the gang problems in Saskatoon, it's very difficult for them to join or be confronted with gang members when they're out five or six miles out of town," Bowers said. "They just don't have the resources to get to them." 

However, officials at the facility say there is nothing to worry about. Youth in the open custody area will be supervised whenever they leave, and the front door will be locked.

"They're not going to be walking down the street to the bus station to get to school," Kilburn Hall director Warren Davis said. "We're going to drive them."

Many people at the meeting were also concerned about the quality of care at Kilburn Hall for open custody young offenders. Many people, from provincial Children's Advocate Bob Pringle to Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Felix Thomas have questioned the decision.

They feel that it will be much more difficult to access programming, as Kilburn Hall will be a much more institutional program than Yarrow.

The Yarrow Youth Farm is scheduled to close at the end of March. The provincial government says youth correctional centres are only at 50 per cent capacity right now, and want to consolidate all young offenders at three locations by 2018.