FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 28, 2002

Union welcomes young offender inquiry: “Our hands are tied”

TORONTO - The union representing Ontario’s 5,000 front-line correctional workers welcomes an inquiry into conditions at the Toronto Youth Assessment Centre (TYAC).

A Globe and Mail report yesterday quoted a judge who cited conditions in the facility as “hellish,” referring to frequent beating of youths by other youths held in the jail.

“Our hands are tied,” said Dave Graves, elected vice-chair of OPSEU’s Corrections Division and a correctional officer at the facility. “We’re overcrowded, understaffed and our complaints about the problems inside the facility have consistently fallen on deaf ears.”

The Toronto Youth Assessment building was originally constructed to hold adults awaiting trial. The facility was never intended to hold young offenders.

“There is very little programming for the offenders, so most of the time they sit in their cells or stand outside in a small, enclosed concrete yard,” Graves said. “There aren’t any positive channels for their frustration and aggression, so it manifests into violence. Our officers are constantly responding to fights, so many that we can’t handle them all at once. It’s reached the point where our authority is being ignored by the youths, because there is very little deterrent for them to behave.”

Barry Scanlon, chair of the OPSEU Corrections Ministry Employee Relations Committee, said that these types of incidents were predicted when the Ministry began restructuring its jails.

“When the youths were at Toronto West Detention, they at least had programming and a facility more conducive to rehabilitation,” Scanlon said. “We told the Ministry six years ago that moving youths to TYAC would lead to violence. They didn’t listen. Conditions inside our adult facilities are equally horrendous, and still the Ministry doesn’t listen. We welcome any inquiry that will seek improve conditions, both for those incarcerated in our system, and for officers who are desperately trying do their jobs.”

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For more information:

Barry Scanlon (519) 820-6809
Dave Graves (905) 751-7311
Don Ford, OPSEU Communications (4