CBC News has reported on the removal of all remaining youth from the secure custody youth facility at Craigwood Youth Services near London Ontario due to lack of staff – after years of inadequate funding by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
The youth were sent six hours away to Sault Ste. Marie, hundreds of kilometres from their families and communities. The front line workers at the centre are members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 166.
Jonathan Guider, BPS Corrections Sector Chair and 2nd Vice-President of Local 166, explained how this situation has been caused by the short-staffing crisis:
On Friday, the remaining three young people housed at the youth detention section of Craigwood Youth Services Ailsa Craig were flown to Sault Saint Marie, said Jonathan Guider, who has worked at the facility for 24 years and represents staff there as part of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 166. Craigwood has 12 beds for female young offenders.
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Ontario has a unique system, where some youth jails are operated directly by the province while others, such as the Ailsa Craig facility, are operated by outside agencies, such as Craigwood Youth Services.
“We work with the same youth, we’re overseen by the same ministry, but our part-time workers start at $19 an hour and cap out at $20 an hour. At the direct-operated female facility, they start at $36 an hour and cap out at $43, plus they have WSIB and their health and safety standards are very high,” Guider said. “It’s a no-brainer. Why would you stay when you can make as much money working at Starbucks?”
OPSEU/SEFPO wants the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services to bring the two systems into one, which a provincial report called for in 2016.
Craigwood staff will continue to go to the Ailsa Craig facility, even though there are no kids left because the ministry has said the closure is temporary, Guider said. “It’s a joke, how poorly the transfer-payment system has gotten. Something needs to change. People are leaving, we’re resorting to temp agency staff. It’s a horror story.”
OPSEU/SEFPO leaders and BPS Corrections Sector members who work for privatized secure and open custody facilities across the province have been warning the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and the provincial government for years about the harms that lack of funding, drastic understaffing and lower standards have caused for youth and staff.
Read more:
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President Hornick to MCCSS: Address urgent staffing crisis at St. Lawrence Youth Association
NDP Critic calls on Premier to eliminate systemic inequities for BPS Youth Correctional workers