Staffing and funding crisis at youth centres in Southwestern Ontario: President Hornick to MCCSS

OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick is urging the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) to address the staffing and funding crisis at four youth centres in western Ontario with increased base funding, to ensure that youth in secure and open custody facilities have the services and programs they are entitled to by law.The four centres are Craigwood Youth Services, Arrell Youth Centre, Peninsula Youth Centre, and George R. Force. The workers at these youth centres are represented by OPSEU/SEFPO Local 166 (Craigwood) and Local 216 (Arrell, Peninsula, and George R. Force).Hornick outlined the crisis situation at the four centres in a letter to the West Region Director of MCCSS:

January 22, 2023Eden Cantkier, Director – West Region Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social ServicesRE: Request for meeting to address urgent staffing crisis at Craigwood Youth Services, Arrell Youth Centre, Peninsula Youth Centre and George R. ForceDear Eden Cantkier,I am writing about an urgent and very troubling situation at three secure custody youth centres and one open custody facility in the West Region of Ontario whose staff are represented by OPSEU/SEFPO: Craigwood Youth Services (CYS), Arrell Youth Centre, Peninsula Youth Centre, and George R. Force.OPSEU/SEFPO Local 166 represents workers at Craigwood’s Woodview Secure Unit which provides support to female youth offenders who are in custody. OPSEU/SEFPO Local 216 represents workers who provide support to male youth offenders at Arrell and Peninsula which are secure custody youth centres, and George R. Force which is an open custody centre.The health and safety of youth, staff and the community are at serious risk due to underfunding and understaffing. Since the agency closures of more than 25 youth justice facilities in 2021, the remaining agencies have been in crisis since then, struggling to retain qualified staff and shortchanging vulnerable youth without adequate funding. This situation is unsustainable.The ministry cannot expect to provide the level of care that is mandated without providing adequate funding after 17 years of no base budget increases. OPSEU/SEFPO recommends base funding increases to address the crisis at these youth justice facilities in order to:

1. Align wage rates with Ontario Public Service rates to retain and train qualified and committed staff
2. Raise the staffing ratio and hire more staff to improve programming and safety
3. Create in-house positions to provide psychological and mental health supports for youth
4. Raise the allocation of funds for food and client/personal needs.

Youth clients are diverse, have complex needs and a history of extensive trauma. Some youth seriously self-harm, others have been trafficked, and most have a history of violent crime. With fewer available beds across the province, many of these youth are far from their communities and cannot access family support. Especially in secure custody facilities, youth are being flown far from their communities adding exorbitant transportation costs and often serve extra time due to the challenges of arranging transportation.There are drastic differences between contracted out, agency-run youth centres, and those that are directly-operated by the Ontario Public Service. Chronically low wages and high-risk working conditions in agency youth centres have produced a staffing crisis that makes it difficult to meet the needs of youth and their families. There aren’t enough staff to administer medications, prepare meals, case management, housekeeping, and provide safe programming while maintaining safety and security. The resulting demand for overtime creates staff burnout and stress leading to mental health challenges.The Ministry’s lack of program funding and resources for agency-run youth centres and group homes are harming youth clients. Youth in transfer-payment facilities have less access to gym and physical activities, art, life skills and other programming than youth in direct-operated facilities. Budgets for food and personal needs, which include dental care, items related to programming for youth, and cultural needs, have been frozen for years, while costs have gone up dramatically.Transfer-payment youth centres and group homes are having difficulty attracting and retaining new hires because of inadequate wages. At Craigwood-Woodview, workers with more than 15 years on the job are leaving, citing overwork and underpay while routinely working in excess of 13 hours a day and in some cases 32 hours straight. Some workers with dependents work two jobs because they cannot afford to live on the inadequate salary of their full-time job. Workers performing the same work, with the same youth, in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) make $20 more per hour.I urge you to immediately intervene and provide permanent funding increases to ensure that youth have the services and programs they are entitled to under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. I am concerned that there could be potentially dangerous consequences for both youth and workers unless staffing is addressed immediately with increased base funding. There are no excuses for shortcuts to programming for this vulnerable population.I would like to invite you to meet with representatives of the frontline workers from OPSEU/SEFPO Locals 166 and 216 to find a solution to these urgent issues at these four youth agencies. Please contact Jonathan Guider, BPS Corrections Sector Chair, to set up an appointment to meet.Sincerely,JP Hornick President, OPSEU/SEFPO