No bedrooms, just a dormitory with spaces separated by curtains or screens, with little adequate furniture: the Commission for Human Rights and Youth (CDPDJ) investigated and ruled that the accommodation of these teenagers from the DYP had “significant shortcomings. »
In February 2022, the Commission itself launched an investigation into this situation revealed by the media. She sent professionals on site – without notifying these rehabilitation centers located in Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec in advance.
Excessive demand for places in the region in rehabilitation centers is believed to be the cause of this situation of overcrowding of accommodation units.
During the Commission’s investigation, the establishment dismantled these temporary installations and undertook to stop using them. A wing of a center has been converted to accommodate two overflow units in adequate premises, with bedrooms, reports the Commission. The corrective measures taken were deemed “satisfactory. »
When we intervene, the establishments become “quite inventive”, indicated in an interview Suzanne Arpin, the youth vice-president of the CDPDJ.
The accommodation for these teenagers was inadequate, she said, because there was a complete lack of privacy: they slept next to each other on “very minimal” bed frames with a small plastic locker for their personal effects. At this age, “they need moments of reflection, of withdrawal. These are young people who already have personal difficulties and who are exposed to many stimuli” in such living conditions, when only a curtain separates them from the others. “It’s hard to live.”
“And that’s not what you expect from a public institution. »
However, they quickly mobilized to resolve the situation, adds Ms. Arpin, although the Commission remains concerned.
Because there is a lack of personnel in the region: the CIUSSS de la Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec is struggling with a labor recruitment issue. Youth-to-educator ratios are being respected for the time being because of the hiring of student staff for the summer, says the Commission, but it remains concerned about preserving this balance in the fall.
In addition, there is also a shortage of foster care places in the region, which could otherwise make it possible to accommodate young people who no longer need placement in a rehabilitation centre.