This week, OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick sent the following letter and submission to the Youth Justice Task Force on behalf of OPSEU/SEFPO and the BPS Corrections Sector.
Good afternoon:
I am sending this submission, attached, to the Youth Justice Task Force on behalf of OPSEU/SEFPO and our BPS Corrections Sector, which represents front line staff at open custody and secure custody youth centres run by agencies that receive transfer payments from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
The youth justice system in Ontario is experiencing a severe funding and staffing crisis that has dire consequences for the youth involved in the system. The mandate of the Youth Justice Task Force is to “provide advice and recommendations to the Minister on how to address several emerging systemic trends within Ontario’s youth justice system” including “staffing complements and capacity”.
Given the December 9th announcement of the closure of Woodview Youth Centre, operated by Craigwood Youth Services, it is clear that there is a need for serious changes in how Youth Justice is funded and administered in Ontario.
As the union representing many of the front line staff of youth centres across the province, we urge the Task Force to read our attached submission and advise the Minister to act on our recommendations to address this crisis in our province’s youth justice system.
Sincerely,
JP Hornick, OPSEU/SEFPO President
Disparities in the Youth Justice system: A submission to the Ontario Youth Justice Task Force
OPSEU/SEFPO Broader Public Service (BPS) Corrections Division
Introduction
Youth justice facilities in Ontario are operated by two parallel systems: those youth centres that are run directly by the Ontario Government by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS), and those youth centres that are run by agencies via transfer payments from MCCSS.
Ontario allows significantly lower standards of funding, health and safety measures, staffing and worker compensation in Transfer-Payment youth centres, compared with Directly-Operated youth centres. These disparities cause serious problems with the quality of care provided to young people in transfer-payment youth centres.
OPSEU/SEFPO represents youth justice workers employed in both systems. We are submitting this report and recommendations to the Youth Justice Task Force on behalf of our Broader Public Service (BPS) Corrections members who work for open custody and secure custody youth centres run by transfer-payment agencies.
Our BPS Corrections members represent youth justice workers at the following transfer-payment youth facilities in Ontario:
- Arrell Youth Centre – Banyan Community Services Inc. (Secure Custody)
- Creighton Youth Centre – William W. Creighton Youth Services (Open Custody)
- George R. Force Group Homes – Banyan Community Services Inc. (Open Custody)
- Kennedy House – Kennedy Youth Services (Secure Custody)
- Murray McKinnon House – Murray McKinnon Foundation (Open Custody)
- Peninsula Youth Centre – Banyan Community Services Inc. (Secure Custody)
- Sterling B. Campbell House – Northern Youth Services/Sudbury Youth Services (Open Custody)
- Sundance Program at St. Lawrence Youth Association (Secure Custody)
- Woodview Program at Craigwood Youth Services (Secure Custody)
We would also like to share our extreme dismay and concern regarding the closure of Craigwood Youth Services, announced on December 9, 2024. Craigwood Youth Services, has cited “the changes in funding and systemic shifts in how youth services are delivered in Ontario” as the reason they feel they are being forced to close the agency.
This is terrible news for the youth who will be forced an 8-10 hour drive (one way) away from their families and communities, and for the dedicated youth workers who have devoted their careers to providing services for those young people in secure custody. It is a tragic and timely demonstration of the need for serious changes in how Youth Justice is funded and administered in Ontario.
Lower standards in Transfer-Payment Youth Centres
The Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services has consistently ignored recommendations to harmonize the standards between Transfer-Payment and Direct-Operated youth justice facilities. Ontario remains the only province in Canada to operate Secure Youth Justice facilities under the same ministry, with the same mandates and expectations, yet supports and permits significantly lower standards in nearly every way for Transfer-Payment employees.
In transfer-payment youth centres, Youth Workers are expected to fulfill far too many roles at the same time. In addition to primary case management responsibilities, youth workers often perform intake duties, nursing duties such as administering and documenting medications, counselling, preparing and serving meals, safety and security functions, and crisis interventions. They are also called upon to attend virtual court appearances, transport youth to court and appointments, and perform facility transfers, including transfers that have required numerous charter flights.
In youth centres directly-operated by MCCSS, many of these duties are carried out by specialized staff, with better support structures in place.
In transfer-payment agencies, youth workers do not have access to the same personal protective equipment (PPE) or comprehensive orientations and training that are required in MCCSS-operated facilities. Not having the same health and safety standards in transfer-payment centres puts staff and youth at risk.
First responder status without WSIB coverage
Youth workers employed by transfer-payment agencies are classified as first responders under the First Responders Act, and yet, they are not covered by WSIB. The physical and psychological demands of their work, especially in crisis situations, make the lack of WSIB coverage an egregious oversight, and put youth workers at undue risk. Youth workers employed directly by MCCSS are covered by WSIB.
Inferior wages and benefits
The wages and benefits earned by youth workers at transfer-payment youth centres are far below those paid to youth workers employed by directly-operated MCCSS youth centres. The chronic underfunding of transfer-payment youth centres and the resulting disparity in wages and benefits creates a staffing crisis and revolving door of staff turnover, which directly impacts the stability and care needed for youth rehabilitation.
The wage gap can be as wide as $25/hour less for youth workers employed by transfer-payment agencies. Pension and benefits vary between transfer-payment agencies, depending on their contracts, but are, in general, far inferior to the OPTrust defined benefit pension and superior benefits provided to youth workers who are employed by MCCSS.
Part-time and relief workers in transfer-payment youth centres have a starting wage of just over $19/hour, despite holding a three-year Child and Youth Worker diploma or equivalent. This is unacceptable, given the complexity and demands of their work.
“Stabilization funding” is not an effective solution
Providing one time “stabilization funding” to transfer-payment agencies is not a viable solution to the staffing crisis.
- Private agencies can choose not to pass the funding along right away, as was the case at Craigwood Youth Services, which received over $1.1 million to address staff retention and recruitment issues in October of 2023, but didn’t provide a retention bonus to their employees until Spring 2024, months later.
- Some transfer-payment agencies didn’t provide any additional wages to their employees at all despite receiving similar funding.
One-time funding fails to address long-term staffing issues which continue to cause experienced and dedicated youth workers to leave transfer-payment agencies for better and safer jobs.
Recommendation: Reverse the divestment of Ontario’s youth justice system
The divestment of many youth justice facilities in the 1990s from government-run facilities to privately-run facilities needs to be reversed. All transfer-payment facilities and their employees should become directly-operated by the Ontario Government.
In the almost three decades since divestment took place, it has become abundantly clear that true harmonization of standards and wage parity cannot be achieved between disparate, small stand-alone agencies and directly-operated MCCSS youth centres. It is also clear that the much higher standards and compensation structures at directly-operated MCCSS youth centres are the only way to ensure sustainability and quality of care for youth involved in Ontario’s youth justice system.
Interim recommendation: Harmonize standards and staff compensation immediately
The disparities between transfer-payment and direct-operated facilities are unsustainable and unethical. Immediate action is needed to harmonize standards, wages, and protections for all workers in Ontario’s youth justice system.
We respectfully request that the Youth Justice Task Force take our concerns and our recommendations into account when advising the Ontario Government on how to address the needs of youth and staff in the youth justice system.