Child advocate calls for action to reduce rate of jailed Indigenous youth
Saskatchewan’s AdSASKATOON vocate for Children and Youth wants the provincial government to make changes to address the vast over-representation of Indigenous youth in the provincial justice system.
According to a recent report from Statistics Canada, 92 per cent of male youths and 98 per cent of female youths admitted into custody in Saskatchewan are Indigenous — the highest rate in Canada — although they represent eight per cent of the youth population nationwide.
Children’s advocate Corey O’Soup called the situation a crisis that is “morally and ethically wrong.”
O’Soup, who regularly visits youth correctional centres across the province, noted sometimes those statistics can be as high as 100 per cent.
“On any given day, you can walk into one of those facilities and you cannot see a non-Indigenous face.”
To address the problem, the government needs to take a more proactive approach throughout multiple government ministries to deal with the stressors and societal issues that may be causing Indigenous youth to commit crimes, he said. By the time they end up in the justice system it can be too late — young people in youth correctional centres are also more likely to end up incarcerated as adults, he noted.
A holistic approach that encompasses ministries other than the Ministry of Justice would give them a better chance at avoiding incarceration, O’Soup said. It should begin as early as possible, by educating expectant mothers about health risks for their baby, and continue as the child grows through education, health care and mental health supports, he added.
“It’s not just Justice’s problem,” O’Soup said. “We as a whole society, we as a whole number of different systems, have let our kids down, and particularly Indigenous kids — so we have to intervene.”
O’Soup credited the justice system for programs offered within youth correctional centres, but noted they are still a similar environment to adult jails.
Instead, he suggests a switch to rehabilitation options similar to those offered by the Aboriginal Youth Court in Toronto, where the youth are involved in creating their own plans for rehabilitation, and Indigenous community organizations help by providing effective alternatives to incarceration developed through a culturally appropriate process.
“There are different ways of diverting kids,” O’Soup said. “Because what we are doing now and what we have done in the past, it obviously hasn’t worked if our jails are full of them.”