Ombudsman calls for changes in segregation of jailed youths

Alberta is one of the few provinces without legislation governing the use of segregation in youth jails, says an independent report recommending an overhaul of the process for isolating young offenders.

Last Tuesday, Alberta ombudsman Marianne Ryan released the results of an investigation into segregation practices at Alberta's two youth correctional centres.

The office launched the investigation in 2019 after a complaint from a youth jailed in one of the facilities.

“Unlike most other provinces in Canada, Alberta's legislation is silent with respect to the use of segregation in young offender centres,” Ryan wrote.

“I believe it is in Alberta's best interest to develop legislation and put to paper laws defining and governing the use of segregation.”

Alberta has two young offender centres, in Calgary and Edmonton. They were built to house youth aged 12 to 17 who have been accused or convicted of breaking the law. The facilities can house young adults up to age 20.

Staff at the facilities are able to segregate inmates for misbehaviour or safety reasons. The report found the practice is governed by internal correctional service policy — instead of legislation — and that record keeping and the appeals process both need improvement.

It makes eight recommendations that would create a “safety net” for youth in custody.

“We recognize that you can't fully get rid of segregation,” said Kamini Bernard, manager of investigations with the ombudsman's office.

“The (corrections) department is responsible for protecting not only that young person — because a lot of what we saw ... was segregation (because of) self-harm. They also have to protect the other youth, and they have to protect their staff.

“With that said, we found that there wasn't really good documentation for why a person was in segregation. They weren't tracking it exceptionally well ... and so we recognize there needs to be a much more formalized process for segregating a young offender.”