Val-du-lac crisis reflects lack of stability that young people experience in group homes
On Tuesday of last week, four kids, ages 14 to 17, barricaded themselves in a room at the youth rehabilitation centre in Val-du-lac. Over the next few hours, they did about $20,000 in damage to furniture, windows and the television. The youth were all safely taken out of the facility and into police custody.
The situation was alarming but is indicative of a system that isn’t set up to handle these types of crises.
Danny Roulx is the provincial representative for the Alliance du personnel professionel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS) du CIUSSS de l’estrie-chus. He says that the situation escalated significantly last week but that it wasn’t exactly a surprise.
“Sure, it’s a big deal that the police came last week to deal with this event,” says Roulx. “But situations with physical or verbal violence is something that happens every week in Val-du-lac.”
Roulx worked on the floor for 17 years with young people and adolescents. He says that the young people are uniquely at risk and need the right support.
“These young people have experienced negligence, have experience abandonment, have sometimes lived in dysfunctional families and homes,” says Roulx. “They have a multiplicity of difficulties, but they have strengths as well.”
He says that these facilities aren’t prepared at all times to deal with crises and he fears that this will reflect the difficulties they’ve already experienced.
“We don’t have the resources to give them the services that they have the right to,” says Roulx. “It’s like after being neglected and abandoned, we’re doing it all over again through the care that we’re supposed to be bringing them.”
According to Roulx, the teams are understaffed and missing some essential training. He says that groups need at least two educators at all times, but that often, there’s only one. Sometimes, when they start a shift, there are people from other departments working who don’t have the same training.
“When we get to the floor, not only is there a lack of educators or they’re being replaced by other types of workers,” says Roulx, “but often, there are people who are not prepared to face the type of work that is required based on the clientele.”
And this lack of stability is something that Roulx says results in situations where the police need to be called.
“We’re lacking people and we’re lacking stability in the teams,” says Roulx. “To do good work as an educator, there needs to be people on the floor who are completely trained.”
Roulx says that the young people reflect the environment they experience.
“The young people are a reflection of our team,” says Roulx. “If there’s a group of young people who are often disorganized, it’s because something in the team is not working well.”
One of the biggest issues is the lack of training. Roulx says that an example of this is the way that medications are handed out. There’s a two-hour course that has to be taken in order for an educator to be able to administer medication. The course has not been made mandatory and Roulx says that there are times that no one is certified. This, Roulx says, means that medications can be taken at the wrong times, administered more than necessary or even not at all.
Roulx says that not enough staff and support means that they exist constantly in crisis.
“When we don’t have time to invest in them because we’re in a constant state of crisis and are the only educator on the floor who has to handle everything, because the others don’t have the qualifications, it’s hugely problematic,” says Roulx.
The solution, according to Roulx, is making sure that everyone has all the possible training, because they exist.
“There’s training out there for dealing with crises,” says Roulx. “This means that people will be able to intervene with the best techniques and will be safe throughout the whole situation.”
But even with the right training, Roulx says that no two facilities are the same. Proper orientation is needed before someone works in a new unit.
“Ideally, there always needs to be at least two people on the floor,” says Roulx. “Everyone needs the same training before starting. Everyone needs training to administer medication. Everyone needs to have the proper orientation before working in a facility so they know where the doors are, what types of doors are there, who is living there and where are all the important materials and medications.”
Roulx wants the staff to be able to foster strong connections with the youth. He says this is a challenge when everyone at a youth home is in survival mode.
“We can manage these crises and even predict them if we have staff that are adequately trained and more stable for the youth,” says Roulx. “When you’re constantly managing crises, there’s no time to make those connections with the youth and help prevent more crises.”
Roulx says that the province needs to do more to ensure that the right facilities are services are provided.
“These facilities are not always equipped,” says Roulx. “Sometimes, kids have to shower elsewhere because there aren’t showers. There aren’t rooms to separate kids in crisis which means that if someone is in crisis, everything stops for sometimes hours until the crisis is managed.”
He wants the province to look at the facilities that young people live in more closely.
“We need to review the types of facilities our youth are in here in Quebec,” says Roulx. “We need to them well and make sure that the places they’re in are good and foster a healthy environment.”
Roulx says that the educators are there to help and they know that their work is important.
“This is what does the most harm to our staff,” says Roulx. “They love the people they’re working with. It’s not easy when there are crises or the youth are violent, but the staff know that they’re needed.”
More than anything, Roulx wants the youth to have an opportunity to succeed.
“The goal of an educator is to have a strong relationship with the youth,” says Roulx. “This helps them learn and grow. It helps them realize their strengths and be proud of themselves.”