B.C.鈥檚 representative for children and youth says the province has a 鈥済olden opportunity鈥� to improve services for those in the criminal justice system as youth in custody rates have continued to drop over the last two decades.
The latest report from Jennifer Charlesworth鈥檚 office reveals a 鈥済ross under-utilization of scarce resources鈥� from the Children and Family Development Ministry, despite the number of youth committing crimes and being sentenced dropping dramatically. The report was released Thursday (Jan. 25).
Charlesworth said youth crime rates 鈥� including those involving Indigenous youth 鈥� have been declining the past 20 years, but Indigenous youth are still over-represented. In 1997-98, there was an average of 93 Indigenous youth in custody each day, but in the last year it had dropped to eight.
On average in the last fiscal year, Charlesworth said there were only 15 youth in custody at the Prince George and Burnaby custody centres. Some days there were no youth in custody in Prince George.
She said there was a 鈥渞elatively continuous鈥� drop from more than 4,000 cases in 2000-2001, to around 800 in the last fiscal year 鈥� less than half of what it was 10 years ago.
While this is 鈥渆specially welcome news amid the concerns we鈥檝e seen more generally about street crime and random violence,鈥� she added it鈥檚 now leading to an excess of resources being directed to an area that no longer needs them.
Since 2002, with the declining rate of youth in custody, five centres have been closed in B.C., including a facility in Victoria in 2014. Custody services for girls were centralized in Burnaby in 2012.
In 2022-23, the number of managers in the two youth custody centres 鈥� Prince George and Burnaby 鈥� was more than double the average youth, and the number of teachers funded and allocated was nearly the same as the average number of youth.
Charlesworth said there is an 鈥渆xtraordinary amount of unused capacity and wasted resources鈥� when it comes to staffing. There was nearly 11 staff members for every youth in custody.
The Prince George facility has been operating at about $2.51 million per year, while the Burnaby centre is about $1.2 million a year. The cost per occupied bed in Prince George was nearly $7,000 a day.
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More recently, the province announced it would be closing the Prince George custody centre by March, 2024. Charlesworth said that decision was announced after it shared a preliminary draft of this report with Children and Family Development Ministry, but was done without the consultation of First Nations organizations or her office.
鈥淭he decision has been made without a plan in place for the reallocation of resources.鈥�
Charlesworth said a major concern is that in the few cases where a young person in northern B.C. must be in custody, they will now be far away from their families and communities.
She said she鈥檚 been told the ministry is planning a holding unit in Prince George for youth needing to go to Burnaby, but Charlesworth is calling for a further step of retaining a six-bed temporary detention or open-custody unit that for short sentences.
鈥淭o do that the province can set aside reallocated funds from to provide intensive individually tailored services for for youth from the northern areas who would otherwise likely be committed to custody
The representative was clear that she wasn鈥檛 suggesting a cut in funding and services for children and youth, but instead wants a redeployment of excess capacity in the youth justice system to other areas that are 鈥渄esperately wanting.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 no shortage of those.鈥�
The report鈥檚 recommendations include conducting a comprehensive review youth custody, community youth justice and Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services resources, while also coming up with a plan for more efficient and effective use of resources.
The representative is calling for engagement and consultation to be completed by Oct. 31, 2024 and a detailed reallocation plan completed by March 31, 2025.
