By Charlene Tebbutt

Youth sentenced after walking away from custody facility

Jun 28, 2018 | 5:00 PM

A court case earlier this year involving a youth highlighted how young people are housed in custody and one of the correctional procedures used if a youth chooses to leave.

The youth, who cannot be identified due to his age, was sentenced in April in Prince Albert Provincial Court for escaping from a local youth custody facility. Court heard that the youth essentially walked away from the facility, although staff tried to deter him using what is known as “effective disapproval.”

Court heard that the youth in the case was told by corrections officers that they didn’t approve of him leaving the facility, but did not physically detain him.

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice said effective disapproval is a core correctional practice that has been in use since 2005. Young people housed in open custody facilities are not secured in their living areas, the province said, and are able to participate in community, school, work, cultural or physical development programs on a daily basis. The ministry spokesperson said youth are monitored closely and still have to abide by their individual rehabilitation plans.

Noel Busse, senior communications consultant with the Ministry of Justice, said the province interprets the Youth Criminal Justice Act to mean that youth housed in open custody facilities have the ability to leave, but staff are required to report them to police. Physical force is rarely used to detain youth in open custody situations, he said.  

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“As part of that practice, the staff will basically tell the youth that what they’re doing is wrong and that it will have consequences,” Busse told paNOW.

“It’s not currently a practice to physically restrain them, this is considered the best way of doing this.”

The youth in the case was out of custody for nearly a month before he was rearrested. He told the court he left because he wanted to leave to see family and was fined $500 plus a $30 surcharge.

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt