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Letters to the Editor
Safety
comes first for youth in custody
re: Close
youth centre, report urges,
Dec.
16.
Dec.
18, 2003
Correctional
Services Minister Monte Kwinter shut down Project Turnaround
reportedly because it was too costly to keep open and,
besides, he said the government already did the same thing in
other facilities despite it having the best safety record in
the system. Now the minister announces they can't afford to
close the Toronto Youth Assessment Centre despite
acknowledging reports of its extreme dangerousness ; but he
explained, the youth can't be moved to other facilities
despite the surplus capacity in the system because they need
to have close contact with their parents as part of their
rehabilitation.
Sometimes
you can't have everything, and, in life's trade offs, not only
would every parent with a youth in custody choose safety
first, so would any professional who understands that one's
most basic needs, including safety, must be met before
rehabilitation has a chance to succeed.
Jim
Catton, deputy director,
Project Turnaround,
Moonstone, Ont.
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