Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant was concerned about isolation practices at the Cartier Youth Center in Laval and launched an administrative investigation to shed light on the issue.
Published at 1:16 p.m. Updated at 2:10 p.m.
“I have asked the national director of child protection to carry out an investigation with the CISSS de Laval, an administrative investigation with her team to find out exactly what is happening because we consider it unacceptable and they are clinical problems,” the minister said on Monday, on the sidelines of a press conference in Montreal where he announced funding for housing for the homeless.
La Presse revealed on Monday that children as young as nine years old in child protection were housed “secluded” in small rooms resembling prison cells in every way, equipped with concrete beds and closed by a gate with two barred doors, in case of “disruptive behavior.” .
Workers and union representatives denounce these practices. The CISSS de Laval, which is responsible for the installation, attributes this situation to the deterioration of the premises, which are hardly suitable for a clientele of this age, and to the high demand.
In 2021, the CISSS de Laval also submitted a plan to renew its facilities to the Ministry of Health and Social Services. “What we read about isolation and restraint is worrying,” commented Minister Carmant briefly.
Liberal MP Brigitte Garceau called the article in La Presse “alarming” and denounced “the inhumane conditions in which children are placed under the protection of minors.”
“It is time to take action to ensure the well-being and safety of these vulnerable children,” the Liberal child protection spokesman responded.
“I am dismayed by the unusual conditions in which young people live at the Cartier Youth Center,” reiterated Solidarity Social Services Manager Guillaume Cliche-Rivard.
“Our role as a society is to ensure the physical, mental and emotional protection of these children and ensure that they are among the most vulnerable in our communities. Even the management describes the situation as maladaptive, with dilapidated and outdated buildings,” lamented the supportive elected official.
With Caroline Touzin and Ariane Lacoursière, La Presse