He's not a federal offender, but for 4 years this N.B. man has lived in prison
Darrell Tidd says his autistic son should be in supportive housing, not a correctional centre
Darrell Tidd says his autistic son's placement in a federal correctional centre is a stark example of the gap in housing options for New Brunswickers with disabilities.
Since 2021, Devan has been living at the Shepody Healing Centre, the psychiatric wing of Dorchester Penitentiary.
When Tidd sends Devan money, he has to enter a federal inmate number. Devan isn't allowed to keep a cellphone with him, the same rule that inmates follow.
But Devan, 32, isn't a federal offender.
He has autism and pervasive developmental disorder, and he is extremely anxious.
Under certain circumstances, such as a change in environment, Devan can become aggressive toward others, his father said. Several times, Devan's been charged but found not criminally responsible for assault and property damage.
His admission to the federal prison is part of an agreement between New Brunswick and Ottawa that costs $1.2 million annually and allows the province to use up to five beds at a time for people found not criminally responsible.
A judge may deem someone not criminally responsible if the person doesn't have the capacity to understand their actions because of a mental disorder.
"I'm not saying my son is perfect," Tidd said in an interview near his home in St. George. "But he certainly doesn't belong in a federal prison."
Shelley Petit said Devan's case is the most "egregious" she's seen through her advocacy work as chair of the New Brunswick Coalition for Persons with Disabilities.
"How? How did anybody let this happen?" Petit said.
Devan has "a form of neurodivergence that, they do, they get scared," she said. 'They don't understand, they cannot communicate, and [aggression] is a natural reaction. And you're putting them in jail for that?"
Shifting home
When the province placed Devan in special care homes, Tidd said, staff didn't have the specialized training to meet his needs.
He ultimately moved into four different homes, assaulted staff members on two occasions, and damaged property. While he faced charges in all cases, he was found not criminally responsible.
He was sent to the Restigouche Hospital Centre in 2013.
In 2019, Tidd and co-plaintiff Reid Smith launched a class action lawsuit against the province and Vitalité Health Network, alleging patients at the Restigouche Hospital were subjected to decades of abuse. That same year, the province's ombud reported "mistreatment and inadequate care" at the hospital.
In 2021, Devan was transferred to Shepody, a move Tidd believes amounts to "warehousing" his son rather than working with his complex needs.
He said Devan has not received the help he needs at Shepody and continues to struggle with aggressive behaviour.
This isn't the first time Caroline Jose has heard a story like Devan's.
Jose, a Vitalité Health Network researcher and vice-chair of the Autism Resource Center for southeast New Brunswick, said there's an education gap. Often, people are not trained to think about what might be triggering a behaviour, Jose said.
"A lot of the times the violence that can be expressed by those people is just a problem of, of communication with the people around," she said. "So [they] can show some distress, but they don't know how to tell the distress."
Jose said the trauma of living in a correctional setting is likely to worsen behaviour in a case like Devan's.
"We might just increase the problem instead of decreasing it, or hiding it — because we're really hiding it for now."
Asked about the use of correctional settings when someone found not criminally responsible has a disability, government spokesperson Geoffrey Downey said the New Brunswick Review Board decides where that person will be placed.
"The Department of Health provides the funding for health care services — including nursing and psychiatric services — wherever individuals found NCR are referred to, and ensures those services are being provided," he said in a statement. "The Department of Health does not make a determination of where specific individuals are referred."
$1.2M annual agreement
New Brunswick has paid for access to beds at Shepody since 2023, according to the Department of Health.
"Under this agreement, the department contributes to the cost of nursing and psychiatric services for individuals found not criminally responsible," spokesperson Meghan Cumby said by email.
"This often involves cases where a high level of security is required. These individuals would receive the same level of care and services as provided to federal offenders at the centre."
She noted Shepody is a psychiatric facility with a higher security level than Restigouche, and anyone placed there would receive mental health services.
"Placements, which can be authorized by the NB Review Board, are made when that level of security is needed," Cumby said.
Tidd says Devan gets access to a psychiatrist at Shepody. But he maintains his son should be housed in a setting with support specifically for people with disabilities, not alongside inmates.
"I don't care how anyone window dresses it, it's a federal prison," Tidd said in an interview. "My son is in a federal prison, because of his mental health challenges.
"If my son had the help that he needed within the community, my son could thrive within the community."
Housing gap
When institutional settings for people with disabilities closed for ethical and medical reasons before 1980, Jose said a proper housing alternative was never really implemented.
"We didn't make any any effort since we closed institution[s] to actually build an environment for them that is inclusive and accessible, but also human," Jose said.
As a result, she said, people with higher needs are often left without options.
"We've seen in in a lot of areas that some autistic adults or even with other neurodevelopmental conditions stay in the hospital in the psychiatric unit for years without any, really health issues, but just because their behaviour is not manageable anymore by their parents," Jose said.
"There is no other place in the community where there is enough trained staff to support them, so hospital was one of the solutions. But again, now hospitals, they need the beds, so they make room. And when they make room, well, the last resort is actually a [correctional] establishment."
Petit believes more housing complexes for people with needs like Devan's could have been built with funds now going toward beds at Shepody.
But in order to keep people like Devan in a community environment, Jose said, there must be leadership in that direction.
"This problem is like a hot potato. So any ministries would just throw it away. No, it's not mine, that's your problem. It's not Social Development, it's Health. No, it's not Health, it's Justice … all their life they are subjects to be the potato for, for the government," Jose said.
"It's a collective issue, and if we were doing some more integrated policy, for example, that would support the community in actually building those safe environments."
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