Sudbury youth detention centre has high isolation rates: report

Eighty per cent of young people in custody at the Cecil Facer detention centre in Sudbury report being put into secure isolation, according to a new report.

The report from the Ontario's Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth found 17 our of 21 young people surveyed say they were locked into a room alone at the facility. 

Critics say the practice is compounding mental health issues. 

The report says based on ministry statistics, Cecil Facer's isolation rate ranked among the highest in the province. 

"It's not like sending your children to their room for a time out," said provincial advocate Irwin Elman.

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"It's putting a young person in a very small cell, with almost nothing in it except for a metal bed and toilet," Elman added.

According to the report, while the Sudbury centre has cut back on isolation times, the average amount of time a teenager was detained in 2014 is more than 14 hours, while the average across all facilities in Ontario is just over eight hours.

The Ministry of Child and Youth Services released a statement stressing isolation is not used as punishment but is necessary to protect youth, staff and property.

Despite this, some critics say any isolated detainment is only highlighting the need to address mental health issues. 

"The same youth are being isolated over and over again," said John Rimore with the John Howard Society, a non-profit organization concerned with crime and prison reform.

"You'd think they'd learn their lesson is what most people think. They're not going to learn their lesson because they have so many other issues that they're dealing with that they are not making the connection," Rimore added.

Between 2009 and 2014, there was nearly an 80-per-cent reduction in isolation placements, the advocate noted in his report.

Youth in custody at Cecil Facer range from 12 to 17 years of age and the facility became male-only in 2010.