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The Treatment Centre has two open custody residences for youth who have been convicted, under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), of an offense committed when they were 16 or 17 years of age and who are sentenced to open custody. (See City Residential and The Farm for information about residential treatment placements reserved for youth convicted of an offense committed when 12 to 15 years of age.)
The Treatment Centre provides a day program for youth in its open custody, aftercare counselling services for some of the youth, and consultation services to other agencies providing similar open custody placements.
The Treatment Centre's services to youth in open custody take into account the fact that the vast majority of youth who offend have therapeutic needs. These needs range from a simple need for better self-esteem and more developmentally appropriate problem solving and social skills, to resolution of feelings, beliefs, and attitudes resulting from abusive or other traumatic life events, to long-term management of serious psychiatric illnesses.
Although specific individualized goals are developed for each youth as a part of the youth's plan of care, the Treatment Centre strives to achieve the following general outcomes for young offenders:
- reduction in the number and seriousness of future offenses (i.e., reduction of recidivism);
- increase in future positive contributions to the community by the youths served;
- increase in the youths' hope and motivation for a better future, and the youths' belief that they can influence that future;
- increase in the youths' insight into their own behaviour and difficulties, and their understanding of the connection between behaviour and consequences;
- increase in the youths' physical, cognitive, academic, affective, communication, and social and life skills at an appropriate developmental level, as needed;
- increase in the youths' sense of responsibility and belonging to the community;
- Increase in the youths' sense of belonging to and acceptance by their families, or to have worked through at least part of the youths' grief and/or anger if this is not possible;
- A clearer picture of the youths' treatment needs, communication of these needs to the youths and their families/supports, meet at least some of these needs when the youth is in service at the Treatment Centre, and establishing the links necessary to continue to have these needs met after discharge, as required.
The Treatment Centre's services to young offenders achieve these goals through a variety of methods. Major methods include: case management, milieu therapy, community involvement, individualized programming, psychiatric and other specialized assessments, and individual counselling and/or psychotherapy. The Treatment Centre has clear expectations for the youth, provides a high level of staff supervision, uses rules and structure to keep the youth under necessary control and to learn self-control, and encourages the youth to prepare for the future. All of the youth are required to attend school, have a job, and/or receive job training while in custody.
Admission to any open-custody facility is not voluntary. The youth are sentenced to open custody by a Youth Court. Length of stay is determined primarily by the sentence imposed. Although the youth do not have a choice about being in open custody, specific treatment services (e.g., psychiatric assessment, psychotherapy, medication) are provided only with appropriate consent.
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