Ontario plans first female mental health unit in Brampton
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CANADA: ONTARIO Province is planning to establish a mental health unit exclusively meant for female inmates.
The unit, which is expected to open in 2018, is part of government’s moves to increase mental health support in the province’s corrections system.
GatewayMail gathered that the unit will be part of the new 192-bed adult female detention centre on the site of the Roy McMurtry Youth Centre (RMYC) in Brampton.
The RMYC is a 192-bed secure facility for male youth in conflict with the law that opened in 2009, and originally housed both male and female youth in separate units, it was learnt.
“The smaller youth sites are expected to be completed in winter 2020. More details on these facilities will come later,” the government said, adding: “In addition to these new youth facilities, Ontario is redeveloping the Brookside Youth Centre in Cobourg.”
“With capacity for 32 inmates, the dedicated mental health unit will meet the specific, often complex needs of female inmates with mental health issues,” the government of Premier Kathleen Wynne said. “This unit was a key recommendation in a 2015 report on improving mental health services for female inmates.”
“The RMYC will be divided into two sections to separately house male youth and female adult inmates until smaller, community-based secure custody facilities for youth are completed in the Greater Toronto Area, where the male youth will be relocated,” a government news release said.
It stressed: “These facilities will provide safe and secure environments that will support more opportunities for effective rehabilitation and help youth successfully transition back into their communities.
“Ontario is able to repurpose the RMYC due to a steady decrease in youth admissions as a result of the province’s focus on prevention, diverting youth from the court system and providing alternatives to custody.”
The release also said: “Retrofits for the female adult mental health unit, and construction and site planning of the new youth facilities are already underway, with the entire project expected to be completed by 2022.” (November 6, 2016)
