Girls In Youth Custody in P.G. Move to Burnaby February 6th
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 @ 2:11 PM
Prince George, B.C.- The redesign of Youth Custody Services in Prince George, will see girls ordered incarcerated, serving those sentences in Burnaby.
It is part of a redesign which will eliminate Youth Custody Services for girls in Prince George and Victoria, where occupancy rates for girls are typically low.
Alan Markwart, Executive Director of Youth Custody Services, says the girls will be moved February 6th . He is not able to say how many will be moved from Prince George “its nearly impossible to say how many there will be as the population changes on a daily basis.” Typically, the number of girls in Youth Custody in Prince George can be as many as four, as few as none, and on average, 2.1.
While the Ministry of Children and Family Development says the move will improve the access to programs for girls, the girls’ access to their families will be impacted.
“We are aware that is an issue” says Markwart “Unfortunately, one of the realities is that there isn’t a lot of family visiting to begin with. We will provide access by telephone, video conference and from time to time, some financial support to families who want to visit .”
The union, (BCGEU) says the redesign will see 6 employees facing possible job loss. Markwart says the 6 employees in P.G. as well as the 17 in Victoria, will go through the usual “bumping” process and he is confident all 23 employees at the two sites will still be employed.
The change will save $2.5 million dollars, which will see $900 thousand dollars redirected to Youth Justice. The remaining $1.6 million will be redirected to services for children with special needs.
Comments
Typically, the number of girls in Youth Custody in Prince George can be as many as four, as few as none, and on average, 2.1.
So that’s 2 girls and .1 of a girl?
Hopefully you’re just being cheeky and do understand what the term average means.
If the population is changing daily, what will the transportation costs (escorts – air fares) of moving people to and from Vancouver? Do we save with one hand a spend with the other?
There is not only questions of family contact, but also accees to legal advice, court apperances and ongoing police investigations.
Is everything going to be moved to the internet? Sorry you can have your day in court only over the phone!
Frank
Using this kind of Logic, we have to build just 1 Super Prison for all of Canada!
They will fly every girl down there with an RCMP escort. Put the cop up overnight in a fine hotel. The next day another cop will be taking down another girl while the first is flying back. I can see the savings rolling into the money bins. Same thing happened in the 60’s from most BC towns. I was part of it. It doesn’t save any money.
Supertech – just wondering – which side were you on?
I imagine these kids will be included in the regular runs south so not much additional cost, video courts for everything other than trials save us a ton of money so that’s a good thing. As far as them being further away from family, well, they’re in jail. Hardnosed maybe, but that’s life.
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