NB 969
June 9, 2008
FREDERICTON (CNB) - A report entitled Ashley Smith: A Report of the New Brunswick Ombudsman and Child and Youth Advocate on the services provided to a youth involved in the youth criminal justice system was released today by Bernard Richard.
"This report is geared towards filling the gaps in services for youths suffering from mental illness or severe behavioural disorders, who are sentenced to serve custodial time," said Richard. "They require specialized intervention and continuity in care and treatment to avoid sinking deeper into despair."
The report is the result of an own-motion investigation which was launched in October 2007, shortly after Smith's death at Grand Valley Institution for Women, a federal correctional facility located in Kitchener, Ont. It delves into Smith's incarceration from 2003 to 2006 in two provincial correctional facilities - the New Brunswick Youth Centre and the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre - prior to her transfer to the federal system.
The report's observations and 25 recommendations are also geared towards improving the existing system by raising a number of red flags around issues that may otherwise go unnoticed, including diverting youths from the youth criminal justice system; the availability of mental health and educational services for incarcerated youth; restricting the use of force on minors in adult facilities, especially the use of Tasers; and applying stringent restrictions on the use of segregation at the New Brunswick Youth Centre.
Copies of the report are available online. They are also available at the Office of the Ombudsman / Child and Youth Advocate at 548 York St., Fredericton.
08/06/09
MEDIA CONTACTS: Bernard Richard, Office of the Ombudsman, 506-453-2789, or 1-888-465-1100.
08/06/09