Managing “Out-of-Control” Youth in the Child Welfare System: The Case of Secure Care

• In Event: Understanding the Treatment of Justice-Involved Youth in Canada and the United Kingdom

Abstract

The use of restrictive measures to control the disruptive behavior of youth placed in residential settings is a contentious issue. Resorting to secure care is especially controversial, since it entails the transfer of adolescents deemed a danger to others or themselves in locked units for 30 days. It is argued that such restrictions on liberty are not justified since few studies addressed the effectiveness of secure care. This paper examines the use of secure care in Quebec (Canada) to determine if, for whom and how this restrictive measure can have positive effects on adolescents. Administrative data were extracted on 1875 adolescents placed in residential care, among which 288 experienced secure care. Qualitative interviews were also conducted with practitioners and youth. Findings suggest that adolescents who are transferred to secure care units do present with more complex needs and histories of care. The majority of them, however, will have to be mandated into secure care multiple times before positive impacts are observed. Yet, practitioners feel that secure care offers adolescents, but also the intervention team, some much needed time to “recharge”. Youth, for their part, report that being labeled “at-risk” adds to the perceived stigmatization. The implications for intervention are discussed.

Author

• Mathilde Turcotte, Université Laval