Burnaby's youth prison is about to take on some extra teens now that the Vancouver Island youth prison is closing.
The province plans to transfer 15 minors from Victoria Youth Custody Services, which is slated to close due to low numbers of incarcerated youth.
On Monday, Stephanie Cadieux, minister of children and family development, announced the closure, which leaves only two youth prison in the province.
"The youth that is currently in custody will be transferred to the Burnaby facility. They will be served there instead of Victoria," Cadieux told the NOW. "We have a lot of excess capacity in Burnaby as well. It will help us better manage the resources."
Cadieux couldn't say when the Vancouver Island teens would be transferred to Burnaby, as there are still many loose ends that need to be dealt with before the Victoria centre can close.
"We have to go through a number of processes with judges, sheriffs, police and the union to ensure the collective agreement is followed for people who may be losing their jobs," Cadieux said.
However, Burnaby's centre is also overstaffed, according to Cadieux, so the extra teens will help balance out the surplus of employees.
"We do have overstaffing in Burnaby as well, and when we move the 15 youth over, there may be some adjustments as well," she said.
As for concerns that the transfer will take teens farther from their Vancouver Island families, Cadieux said many youth were already far from home and there is a policy to help families with the cost of travel for visits. The use of video-conferencing is growing, she said.
Currently, the province can jail up to 132 teens between the three youth prisons in Burnaby, Prince George and Victoria. (Burnaby currently has 84 beds, while Prince George has 24, and Victoria has 24.)
According to Cadieux, the province has seen a 65 per cent decline over the past decade of youth in custody, and the average has dropped from 220 youth in 2003 to 74 on any given day last year.
Once the Victoria centre shuts down, Burnaby will be able to take on 111 youth if need be.
Burnaby's youth prison (a former women's prison) was dedicated as a youth facility in 2007. In the 2013/14 year, the average daily count was just 43.
Cadieux made the closure announcement when asked by reporters, amidst growing speculation the Victoria prison was slated for closure.
Roughly two years ago, the province moved female youth prisoners from Victoria and Prince George to Burnaby.
