“The goal of the project is really to offer environments that are warmer than what already exists,” the local health authority says.
At a time when many youth protection facilities in Quebec are outdated, one centre in Montreal’s Ahuntsic district is being renovated to feel more welcoming.
Renovation work on the Centre de réadaptation pour les jeunes en difficulté d’adaptation Dominique-Savio is due to start this week.
“I think it will improve the work climate, which is otherwise very good,” said Julie Lauzon, assistant director of youth programs at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
The $68.9-million project will include the construction of a wing with four living units, as well as the redevelopment of two units that will now meet the criteria for accommodating adolescents placed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
“It’s a unit that will be used, among other things, for young people in closed custody who require slightly higher levels of security than the rest of our clientele,” said Martine Richer, head of rehabilitation at the local health authority. “In Montreal, there’s currently no such thing for girls, so we needed to have a secure unit on our site.”
Currently, 65 adolescent girls from Montreal live in a closed unit in Laval. When the redevelopment project is completed in 2026, they will be moved to the Centre Dominique-Savio.
The centre was built in 1960 and houses children from six to 17 years old. Planning to renovate the centre began in 2008.
The project responds in particular to the need to humanize youth rehabilitation services.
“The goal of the project is really to offer environments that are warmer than what already exists. Units will be better for these young people and correspond much more to what rehabilitation has become over time,” Richer said. “What we want is for our young people to be institutionalized as little as possible.”
The teens already at the centre will remain there while the work is carried out.
“We’re very happy not to have to uproot young people and children who have already been through a number of moves,” Lauzon said.
The youth were involved in the process alongside the architects. Among other questions, they were asked: If there was an ideal housing environment for them, what would it look like?
“Most of our units right now have closed doors, they’re somewhat enclosed spaces — which allows privacy, there are other ideas behind that — but here, the young people were telling us: ‘In a real house, it’s not true that the living room, the kitchen, it’s all barred, closed with a door. We’d like to have more open areas, spaces that would make us think we were in a house’,” said Richer.
“We were really inspired by this, right down to our furniture, colours, choice of materials, etc.”
In the new wing, the structure was designed to avoid having the youths pass through the reception area, which “always reminds them that they’re in a youth centre.”
“So there’s this sort of trust and freedom that makes you feel at home and perhaps a little less confined,” said Richer.
There’s also the addition of a new gym and a calming room like those found in the other units. Lauzon believes this will make a difference.
She explained that in many runaway cases, the young person simply wants to be in a place where they can take a step back from a situation.
“I don’t know if this will reduce the number of runaways, but certainly, our young people, what they want when we ask them is to feel a bit like home,” she said. “And our vision is to offer them a much less institutionalized environment.”