Brampton will have First Dedicated Mental Health Unit for Female Adult Inmates

Ontario to Open First Dedicated Mental Health Unit for Female Adult Inmates

Province Redeveloping Roy McMurtry Youth Centre

Ontario is continuing its work to increase mental health supports in the province’s corrections system by creating the first dedicated mental health unit in Ontario for female inmates.

The unit is expected to open in early 2018 as part of a new 192-bed adult female detention centre on the site of the Roy McMurtry Youth Centre (RMYC) in Brampton. With capacity for 32 inmates, the dedicated mental health unit will meet the specific, often complex needs of female inmates with mental health issues. This unit was a key recommendation in a 2015 report on improving mental health services for female inmates.

The RMYC will be divided into two sections to separately house male youth and female adult inmates until smaller, community-based secure custody facilities for youth are completed in the Greater Toronto Area, where the male youth will be relocated. These facilities will provide safe and secure environments that will support more opportunities for effective rehabilitation and help youth successfully transition back into their communities.

Ontario is able to repurpose the RMYC due to a steady decrease in youth admissions as a result of the province’s focus on prevention, diverting youth from the court system and providing alternatives to custody.

Retrofits for the female adult mental health unit, and construction and site planning of the new youth facilities are already underway, with the entire project expected to be completed by 2022.

Please read the complete news release at Ontario Newsroom