Routine violation

A young person in a youth justice centre complained to us that he was being routinely strip-searched by staff after every visit he had with his lawyer. He told us he raised his concern with the facility, but staff maintained that all youth justice facilities in Ontario followed this practice.

RESULT: After we made inquiries with the facility and reviewed its policy, we escalated this case to senior Ministry officials. As a result of our inquiries, the Ministry sent a memorandum to all directly-operated youth justice centres, reminding them that strip searches should not be conducted as a matter of routine after visits. We confirmed with the facility in question that it had stopped this practice.

Learn more about the Children and Youth Unit which answers questions and takes complaints about child protection services.
Read about how we helped other people in our Selected cases.