The province’s Child and Youth Advocate addresses what she calls the systemic gap in respect to the rights of children—particularly those with mental health issues—after a seven year old was handcuffed by police.
Advocate Jackie Lake-Kavanagh says the purpose of her investigative report, “Handle With Care”, is not to assign blame to first responders who were called out to the case, but to address training in the context of mental health and trauma response to children.
The advocate launched her investigation after a seven-year-old girl, who was residing with her mother in a crisis shelter, experienced a behavioral or mental health episode.
The RNC responded that the action of handcuffing the child was justified after the child displayed aggressive behaviours toward her mother and staff at the shelter. The child was described by staff as “angry, upset, agitated and unresponsive.” She was confined to the shelter’s main office, a large space with doors closed and staff blocking the exit.
The child’s mother and shelter staff agreed that the child needed a hospital assessment, and fearing for her safety, an ambulance was called. The child’s behaviour escalated before paramedics arrived and the paramedics called police for help in transporting the child to hospital, indicating that the situation was getting worse and they needed police immediately.
A uniformed officer spoke with the mother and staff and requested the help of the Mobile Crisis Response Team after hearing the mother’s account of her child’s history and possible mental health diagnosis.
After the child threw an object at an officer—striking them—the response team officer had the uniformed officer place the child in handcuffs for the protection of people in the room and shelter property. The child was described as compliant while being handcuffed and she sat next to her mother until taken to hospital. She remained in handcuffs until she was placed in a waiting ambulance.
Kavanagh recommends that the Mobile Crisis Response Team implement a trauma-informed approach for children and youth, as well as develop guidance and education on children’s rights, and that the Department of Justice and Public Safety and the Department of Health engage region health authorities and provincial police to determine the scope and intent of Mental Health Crisis Response Teams in responding to young children and determine if alternate responses and resources are necessary.
