The hotels some Ontario youth with special needs are living in are being called unsafe

Protection worker Lorrie Pepin says she's concerned about the safety of young Ontarianstemporarily living in hotels due to a lack of support services within the system.

Pepin, president of CUPELocal 5319 for Simcoe Muskokachild, youth and family services, says they're in dangerous situations.

"I think when people hear about a hotel, they have this perception that it's the Hilton, but we're not talking about the Hilton here," shetold CBC Radio's Windsor Morning.

"The hotels where we're placing children and youth are unsafe, dirty, often bedbug infested places. We have human traffickers, drug dealers who are searching and surveying the premises, looking for their next victims."

LISTEN | Ontario children's aid society union concerns:

Windsor Morning17:27Children's Aid Society - CUPE Safety Concerns

Children with CAS are sleeping in Windsor hotels and the union representing the workers is concerned for their safety and well-being. CBC Windsor Morning Guest Host Amy Dodge, spoke to two CUPE members about the situation.

Last month, CBC News highlighted the issue of youth being housed in hotelsin Windsor.

The local children's aid society's executive director, Derrick Drouillard, called the lack of support for young people with complex special needs as a "crisis across the whole province."

Pepin saidthe province is aware knowingly warehousing youth in these situations.

In a statement, Ontario's Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services saidchild protection services are delivered "exclusively" by children's aid societies.

"The ministry does not direct children's aid societies on placement decisions; placing agencies are in the best position to determine a suitable placement for the child that meets the child's needs," it said.

"Placing agencies are expected to have the expertise and knowledge to determine which placement would best meet the needs of the individual children placed in or assigned to their care."

WATCH | Why some children in care are staying in hotels:

Why some children in care are staying in hotels

11 months ago

Duration 2:30

Derrick Drouillard, executive director of the Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society, speaks with CBC Windsor Morning host Amy Dodge about how some children with high needs end up in the care of CAS and living in hotels because of the lack of resources for families.

The Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies said its members work with local partners when finding "suitable" placement options for youth and community-based services are lacking in many parts of the province.

The association saidits members relyon the ministry being responsible for licensing, and in some cases funding and/or delivering out-of-home care to children and youth in the province.

"As a result of the lack of appropriate and available licensed placement options, including treatment beds, youth with complex needs sometimes need to be placed in temporary, supervised settings, which may include hotels or motels," it said in an emailed statement.

Calling it an "option of last resort" and the result of "broader systemic gaps," the association saidplacing youth in these environments is never the desired approach for child welfare agencies, andthere needs to be greater collaboration between the province and partners within the childservices system.

Pepin saidchildren's services have a duty and obligation to provide treatment and behaviour management, and doing so in a hotel just isn't possible.

"We're concerned both for the safety of the children and youth and we're concerned for the safety of our staff when children are removed from their parents' care because their parents can no longer care for them for a multitude of reasons."

The majority of the children and youth who are being placed in unlicensed homes or hotels are between 14 and 16 years of age, according to Pepin.

'It is [also] absolutely a worker problem'

Yolanda McClean is the secretary treasurer for CUPE Ontario the union that oversees workers within the children's aid sector across the province.

She saida recent survey they conducted of 31 CAS Ontario local chapters indicated 81 per cent of them had placed a youth in a hotel, and 13 per cent had placed them someone inone of their own children's services offices to live temporarily.

"We have Niagara and Peel. We have Simcoe and we have Ottawa, just to name a few, that have used places and unlicensed homes with a full awareness of the ministry. So, this is no surprise to folks."

McClean saidhaving to place youth in undesirable locations also has animpact on workers, with 31 per cent of staff saying they felt unsafe at workand 79 per cent of staff saying the workplace hasbecome more dangerous in the last five years.

"We are hearing from workers stressed how tired, how difficult the situation is. You can just imagine this is not just a children problem. This is not just a youth problem, but it is absolutely a worker problem."

Child welfare redesign underway, says province

The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services saidthe province is focused on services that prioritize safety and protection for children, youth and families as outlined in its redesign of Ontario's child welfare system that was introducedin 2020.

Pepin saidCUPE has been trying to get the ministry to the table to work with them on planning but, so far, "the ministry has refused to meet with us."

"The ministry respects the process of collective bargaining and labour negotiations as a matter between the employer and employees, which is why the ministry has encouraged CUPE to have discussions at the local level," a ministry spokesperson said in an email.

The province saidits three main goals for the child welfare redesign are to enhance early intervention for families and communitiesimprove the service experience for those in need of protection services, and address disproportionalitiesand outcome disparities in the sector.

Workers administering naloxone on youth in hotels

Pepin said thatin some instances, workers assigned to young peopleliving in hotels have had to administer naloxone to try totemporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses, something she saidchild protection workers are not trained to do for crisis prevention and providing medication.

"They're being dropped into these situations where basically they're babysitting these youth, trying to keep them safe, prevent them from harming themselves, but they're not getting the treatment, the safety, the security that they need living in a hotel, that's not a safe place."

Pepin saidthe workers and youth are face to face with human traffickers, witnessing drug deals and being directly exposed to violence while living in hotels.

"I mean, the children and youth who are placed in hotels are there because they couldn't be with their families, because they couldn't be housed in a traditional group home or foster homes, because their needs are so complex."

According to Pepin, she "firmly" believes there will end up being more tragedieswith either a young person or worker injured or killed while usingoffices or hotels to care for youth with complex needs in Ontario.