Funding ‘challenges’ force Craigwood Youth Services to close

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A London-based agency that has provided care for troubled adolescents and their families in the London region for 70 years is closing, it announced Monday.

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Craigwood Youth Services cited “significant funding challenges” and changes in how youth services are delivered in the province as factors in its decision.

“This has been an incredibly difficult decision,” Claudia den Boer, Craigwood’s interim executive director, said in a release.

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“Craigwood has been a cornerstone of support for countless young people and families over the decades. While this chapter is coming to an end, the legacy of Craigwood’s impact will live on in the lives we’ve touched and the hope we’ve fostered.”

Craigwood traces its roots to 1954, when the Mennonite Central Committee launched a program on a donated farm near the village of Ailsa Craig to rehabilitate boys who had gotten in trouble with the law by teaching them the virtue of hard work through raising crops and livestock.

In the decades that followed, Craigwood expanded programs on what it now calls its Ailsa Craig campus and opened group homes for boys and troubled youth in London.

Craigwood opened a medium-security unit in Ailsa Craig for young offenders and also launched community-based treatment for youth and their families.

Craigwood’s head office is at 520 Hamilton Rd. in London and it has a community treatment home on St. George Street, near Oxford and Richmond streets.

CBC London reported last month that Craigwood had flown the last three young people housed at its youth detention section in Ailsa Craig to Sault Ste. Marie because of a lack of staff. The youth jail had 12 beds for female young offenders.

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A union official said staff were leaving because they were underpaid compared to those who work at youth jails run directly by the province.

Craigwood said it’s “working closely” with partners to ensure clients and families receive “alternative resources to maintain continuity of care.”

Staff are being offered severance packages, career transition services, emotional support and other resources, the agency said.

Updates on the closing will be posted on Craigwood’s website.

Craigwood Community Ventures, a separate entity, will continue operating and look to “build on Craigwood’s legacy in new and innovative ways,” the agency said.

“While the closure is bittersweet, we are proud of the work Craigwood has done and the difference it has made,” board chairperson Jim Bonifero said. “We want to thank our staff, clients, families, and community partners for their trust and support over the years.”

bbaleeiro@postmedia.com

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