Return To Written Question 9-12(3) asked by Mr. Patterson to the Minister of Justice concerning statistics from secure custody young offenders facilities.

The total capacity in bed days for each of the young offender secure facilities is as follows:

1. River Ridge Secure Facility capacity is 5110 bed days;

2. Hay River Secure Facility capacity is 5840 bed days; and,

3. Isumaqsunngittukkuvik capacity is 4380 bed days.

It should be noted that while Hay River presently has capacity for 7300 bed days (fiscal 1992-93), the establishment of a new psychologist position south of the lake will result in the reduction of the capacity to 5840 bed days.

The occupancy rate for each of the young offender secure facilities for fiscal year 1991-92 is as follows:

1. River Ridge Secure Facility is 3246 bed days or 63.5 per cent including 418 remand bed days;

2. Hay River Secure Facility is 3080 bed days or 52.7 per cent including 364 remand bed days; and,

3. Isumaqsunngittukkuvik is 3323 bed days or 75.9 per cent including 415 remand bed days.

It is important to note that the occupancy rate does not in any way reflect the maximum occupancy of a facility at any particular time. Population levels in all facilities rise and fall with the exigencies of the court systems. It is normal for a given facility to be at maximum capacity or even over maximum capacity several times in a month for which average occupancy rate data would seem to indicate under-utilization. Average count data does not, and cannot, reflect peak utilization. Occupancy rates can be misleading. A given facility must be capable of repeatedly dealing with peak capacity at any time. While bed days accounting accurately reflects utilization for accounting purposes, operational planning must be based upon maximum utilization.