History

Child and Adolescent Unit

The unit, located in Cottage 5, opened on February 6, 1967 by Dr. Donald Ross Guun, the superintendent, after fourteen beds were vacated in the women's ward. It consisted of both in-patient and out-patient service. The latter had twenty beds, divided between Ward H: fourteen beds, and the Cumberland House (the former residence of the superintendent): six beds. The patients were both male and female, aged between five and sixteen. At first, the admittance was restricted to female clients, who were between twelve and seventeen. The services offered treatment for all types of psychiatric and behavioural disorders. It was the first specialized adolescent treatment unit in Ontario, treating children and teenagers suffering from depression and schizophrenia among other mental disorders. 

The staff of the unit consisted of a single psychiatrist, who at the same time fulfilled the role of the director. Psychologists, child care workers, as well as a social worker were also employed as part of the team. Most of the child care workers were students, and the hospital operated a School for Child Care Workers within the unit. The training involved a two-year course and at the end of it, the students were eligible to receive a diploma in child care, granted by the Ontario Department of Health. Dr. Ian Bond established the course because he believed that the number of staff should be double that of patients. The first group of students consisted of twenty-eight people, who were mostly eighteen and nineteen, although there was no age limit specified in the enrolment process, since as Dr. Bond explained, "often the temperament of an old woman has to offer is needed."

All of the underage patients were required to attend a special school located in the Cumberland House, whose education was under the supervision and guidance of three elementary teachers and one high school instructor. It was operated directly by the Etobicoke Board of Education. 

The unit was affiliated with the Hospital for Sick Children and had a close working relationship with the speech therapy department, which was also located within the hospital. 

The out-patient service served the former Borough Etobicoke and Port Credit, staffed with a part-time psychiatric, a social worker, and psychologists. It was designed to operate as a community crisis intervention service for child and adolescents up to the age of eighteen. Older clients were allowed treatment if they were still attending school. 

A few years later, most likely due to demand, the services of the unit were enhanced with the addition of a general practitioner and social workers, and the bed capacity was increased to thirty-two, with additional daycare patients.   

The staff was trained in developing basic communication and interpersonal skills. They were instructed to be therapeutic with the patients, while assisting them in coping with everyday situations. It appears that they acted the substitute role for temporary parents: their entire shift was spent with the patients, first greeting them in the morning, followed by eating breakfast with them, helping them prepare for school, etc. The staff also organized indoor and outdoor activities, which included field trips and camping.

The unit was organized into a reward system. A newly admitted patient would start on level on. A good behaviour and progress in treatment were rewarded with sports, movies or dating. When the patient achieves level four, he or she was considered ready to leave and return to his or her family if he or she has one, in which case, he or she would be released to a group home or a hostel. However, it was also possible to depreciate from one level to another during the course of the patient's stay at the hospital.

There is something revealing about the way in which Dr. Bond referred to the patients suffering from being "delinquent individuals" and "psychopaths": "We are slaves to out culture, these people aren't. Only a minority of them are violent, mostly the outcome is an attitude of not wanting to submit. They act on emotion or impulse." This directly reflects the attitude of the people responsible for the treatment of the patients inside the unit: they were seen as outcasts, who with the right amount of care and discipline could be rehabilitated back into society.   

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