SECURE TREATMENT

Exceptional treatment, security, and education in a secure, supportive, and welcoming environment.

Life at Secure Treatment

Our Secure Treatment program is an intensive, live-in treatment option for youth ages 12-18 dealing with complex mental health and behavioural issues. Admission to our Secure Treatment Facility in Ottawa requires a court order and is open to youth from all over Ontario.

24/7 Care and Support

Secure Treatment offers extensive around-the-clock treatment and care that prioritizes the needs of the youth. Sometimes for the first time in their lives.

Health and Wellness

The facility offers a Medication Room on-site, where Youth Counsellors can administer medication safely, and meet regularly with clinicians.

All-in-one Facility

The living quarters include private bedrooms that overlook the common room on the upper floor, a meeting room where youth can receive visitors, a medication room, a gym for indoor sports and activities, a fenced outdoor space, and individual classrooms.

Focus on Education

The program offers an on-site classroom, where students can earn credits toward their high school diploma while in treatment, through a partnership with the M.F. McHugh Education Centre.

Enriched Activities

Youths participate in a wide range of activities from music classes to outdoor education and therapeutic painting to poetry. They also go on a variety of educational trips.

“I was 14 years old when I was placed at the Roberts/Smart Centre. I felt like my life had hit a low. I felt hopeless. With the help of the staff, I was able to find better coping strategies, something that I struggled with.[…] I began to see value in myself again and gained hope.

I have since gone to college and became a Registered Practical Nurse. I wanted to devote my career to mental health to help others the way I have been helped. I am married to an amazing husband, and we have two sons who are the light of our life.”

- C., former Roberts/Smart Centre youth

Is Secure Treatment right for you or a youth you know?

We accept applications for youth aged 12-17 experiencing significant problems functioning in one or more areas of life: personal, family, school, and community.

Admission to the Secure Treatment Program requires that an application be made to the Provincial Court under “Part VII – Extraordinary Measures” of the Child, Youth, and Family Services Act.

The treatment at RSC requires the youth to:

  • Be independent with basic hygiene.
  • Engage in reciprocal communication, understand multi-step directives, and have reflective capacities.
  • Demonstrate the ability to live in a group setting with limited sensory modification.

Admissions

To apply for Secure Treatment or more information, contact our Intake Team now.

Our Treatment Philosophy

Our approach to mental health treatment is strengths-based, trauma-informed, and person-centered. We help youth to recover and heal through treatment, education, and life-skills development.

Community Reintegration

The Centre works with the youth to ensure they have the easiest possible transition back into their families and their community. 

Open Live-in Treatment

The Centre also operates two open live-in programs in urban homes in Ottawa. They provide care to youths that require treatment and support on a 24-hour basis.

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