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It's another in a series of incidents at the youth hostel over the past weeks, including reports of riots and multiple escapes. Today we spoke to Starla Bradley, the director of the Community Rehabilitation Department. She confirmed the escapes and explained some of the major challenges that the institution is facing.

Voice of: Starla Bradley
"What we've had is the same set of children who are high risk, meaning that some of them have some serious mental health issues, some of them being gang involved. These are the ones that have been initiating some of the flare ups that we've been having in the institution and quite often they run away but they are returned quickly with the help of the police and some of the social workers in the community."

"The youth hostel has male and female, I think there is a perception out there that the youth hostel only has girls. The youth hostel has male and female residents. We do hear about the girls acting out a bit more. But we do have male and female residents we have children there for uncontrollable behavior, we have children there for criminal offenses ,we have children there that have some serious mental health and psychiatric issues, and from time to time we also have unaccompanied minors and in the absence of not wanting to put them in prison for not having anywhere else for them to go they are placed at the youth hostel until they can be repatriated. So it's a very mixed population."

"Well right now we're working very closely with the ministry of health, because some of these children require psychiatric services that are not our expertise. So, we're partnering with them to try to stabilize some of the children."

"One of the things we're seeing as well is sometimes some of the kids are ready to leave. They don't need to be in the institution but we can't find somewhere for them to go. The parents are not an option. Some parents don't want to take back the responsibility of their children and it's not always easy to find homes in the community for these children to transition to so they end up staying in an institution and they become frustrated."

Cherisse Halsall, reporter
"Are these Violent minors?"

Voice of: Starla Bradley
"They could be violent or have some sociopathic tendencies maybe they've been exposed to gang violence and activities you know there are different factors when you look at the level of risk for offending or committing crimes. We cannot just treat all the children as high risk so to say to convert the youth hostel into a maximum security facility, then your doing a disservice to those other residents who do need a rehabilitative space but indeed the challenge is in trying to separate the high from the medium risk, because these children are smart and they are very creative and they don't want to be in an institution. So they will try to find any opportunity that they can to capitalize on to try to get out."

While the youth hostel will, at present, maintain its status as a rehab center, there is a maximum security facility designated for male minors at Wagner's, which is a section of the Hattieville prison. The community rehabilitation department is currently working with the courts to petition for the transfer of some of its male residents to that facility.