WARNING | This story contains a description of self-harm during a mental health crisis.

Three people who were once children in the care of the province are suing the Nova Scotia government for what they say were “segregation-like conditions” in the Wood Street Centre, a provincially run facility for children in Truro, N.S. 

The lawsuit focuses on the Wood Street Centre’s use of what are called “therapeutic quiet rooms” or TQRs. 

These are rooms where a child can be locked inside if staff believe the child’s behaviour is causing a risk to themselves or others. 

But the plaintiffs allege staff used the TQR for reasons that included talking back, not following orders, speaking out in class, or having private conversations with other children.