Pot times
New Drug-Treatment Program For Youth
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1100/a03.htmlNewshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 NEW DRUG-TREATMENT PROGRAM FOR YOUTH
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2005, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:
mailbag@edm.sunpub.com
Website: http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135
Author: Mindelle Jacobs
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm
(Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm
(Youth)
It's hard to believe it took so long but it's finally happening. AADAC's
first residential drug-treatment programs for youth are expected to be operating
by the end of August.
With $4.2 million in government funding, the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Commission is preparing to provide eight detox beds and 16 residential treatment
beds for youth.
Edmonton's four detox and eight residential beds will be in side-by-side houses
at the Yellowhead Youth Centre, says Marilyn Mitchell, AADAC's Edmonton manager
of youth services.
The long-term plan is to centralize all youth services in one facility, she
says. But, for now, staff are renovating their borrowed digs at the YYC,
buying equipment and hiring and training staff.
"It's just great for us," says Mitchell, adding parents of addicted
kids have been clamouring for residential treatment programs for kids for a long
time.
Parents will be strongly encouraged to stay involved throughout the entire
process, she adds.
"We look at this as a family-centred treatment program. Families are
part of the treatment team."
While the Edmonton residential treatment program will be based on a group-care
model, the one in the Calgary area will follow an adventure therapy wilderness
model.
Up to eight teens will be housed in two cabins northwest of Cochrane and treated
by the Enviros Wilderness School Association, using AADAC-devised programming.
Enviros, a non-profit group, has been providing services to children and their
families for almost three decades, including programs for young offenders,
family support services and emergency foster care.
As well as teaching young people life skills and conflict resolution, Enviros
also does wilderness programming to promote perseverance, co-operation and
leadership.
Most of the association's programs are now run in Calgary so the rural cabins
will be reserved for AADAC's youth residential treatment, says Enviros executive
director Doug Darwish.
"We've got a great deal of residential expertise," he says.
"We're very excited about the opportunity to work with both teens and AADAC.
"We think it's a natural fit for us philosophically, working with kids in
the wilderness."
There will also be four detox beds for youth in Calgary, run by Hull Child and
Family Services based on AADAC's program.
Up to now, the best we could do for teen addicts was offer three-month
residential support programs in Edmonton and Calgary. The kids stayed in
private homes and went to AADAC treatment centres during the day.
There were simply no round-the-clock drug-treatment services for teens who
weren't before the courts or involved with the child welfare system.
In serious cases, teens have sometimes been placed in adult detox facilities,
says Silvia Vajushi, AADAC's Calgary manager of youth services.
"That wasn't ideal because youth have very different needs," she
points out.
Fortunately, things are about to change. There will even be a separate
treatment stream for kids addicted to crystal meth.
The new system will be flexible enough that recovering teen addicts can switch
back and forth between programs, says Vajushi.
"They can take pieces of or all of the spectrum depending on their
needs."
Alberta's legislation, which would force teens into detox for five days, hasn't
been proclaimed yet, so for now, AADAC's new residential drug programs are
voluntary. Will the kids come? Stay tuned.
