ADDICTS MAY GET VAN RIDE TO HELP

Mobile Team Proposal To Aid Homeless

Albertans could soon see vans on city streets picking up intoxicated
or stoned homeless people to take them for help, if the chairman of
the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission gets his way.

But social agency heads say the idea is putting the cart before the
horse, as more capacity is needed in addiction treatment programs
before more clients can be brought in.

Calgary-Buffalo MLA Harvey Cenaiko said he is working to secure
government funding in next year's budget to establish a "mobile
addiction intervention team" because he doesn't believe the province's
police officers or emergency workers' time is best spent picking
impaired people off the street.

He believes a mobile addictions team -- ideally operating 24 hours a
day in the province's major cities -- could help people with
addictions get treatment faster, and save them from being thrown into
the drunk tank.

"It's far too common a case where individuals are picked up and taken
to cells by the police, and they aren't provided with the treatment
they require," said Cenaiko, who is a former Calgary police officer
and was the province's solicitor general until December.

"You're better to utilize your police officers to be investigating
criminal activity within your community versus doing this function.
They aren't trained in treatment, they aren't trained in drug
addiction," said Cenaiko.

Richard DuBois, 43, who sleeps outdoors and says he has a problem with
alcohol, said Cenaiko has a good idea because people who are addicted
to drugs and alcohol "have the right to be safe."

DuBois added, "I think that's valid -- because the shelters are so
full -- to have a van like that to take people somewhere else."

However, Dermot Baldwin, executive director of the Calgary Drop-In and
Rehab Centre, said there are about 450 more homeless people living on
Calgary's streets than there were a year ago, and about one-third have
drug and/or alcohol addictions. His centre can accommodate 1,100
people a night, including more than 200 inebriated people.

Baldwin said they are turning away people all the time. He has been
pushing the city to establish a downtown sobering centre.

"They're still on the street and the numbers are growing," Baldwin
said. "Harvey's suggestion would be fine if you had a place to refer
them."

Carrie Neilson, chairwoman of the Homeless Awareness Calgary
Committee, said Cenaiko has a great proposal, but there are weeks
worth of wait before anybody gets into treatment programs.

"People are left to try and manage, and by the time a bed becomes
available they may have had so little social support they may have
already relapsed," Neilson said.

Cenaiko's plan sees people being brought to centres such as Calgary's
Alpha House, a shelter for people with addictions. He acknowledges
there needs to be more spots for detox and longer-term addiction
programs as part of the battle against homelessness.

"The tremendous growth we've seen even in the last few years in
Calgary and Edmonton and Fort McMurray and in Grande Prairie, we've
far surpassed the capacity that's been in place and we haven't added
to that."

Cenaiko said police, emergency medical services and the mobile unit
would work together to see which is best equipped to deal with a situation.

If the person was violent or breaking the law, the police would
attend. If the person was hurt, EMS would step in. Otherwise the
mobile unit could take over -- if the person goes willingly.

"If it's really a voluntary service, then it's no problem," said Peter
Rosenthal, a University of Toronto law professor who specializes in
social justice issues. "But sometimes things like that become coercive
and then they can be problems."

Alberta Health and Wellness, which looks after AADAC, expressed doubts
about Cenaiko's proposal.

"Dealing with intoxicated individuals always has been a public safety
issue best handled by the police," said spokeswoman Shannon Haggerty.

Kathy Christiansen, executive director of the Calgary Alpha House
Society, now undergoing an expansion, said her organization -- along
with the Calgary Urban Project Society (CUPS) -- already has a mobile
program to get people treatment.

It is sometimes run out of a van and operates weekdays. But any other
"outreach" programs would be positive, Christiansen said.

Mike Boyd, Edmonton's police chief and president of the Alberta
Association of Chiefs of Police, says although the initiative is in
the planning stages, he supports the idea with the hope it will help
free up police resources.

"I think it would be a great idea to have addiction specialists
working with people who are drug dependent and alcohol dependent,"
Boyd said. "It would align that service with some of the other
services like treatment facilities that are already available."

Steve Donaldson, the deputy chief of EMS Calgary, said the plan would
be a big help to his organization. Sometimes, "we transport them to
the hospital and then our crews could end up the hallway with them for
quite a long time," Donaldson said.

Cenaiko said it's important homeless people with addiction problems
get treatment, and are not simply transported away from city streets.
He mentioned a recent case in Edmonton where there are allegations
that a group of aboriginal homeless people were picked up by police
near Whyte Avenue in May 2005, held for two hours in a hot van, and
then dropped off in a residential neighbourhood. An RCMP investigation
is underway there.

"We definitely don't want to see anymore like that," Cenaiko said.