JUDGE CRITICIZES LACK OF SPACES FOR TEEN ADDICTS

Jail Not A Substitute For Treatment Centres, Judge Says After Trying
To Find Girl A Placement

Ontario Court Justice Dianne Nicholas expressed dismay yesterday that
a residential treatment centre for young offenders still does not
exist within 100 kilometres of Ottawa.

"You cannot use jail as a substitute for a drug treatment facility,"
said Judge Nicholas. "You are not supposed to use incarceration to
protect them from themselves."

She said she is deeply concerned about a crack-addicted 16-year-old
girl who appeared in court yesterday. Judge Nicholas said she
believes the girl is deteriorating without the proper care and
appeared "psychotic."

Because the city is not equipped with a treatment centre, the youth
was forced to stay at an Ottawa group home after she was arrested on
Dec. 1, and is now facing charges of assault, fraud and breach of probation.

While there is a residential treatment program for youths near
Carleton Place, there is no residential treatment centre in this area
of Eastern Ontario for youths with psychiatric and drug and alcohol
problems who are facing criminal charges.

Judge Nicholas said she tried to get the teen into the Royal Ottawa
Mental Health Centre, but was told there are no beds for teens. "This
should not be happening in 2006."

Defence and Crown attorneys also expressed concern for the girl, who
appeared manic in the prisoner's dock --boasting about the cost of
her clothing and loudly commenting on the attire of the lawyers.

Judge Nicholas ordered the teen temporarily into custody in a
courthouse cell, and adjourned the matter until the afternoon in
hopes of dealing with the "critical situation" by getting her into
the Brockville treatment centre or somewhere else.

While drug treatment was at the forefront of the judge's mind
yesterday morning, that focus changed to mental fitness in the
afternoon when the teen threatened to kill herself if she were sent
back to the open custody group home.

Judge Nicholas immediately ordered her to undergo a psychiatric
assessment under the Mental Health Act at the Children's Hospital of
Eastern Ontario.

"At this point, we are now in a separate section because she has
threatened to kill herself," the judge said.

If the girl is diagnosed with a mental illness, there are two beds
available for her at the Robert Smart Centre, onsite at the Royal
Ottawa Hospital.

"This is a young woman who has been before me a number of times and
things have been going well," she said. "I am extremely upset that
there is a gap for this critically ill young person. She is
deteriorating visibly before us, and I personally called the Royal
Ottawa hospital yesterday and she could not get in there because they
do not have beds for teens."

Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa president Mark Ertel said the
problem is not going away because, he feels, governments fail to
consider preventive measures.

"We see it as a gap in the system and governments have -- provincial
and federal -- more interest in putting people in jail than solving
the problems.

"She is a young offender charged with a relatively minor offence," he
said. The government "has been complacent about this for a long time
and it falls on deaf ears."

The teen will appear in court again on Wednesday for a bail hearing.