ONTARIO PAYS FAMILY $150,000 FOR DRUG-ADDICTED TEEN'S U.S. TREATMENT

Beds Here Were Full

TORONTO - The family of a drug-addicted teen will receive $150,000 from
Ontario's Ministry of Health after a paucity of beds forced the boy into a
U.S. treatment program at his parents' expense.

The victory means other families who cannot access the 10 beds assigned for
addicted teens in Ontario could also be entitled to compensation, and that
could reach into the millions, said the family's lawyer yesterday.

"This case is basically an acknowledgment that there are no residential
drug treatment programs for adolescents in Ontario," said Toronto lawyer
David Baker, who won the settlement on behalf of a 15-year-old boy and his
parents.

"Obviously, sending adolescents out of the country is not the best way of
treating them for drug addiction."

The first round of the case was settled in September, but Mr. Baker said he
is awaiting a decision on another $35,000 claim for detoxification
payments, which could push the family's out-of-court settlement to $185,000.

The ministry says it will respond to that request, now before its Health
Services Appeal Review Board, by next Friday.

Mr. Baker, who was set to launch a constitutional challenge on the boy's
behalf, said the settlement should convince the government to start putting
some money into treating teenagers.

As many as 300 to 400 teens between ages 13 and 17 require residential
treatment services each year in the province, said the head of an addiction
services umbrella group based in Sault Ste. Marie.

"If it's going to cost $150,000 a kid to send those kids out of the
country, that's a lot of money we could use here," said Russell Larocque,
head of the Ontario Youth Managers Co-ordinating Group.

If parents cannot pay, that means many teens are going untreated, he added.

While refusing to comment on the case, a Ministry of Health spokesman said
yesterday the government might devote more dollars to teen residential
programs in the next budget.

"As we look toward next year, the ministry is going to have to look at what
can be done in terms of getting these centres up and running in Ontario,"
said John Letherby. Only $5-billion of this year's $110-million budget for
drug and alcohol services is allotted to teenagers, he said.

One program exists for teen addicts who require 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week
supervision to get over their addictions -- usually because they face
serious mental illness or other problems as well, Mr. Larocque said.

Ten beds at the Margaret Smith Centre in Thunder Bay are the only ones in
Ontario allotted for the 13 to 17 age group, Mr. Letherby said.

Wendy Nolan, the head of addiction services for St. Joseph's Care Group in
Thunder Bay, said the program has a three-to six-month waiting list and
demand always exceeds the centre's capacity.

The centre no longer accepts teens from across the province, since it lost
its only psychiatrist in May, she added.

Meanwhile, experts say the demand for teen services is huge and growing.

One director of a drug treatment agency in Toronto said he could place one
child a month in a residential facility. Dennis Long, of Breakaway, said
his organization treats about 1,000 children and teens a year.

For U.S. treatment, Ontario families are now paying on average about
US$14,000 a month for the first month, and about $4,000 each month after that.