News (Media Awareness Project) - CN MB: Sagkeeng Centre Didn't Do Its Job, Ex-worker Fumes |
| Title: | CN MB: Sagkeeng Centre Didn't Do Its Job, Ex-worker Fumes |
| Published On: | 2000-12-03 |
| Source: | Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-03 00:24:20 |
SAGKEENG CENTRE DIDN'T DO ITS JOB, EX-WORKER FUMES
Labrador Gas Sniffers Among Its Ex-patients
AS images of children sniffing gas at Sheshatshiu, Labrador, flash across
Canadian TV screens, anger rises in some former employees of the Virginia
Fontaine Addictions Foundation at Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba.
The kids were theirs. They had them. One treatment worker rattles off their
Innu names and spellings, then goes quiet with the memory of them.
"Disgusted," says Cynthia Sigurdson about what she feels when she sees the
images from Labrador. She's a psychiatric nurse who recently left the
Sagkeeng treatment centre.
"A lot of good it did them," she adds bitterly of the kids' stays at the
centre. One Sheshatshiu youth was sent to the Sagkeeng centre three times
and spent more than a year in its care.
Sigurdson, with eight years of education in social work, quit the centre
shortly after last month's Caribbean boat cruise for more than 70 people
connected with it. Sigurdson was the only nurse working at the centre.
Three employees quit after the cruise and controversy continues to swirl
around the centre. On Friday, Health Canada suspended its funding after the
centre refused to let auditors see records prior to July 1. The government
said patients will be moved as soon as possible to other facilities across
the country.
Martin Tadman, lawyer for the Sagkeeng centre, said he wouldn't comment
until tomorrow. The woman answering the phone at the treatment centre last
night said no management personnel were available for comment until tomorrow.
"I'm not surprised at all (the Sheshatshiu kids are sniffing again)," said
Sigurdson. "Of all the kids that came through there, I've seen only one
stay successfully clean and dry."
That's out of about 400 youngsters she saw at the centre during her
two-and-a-half years there. The treatment centre takes in 150 to 200 young
people a year.
Sigurdson said she would participate in annual youth conferences where she
would see kids who had been through the centre. They would tell her they
still hadn't kicked their addiction.
The centre had no record of the youths once they left the program, she
said. The intake people were supposed to track them, but Sigurdson said
they were too busy with new kids to follow former patients.
"We've had kids come back three, four, five times," she said.
Although solving youth addictions is a tough task, she said the Sagkeeng
centre's record is inexcusable.
"The millions of dollars (funding to the Sagkeeng treatment centre) is just
a waste of money because nothing is getting done. Those kids are the same
way leaving as when they come in, or even more confused."
Not enough of the treatment workers have proper training, some former
employees say. So workers end up just babysitting patients instead of
educating them and treating their problems, Sigurdson said.
She knows of at least one person who applied for a job as a cook and was
given a position as a counsellor.
The centre also has too few treatment workers and too many support staff.
Just 30 out of nearly 100 employees are treatment workers.
Sigurdson said kids at the treatment centre may be more confused when they
leave because of the facility's emphasis on Ojibway healing. Kids come to
the centre from a variety of cultures, such as Dene, Cree, Lakota and Inuit.
Sigurdson asked the centre's cultural workers if the non-Ojibway patients
had the same beliefs. "Or are we just confusing these kids more?" she
wonders now.
"You accept our beliefs, our way, or you get punished" is the Sagkeeng
treatment centre's message, she said. "These kids leave and don't know who
they are any more."
For example, she said, kids suffering withdrawal aren't given medical or
psychological help but sent into sweat lodges. For most of them, this is
their first contact with a sweat lodge, Sigurdson said .
Barb Gervais, another treatment worker who quit after the boat cruise,
agreed the centre relies too much on cultural tradition and not enough on
modern methods of treating addictions.
"I just had enough," Gervais said, describing training there as "Mickey Mouse."
"Most people aren't properly trained, including myself," Gervais said. "The
program structure has to change, with less emphasis on tradition. These
kids need to be educated."
Training sessions for staff are generally in-house discussions about
traditional healing and are given by the same people every year, Gervais
said. Every out-of-country training session is attended by more managers
than actual treatment workers, she claimed.
"Say they send 10 people to a conference. Maybe two are counsellors; the
rest are management," she said.
For example, the centre attends annual conferences in both San Diego,
Calif., and Albuquerque, N.M., Gervais said. The stays range from seven to
10 days.
"I tried to get long-distance training (through books, videos and the
Internet) to get counselling skills. But when I asked for two days off per
week, they denied it." The program recommended a minimum 16 hours per week
of study, and Gervais has two small children.
"They said: 'If you want to do it, do it on your own time.' "
The majority of youngsters sent to the Sagkeeng centre have fetal alcohol
syndrome (FAS), or fetal alcohol effects (FAE), treatment workers say.
"A lot of kids come from homes where they're sniffing with their parents,"
said Gervais.
The Sagkeeng treatment centre is formally called the Virginia Fontaine
Addictions Foundation. Its main facilities are located on Sagkeeng First
Nation, formerly Fort Alexander reserve, about 145 kilometres northeast of
Winnipeg.
The Damage Sniffing Causes
Some information on solvent sniffing:
Inhaled vapours absorb rapidly in the lungs and brain, giving a feeling of
euphoria, sometimes dizziness, slurred speech, distorted vision, nausea and
drowsiness. Can lead to perceptual distortions and hallucinations.
Repeated use leads to severe psychological dependency and to moderate
physical dependency.
There is a possibility of significant organic damage to the lungs, liver,
kidneys and heart. Withdrawal can lead to depression and a type of delirium
tremens.
People who want help can phone Health Canada's 24-hour Sniff Help-line:
1-800-267-6358.
Major functional effects:
Poor motor co-ordination
Mental confusion
Double vision
Mood swings
Chronic apathy
Signs of use:
Giddiness
Slurred speech
Drowsiness
Dilation of pupils
Bad breath
Blood in urine and feces
Glassy eyes
From national non-profit group D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Program)
Labrador Gas Sniffers Among Its Ex-patients
AS images of children sniffing gas at Sheshatshiu, Labrador, flash across
Canadian TV screens, anger rises in some former employees of the Virginia
Fontaine Addictions Foundation at Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba.
The kids were theirs. They had them. One treatment worker rattles off their
Innu names and spellings, then goes quiet with the memory of them.
"Disgusted," says Cynthia Sigurdson about what she feels when she sees the
images from Labrador. She's a psychiatric nurse who recently left the
Sagkeeng treatment centre.
"A lot of good it did them," she adds bitterly of the kids' stays at the
centre. One Sheshatshiu youth was sent to the Sagkeeng centre three times
and spent more than a year in its care.
Sigurdson, with eight years of education in social work, quit the centre
shortly after last month's Caribbean boat cruise for more than 70 people
connected with it. Sigurdson was the only nurse working at the centre.
Three employees quit after the cruise and controversy continues to swirl
around the centre. On Friday, Health Canada suspended its funding after the
centre refused to let auditors see records prior to July 1. The government
said patients will be moved as soon as possible to other facilities across
the country.
Martin Tadman, lawyer for the Sagkeeng centre, said he wouldn't comment
until tomorrow. The woman answering the phone at the treatment centre last
night said no management personnel were available for comment until tomorrow.
"I'm not surprised at all (the Sheshatshiu kids are sniffing again)," said
Sigurdson. "Of all the kids that came through there, I've seen only one
stay successfully clean and dry."
That's out of about 400 youngsters she saw at the centre during her
two-and-a-half years there. The treatment centre takes in 150 to 200 young
people a year.
Sigurdson said she would participate in annual youth conferences where she
would see kids who had been through the centre. They would tell her they
still hadn't kicked their addiction.
The centre had no record of the youths once they left the program, she
said. The intake people were supposed to track them, but Sigurdson said
they were too busy with new kids to follow former patients.
"We've had kids come back three, four, five times," she said.
Although solving youth addictions is a tough task, she said the Sagkeeng
centre's record is inexcusable.
"The millions of dollars (funding to the Sagkeeng treatment centre) is just
a waste of money because nothing is getting done. Those kids are the same
way leaving as when they come in, or even more confused."
Not enough of the treatment workers have proper training, some former
employees say. So workers end up just babysitting patients instead of
educating them and treating their problems, Sigurdson said.
She knows of at least one person who applied for a job as a cook and was
given a position as a counsellor.
The centre also has too few treatment workers and too many support staff.
Just 30 out of nearly 100 employees are treatment workers.
Sigurdson said kids at the treatment centre may be more confused when they
leave because of the facility's emphasis on Ojibway healing. Kids come to
the centre from a variety of cultures, such as Dene, Cree, Lakota and Inuit.
Sigurdson asked the centre's cultural workers if the non-Ojibway patients
had the same beliefs. "Or are we just confusing these kids more?" she
wonders now.
"You accept our beliefs, our way, or you get punished" is the Sagkeeng
treatment centre's message, she said. "These kids leave and don't know who
they are any more."
For example, she said, kids suffering withdrawal aren't given medical or
psychological help but sent into sweat lodges. For most of them, this is
their first contact with a sweat lodge, Sigurdson said .
Barb Gervais, another treatment worker who quit after the boat cruise,
agreed the centre relies too much on cultural tradition and not enough on
modern methods of treating addictions.
"I just had enough," Gervais said, describing training there as "Mickey Mouse."
"Most people aren't properly trained, including myself," Gervais said. "The
program structure has to change, with less emphasis on tradition. These
kids need to be educated."
Training sessions for staff are generally in-house discussions about
traditional healing and are given by the same people every year, Gervais
said. Every out-of-country training session is attended by more managers
than actual treatment workers, she claimed.
"Say they send 10 people to a conference. Maybe two are counsellors; the
rest are management," she said.
For example, the centre attends annual conferences in both San Diego,
Calif., and Albuquerque, N.M., Gervais said. The stays range from seven to
10 days.
"I tried to get long-distance training (through books, videos and the
Internet) to get counselling skills. But when I asked for two days off per
week, they denied it." The program recommended a minimum 16 hours per week
of study, and Gervais has two small children.
"They said: 'If you want to do it, do it on your own time.' "
The majority of youngsters sent to the Sagkeeng centre have fetal alcohol
syndrome (FAS), or fetal alcohol effects (FAE), treatment workers say.
"A lot of kids come from homes where they're sniffing with their parents,"
said Gervais.
The Sagkeeng treatment centre is formally called the Virginia Fontaine
Addictions Foundation. Its main facilities are located on Sagkeeng First
Nation, formerly Fort Alexander reserve, about 145 kilometres northeast of
Winnipeg.
The Damage Sniffing Causes
Some information on solvent sniffing:
Inhaled vapours absorb rapidly in the lungs and brain, giving a feeling of
euphoria, sometimes dizziness, slurred speech, distorted vision, nausea and
drowsiness. Can lead to perceptual distortions and hallucinations.
Repeated use leads to severe psychological dependency and to moderate
physical dependency.
There is a possibility of significant organic damage to the lungs, liver,
kidneys and heart. Withdrawal can lead to depression and a type of delirium
tremens.
People who want help can phone Health Canada's 24-hour Sniff Help-line:
1-800-267-6358.
Major functional effects:
Poor motor co-ordination
Mental confusion
Double vision
Mood swings
Chronic apathy
Signs of use:
Giddiness
Slurred speech
Drowsiness
Dilation of pupils
Bad breath
Blood in urine and feces
Glassy eyes
From national non-profit group D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Program)
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