DISPUTE OVER LOCATION MAY STALL YOUTH DRUG TREATMENT CENTRE

South Ottawa Location Labelled 'Toxic Environment'

The opening of Ottawa's youth drug treatment centre, which organizers
had hoped to get up and running by December, is almost certain to be
delayed over a disagreement about where the facility should be.

The United Way, charged with finding a site and the money to pay for
it, has chosen a former convent on Baycrest Drive, near Heron and
Walkley roads in south Ottawa. The two treatment agencies that would
work together to staff the centre say that neighbourhood provides a
"toxic environment" unsuited to helping young addicts.

Supporters of the proposed location say the conflict threatens to
delay access to treatment for 420 people already on the waiting list
and derail $2.4 million in annual provincial funding set aside for
the centre once it opens.

The issue is likely to come to a head as the Oct. 2 deadline for a
conditional offer on the proposed property approaches.

Meanwhile, the region's health-planning agency, which has final say
over where the centre is located and who runs it, is apparently
prepared to break the deadlock by finding other agencies willing to
administer the treatment program.

"If we decide this is the place we want to use and if we don't have a
willing partner, maybe we'll have to find a willing partner," said
Dr. Robert Cushman, chief executive of the Champlain Local Health
Integration Network.

For now, the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre and the Alwood
Treatment Centre in Carleton Place have agreed to run the new
residential treatment program. But they say the south Ottawa location
won't work.

Chief among their concerns is the site's proximity to a neighbourhood
that, they say, is known for drug-related crime.

"It's in a very urban location," said Mike Beauchesne, executive
director of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre. "It's close to one
intermediate school, two high schools, a mall and a housing project
that is quite known for gang activity and drug activity."

Last Friday, the chairs of both groups' boards sent a letter
outlining their concerns to United Way Ottawa, which is charged
(under a 2008 agreement among multiple city and provincial agencies
and groups) with finding a site and raising money to purchase land
for the centre.

"We feel strongly that the toxic environment around the facility
would have a severe and long-lasting negative impact on our ability
to treat our clients -- and ultimately, their ability to recover,"
said the letter, signed by Howard Williamson of the Dave Smith Centre
and Reid Kilburn of Alwood.

The United Way has raised about 80 per cent of a $6-million fund
targeted at fighting youth addiction. Half the money is earmarked for
the purchase of two properties -- one for English-speaking youths and
another for French-speaking ones. (The other half is targeted at
school-based programs to prevent drug abuse among teens.)

The United Way has put a deposit on the Baycrest property and made a
conditional offer to buy it by Oct. 2 -- an arrangement that the
frontline agencies say was made without consulting them.

"Our position in this matter is that further investigation needs to
be carried out to find a suitable site," Williamson and Kilburn said.

Both groups say the original idea was to house the youth treatment
facility in a remote, rural setting, which some addictions experts
suggest would be more effective in getting addicts to focus on
rehabilitation. It would also reduce the temptation for some
residents to run away.

A secluded location in Kanata, near Carp Road, had been considered a
contender. But the site was eventually deemed unaffordable and
unrealistic for the short time available to get the centre off the
ground, said Michael Allen, chief executive of United Way Ottawa.

Among other things, the 130-acre Kanata property, owned by the Royal
Ottawa Health Care Group, would be far too large for the new drug
treatment centre to occupy. "It's probably 10 times more property
than they need," said Allen.

Buying it would require severing and rezoning any unused land, which
would then be put up for sale, he said.

What's more, the existing facility on the Kanata property is so run
down that it would likely have to be demolished and a new building constructed.

By contrast, the Baycrest property, a former convent with 45
residential rooms and a commercial kitchen, is available immediately.
"You can move into it with relatively modest renovations," said Allen.

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