GIRLS DRUG TREATMENT CENTRE GETS FUNDS

West Carleton Residential Facility Expected to Open in Mid-August

A new residential drug treatment facility for girls is to open its
doors this August after a shortage in operational funding delayed the
ribbon-cutting slated for June.

"We couldn't get the financing, therefore we couldn't get the staff,"
said Glenn Barnes, chief executive of the David Smith Youth Treatment
Centre, which is operating the 10-bed West Carleton facility.

Barnes said a line of credit was opened to get the essential staff --
a mix of seasoned employees and new hires -- who will be ready to
admit patients starting in the second week of August.

Barnes said the centre received word last week that the regional
health authority, the Champlain Local Health Integration Network
(LHIN), would come through with additional funding at the end of the
month.

The David Smith Centre, which operates youth day programs, has joined
forces with the co-ed youth Alwood Treatment Centre in Carleton Place,
which is to become an all-boys facility.

Barnes said three of the five girls currently housed at the co-ed
program would be transferred to the all-girls facility. The other two
will have completed the three-month program before the move.

Even with five spots opening at the 14-bed facility in Carleton Place
and seven spots at the new centre, Barnes said they would have no
trouble filling beds.

While the centre doesn't operate a waiting list because, Barnes said,
it's difficult to tell teenagers they must wait several months to be
admitted to a three-month program, they currently have 10 to 12
requests for drug treatment in the residential program.

The change from co-ed to segregated facilities is the result of
studies suggesting that treatment in segregated care is more
effective, Barnes said.

"What they found is, if you have a co-ed facility, because a large
portion of the female clients have a history of sexual abuse, they
don't feel very comfortable being around male clients," he said. "It
re-traumatizes them to the point where it can do them harm."

Funding is only the latest reason for delays in opening the
facility.

Last fall, plans to put the service in a building on Heron Road faced
opposition from clinical staff who argued they could give better care
in a more isolated setting, Barnes said.

As a result the facility will be at the property that housed the
former Meadow Creek program for adults on rural Bradley Side Road,
formerly operated by the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group.

Provincial funding allowed for a retrofit of the facility, which has
been vacant for two years, including septic systems, alarm and
electrical panels, to suit the needs of the new youth centre.

Ottawa Police Chief Vern White has long been an advocate for youth
treatment and prevention of drug use.

He stressed Tuesday that the facilities would be two of only three
centres funded provincially in Ontario.

"We've got way too many addicts who can't get treatment right now,
both young and old," White said.