Dealing with youth addictions

Interior Health last week released its plan for Youth Addictions. This
follows an internal assessment of Youth Addiction services, which
identified areas that need support, based on population and current
levels of service.

As part of the $6 million allocated by the BC Government to be used for
Youth Addictions Strategies province-wide, Interior Health received
$900,000 and is matching that funding with an equal investment of
dollars towards this strategy.

"The youth addictions strategy announced today by Interior Health is a
major step forward in meeting the needs of addicted youth," said
George Abbott, Minister of Health in a press release. "While it may
not solve all the problems, it will certainly add some alternate
treatment options to help youth combat addictions".

Said Dr. Don Duncan, Child and Adolescent psychiatrist and Medical
Director, Mental Health and Addictions for the Okanagan Health Service
Area; "This is a significant investment in helping youth that are
struggling with addictions. We hope the broad-based approach outlined
in the IH plan will make a difference in the lives of our addicted
youth."

The Youth Addictions plan focuses on five main areas:

1. Safe Housing: The creation of 16 new "safe beds" throughout IH where
youth can go to safely break their addiction to stimulants and street
drugs through specialized foster care homes. (There will be eight in
the Okanagan, four in Thompson Cariboo Shuswap, two in East Kootenay
and two in Kootenay Boundary.)

2. Outreach intensive counselling and treatment for addictions, a
mobile treatment and support program, will travel to remote
communities in each of the four health service areas.

3. More clinicians will be hired to provide assessment and treatment
for mental health issues and addictions. Partnering with the Ministry
of Children & Family Development, there will be six in total: three in
the Okanagan and one each in Thompson Cariboo Shuswap, Kootenay
Boundary and East Kootenay).

4. Urban outreach workers will be hired to reach out to urban youth on
the street who are struggling with addiction to street drugs. These
workers will contact, assess and move addicted urban street youth into
appropriate treatment programs. The Okanagan will have four and the
Thompson Cariboo Shuswap and East Kootenay will each have one for a
total of six new outreach workers throughout IH.

5. Drug prevention education will be enhanced with five additional
positions to align school-based programs with youth addiction plans to
prevent drug abuse, enhance community/ professional education about
drug abuse and educate on prevention methods.

The new services are in addition to the current youth addiction
services being provided across IH, including counseling, drug and
alcohol treatment, residential addictions treatment (Phoenix Centre
and Revisions Program in Williams Lake) 12 week mobile clinic for
addictions treatment in Kootenay Boundary, street nurses, needle
exchange and school based education programs

Interior Health plans to move forward very quickly with the initiatives
identified in its plan for Youth Addictions.