NEW DRUG-TREATMENT PROGRAM FOR YOUTH

It's hard to believe it took so long but it's finally happening.
AADAC's first residential drug-treatment programs for youth are
expected to be operating by the end of August.

With $4.2 million in government funding, the Alberta Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Commission is preparing to provide eight detox beds and 16
residential treatment beds for youth.

Edmonton's four detox and eight residential beds will be in
side-by-side houses at the Yellowhead Youth Centre, says Marilyn
Mitchell, AADAC's Edmonton manager of youth services.

The long-term plan is to centralize all youth services in one
facility, she says. But, for now, staff are renovating their borrowed
digs at the YYC, buying equipment and hiring and training staff.

"It's just great for us," says Mitchell, adding parents of addicted
kids have been clamouring for residential treatment programs for kids
for a long time.

Parents will be strongly encouraged to stay involved throughout the
entire process, she adds.

"We look at this as a family-centred treatment program. Families are
part of the treatment team."

While the Edmonton residential treatment program will be based on a
group-care model, the one in the Calgary area will follow an
adventure therapy wilderness model.

Up to eight teens will be housed in two cabins northwest of Cochrane
and treated by the Enviros Wilderness School Association, using
AADAC-devised programming.

Enviros, a non-profit group, has been providing services to children
and their families for almost three decades, including programs for
young offenders, family support services and emergency foster care.

As well as teaching young people life skills and conflict resolution,
Enviros also does wilderness programming to promote perseverance,
co-operation and leadership.

Most of the association's programs are now run in Calgary so the
rural cabins will be reserved for AADAC's youth residential
treatment, says Enviros executive director Doug Darwish.

"We've got a great deal of residential expertise," he says. "We're
very excited about the opportunity to work with both teens and AADAC.

"We think it's a natural fit for us philosophically, working with
kids in the wilderness."

There will also be four detox beds for youth in Calgary, run by Hull
Child and Family Services based on AADAC's program.

Up to now, the best we could do for teen addicts was offer
three-month residential support programs in Edmonton and Calgary. The
kids stayed in private homes and went to AADAC treatment centres
during the day.

There were simply no round-the-clock drug-treatment services for
teens who weren't before the courts or involved with the child welfare system.

In serious cases, teens have sometimes been placed in adult detox
facilities, says Silvia Vajushi, AADAC's Calgary manager of youth services.

"That wasn't ideal because youth have very different needs," she points out.

Fortunately, things are about to change. There will even be a
separate treatment stream for kids addicted to crystal meth.

The new system will be flexible enough that recovering teen addicts
can switch back and forth between programs, says Vajushi.

"They can take pieces of or all of the spectrum depending on their needs."

Alberta's legislation, which would force teens into detox for five
days, hasn't been proclaimed yet, so for now, AADAC's new residential
drug programs are voluntary. Will the kids come? Stay tuned.