NON-MEDICAL ISSUES RELATING TO ADDICTION TREATMENT NOW GETTING LONG OVERDUE
ATTENTION

A pilot program focusing on the non-medical side of addiction
treatment has seen a good response in Peterborough.

The program, officially running since the fall, is a pilot project of
the social services department. Eight other Ontario communities are
offering the same program.

The purpose, says Ontario Works (OW) manager Nancy Fischer , is to
focus on a variety of issues unrelated to the medical side of
addiction treatment.

The City's employment counselor help clients in a number of ways,
perhaps simply walking them to a treatment centre or helping them look
for a new apartment to live in.

Participants are receiving Ontario Works benefits and have volunteered
for the program.

Currently, the department is helping close to 100 people and has two
trained counselors and a third just finishing training.

Locally, FOURCAST helps clients with the medical side of treatment
while a program counselor helps with all the other living issues that
come up.

"They support the treatment plan," explains Ms Fischer.

"There's a lot of barriers besides treatment."

Ontario Works' John Coreno , concurs.

"(Addiction) is a symptom of other issues a person needs to deal
with," he says.

"You have to deal with the sources."

"They should be focused on treatment," Ms Fischer adds, noting when a
person is worrying about a number of issues in their life, kicking an
addiction is that much harder.

It can be as simple as finding appropriate housing for a person. If
someone is weaning him or herself off alcohol but they live in an
apartment above a bar, his or her treatment will progress better if
they move to another apartment, she explains.

"We make sure the supports are in place so when they do relapse, it's
not as big of a drop," adds Mr. Coreno.

When the previous Tory government originally unveiled the program a
couple of years ago, it called for mandatory drug testing. That
brought the expected cries from social justice groups which derided
the government for proposing such a program.

After discussions with social service department officials across
Ontario and various addiction treatment representatives, the
provincial government pulled back from that original plan. The
objective now is not to identify OW clients addicted to a substance
but to help them become employable.

"We only deal with addictions as barriers to employment," Ms Fischer
explains.

"What we see now is a result of listening," adds Mr.
Coreno.

"The ministry has chosen not to dictate to us. The program is driven
very much by the early sites telling the province what works and what
doesn't."

The plan is to have this program rolled out across the province by the
end of 2005.

In Prince Edward-Lennox-Addington County, the program has evolved to
the point now that those who are acting as counselors were previously
clients. That's where Peterborough will hopefully head, says local
representatives, but adding that municipality has had its program
running a year longer than Peterborough.

One of the drawbacks of the program is that it only helps people on
social assistance.

"How can we continue to help somebody who's gone off of social
assistance?" asks Mr. Coreno.

"That will be a challenge we all will have to face."