DRUG TESTING FOR WELFARE CLIENTS EVOLVES

When the Ontario government, under the leadership of Mike Harris,
introduced a new welfare policy, there was no shortage of protest.

Former premier Harris cut back welfare benefits sharply, and later
introduced a policy of drug testing for recipients who were plagued by
addictions to alcohol and illegal drugs. The addictions policy - which was
first outlined in 1995 in the Tory pre-election policy manual known as the
'blueprint' - raised the ire of social activists. Critics felt mandatory
drug testing and treatment was an attack on the poor.

Now that program is slowly falling into place across the province. And it's
landing without the massive protests of the past.

In Algoma, a Northern Ontario region that encompasses Elliot Lake, the
program is being implemented in stages, said Tracey Brick, Ontario Works
manager for the Algoma District. Of the region's four sub-stations, two now
have nearly fully implemented the Mandatory Addiction Treatment Initiative.

'We feel it is going really well,' Brick told the Enterprise. 'The province
has done quite a lot of consultation,' she added.

The addictions program is meant to identify Ontario Works clients troubled
by addictions and to provide them with the required counseling and treatment.

Worries of an indiscriminate system that would automatically cut off drug
users are unfounded, Brick noted.

Instead, the initiative 'really focuses on supporting participants in
treatment.'

Already, 18 clients in Algoma have been referred to an addictions treatment
worker, Brick said.

In some cases in Southern Ontario, clients with addictions have been
offered fishing tackle and had dental work paid for by Ontario Works, said
Christine Bujold, a spokesperson for Brenda Elliot, the current Minister of
family services.

'The ultimate goal of the program is to help individuals find and keep
jobs,' Bujold said. Bujold noted that the ministry consulted with over 600
people - everyone from addicts to treatment specialists - on how best to
mold and implement the addiction treatment program.

Meanwhile, the Kenora District has not yet implemented an addictions
treatment initiative, said Linda Lunny, director of Ontario Works for the
Kenora District.

That won't happen until 2005, she said, when the provincial deadline for
all service areas to implement the program rolls around.

So far only a few regions, including Thunder Bay and Algoma in the North,
have begun the implementation process.

Lunny said the Kenora District has about 550 people on welfare. She could
not say what percentage of that case load might come under the addictions
program.

Lunny said her biggest concern about the program's looming implementation
is in the area of resources.

'Our challenges are the resources available,' she said.

For instance, transportation to addiction treatment centres may be
difficult for some Ontario Works clients, especially those in places like
Ear Falls, Ignace, and Pickle Lake, where there are no treatment centres,
Lunny said.

When it comes to cutting off welfare payments to clients suffering from
addiction, Lunny said that would be a last resort.

The first step, she said, is to identify those in need of counseling and
then to devise a treatment plan.

'If you just cut them off - heaven knows what is going to happen,' she said.