ONTARIO TO PAY FOR ADDICTED TEEN'S U.S. TREATMENT

Settlement With Boy's Family May Cost Ministry Of Health
$185,000

The family of a drug-addicted teen will receive $150,000 from
Ontario's Ministry of Health after a paucity of beds forced the boy
into a U.S. treatment program at his parents' expense.

The victory means other families who can't access the paltry 10 beds
assigned for addicted teens in Ontario could also be entitled to
compensation, and that could reach into the millions, said the
family's lawyer Thursday.

"This case is basically an acknowledgment that there are no
residential drug treatment programs for adolescents in Ontario," said
Toronto lawyer David Baker, who won the settlement on behalf of a
15-year-old boy and his parents.

"Obviously, sending adolescents out of the country is not the best way
of treating them for drug addiction."

The first round of the case was settled in September, but Baker said
he is awaiting a decision on another $35,000 claim for detoxification
payments, which could push the family's out-of-court settlement to
$185,000.

The ministry says it will respond to that request, which is now before
its Health Services Appeal Review Board, by next Friday.

Baker, who was set to launch a constitutional challenge on the boy's
behalf, said the settlement should convince the government to finally
start putting some money into treating teenagers.

Right now, as many as 300 to 400 teens between the ages of 13 and 17
require residential treatment services each year in the province, said
the head of an addiction services umbrella group based in Sault Ste.
Marie.

"If it's going to cost $150,000 a kid to send those kids out of the
country, that's a lot of money we could use here," said Russell
Larocque, head of the Ontario Youth Managers Co-ordinating Group.

If parents can't pay, that means many kids are going untreated, he
added.

"A lot of people's kids are not getting help," he said.

While refusing to comment on the case, a Ministry of Health spokesman
conceded Thursday that the government may devote more dollars to teen
residential programs in the next budget.

"As we look toward next year, the ministry is going to have to look at
what can be done in terms of getting these centres up and running in
Ontario," said John Letherby.

Only $5 billion of this year's $110-million budget for drug and
alcohol services is allotted to teenagers, he said.

One program now exists for teen addicts who require 24-hour-a-day,
7-day-a-week supervision to get over their addictions -- usually
because they face serious mental illness or other problems as well,
Larocque said.

Ten beds at the Margaret Smith Centre in Thunder Bay are the only ones
in allotted for the 13-to-17 age group, Letherby confirmed.

Wendy Nolan, the head of addiction services for St. Joseph's Care
Group in Thunder Bay told The Canadian Press in August that the
program has a three-to six-month waiting list and said demand always
exceeds the centre's capacity.

The centre no longer accept teens from across the province, since it
lost its only psychiatrist in May, she added.

Meanwhile, experts say the demand for teen services is huge and
growing.

One director of a drug treatment agency in Toronto said he could place
one child a month in a residential facility. Dennis Long of Breakaway
said his organization treats about 1,000 children and teens a year.

For U.S. treatment, Ontario families are now paying on average about
$14,000 U.S. a month for the first month, and about $4,000 each month
after that.

The province imposed a restriction on out-of-province coverage in 1993
in an effort to cut costs.

But the money was supposed to be redirected to improve services in
Ontario, said Larocque, who has worked as an addictions counsellor for
the past 20 years.

"The expectation was that the Ontario system would be improved," he
said.

But not enough was done, he said, and new funds have not flowed into
programs for teen addicts since 1995.

Larocque is now drafting a notice about the settlement to send to
various addictions services throughout Ontario.

"I'm quite prepared to flag this and flog it," he said.

"I find it absolutely insane that a family has to sue their own
government so their kid can get treatment."

Health Minister and Tory leadership candidate Tony Clement and was
unavailable for comment Thursday.