Youth Detox Centre

[John Zeger]

The Saturday Okanagan reported on June 18, 2005 that "the Youth Detox Centre on Cadder Ave. is preparing to close at the end of June when its federal funding runs out." Shutting down the Detox Centre "will leave more than 100 girls helpless and high this summer, says a recovering crack addict," according to the paper. "The four-bed transition suite provides detox services to young people who want to stop using crack, crystal meth and other street drugs. ...
The centre, the only one of its kind in the Okanagan, is staffed by a residential counsellor, a psychiatric nurse and a team leader. Most of the 155 people treated there since it opened in 2003 have been homeless girls under the age [of] 19."

It is imperative that this detox facility be kept open. The city should provide bridge financing to keep it open until more permanent funding becomes available from senior levels of government. This is the proper way to address the problem of the increase in drug use and drug-related crime in Kelowna and not by building highrises downtown and giving developers tax breaks to do so.

[tilma]

The Iridian Youth Detox Centre is also slated for closure. For more information see the following two articles: Capitol News - Jennifer Smith reported “City’s Only Youth Detox Centre Faces Closure” in the Capitol News on June 17th, 2005. E-mail: [e-mail]

The Province - [e-mail] reported “Crystal Meth: Campbell Takes Stand” dated Sunday May 8, 2005 ( photocopied and distributed to you at our last meeting about the growing threat of crystal meth and lack of treatment spaces for youth in BC)
The Province - Letters to the Editor: [e-mail].

Please read the letters and then start writing some letters to the papers and the above stated authors:
Daily Courier - Letters to the Editor: [e-mail]
The Province - Letters to the Editor: [e-mail].

We need this detox with this great functioning infrastructure now more than ever. Please state your opinion in one of our daily's and ask for the needed support

[ncham]

Just to clarify, the two youth detox centres described above are the same centre. The news coverage is referring to the Iridian Youth Detox and Assessment Centre operated by Okanagan Families Society.

In the last 22 months the Iridian Centre has received operational funding from the National Homelessness Initiative; this funding ends on June 30, 2005. Originally it was set to end on May 31, 2005, but Okanagan Families Society received an additional one month from HRSDC. In addition to funding from the National Homelessness Initiative, IHA and MCFD have been supporting per diem amounts for 3 of the 4 beds.

Okanagan Families Society have written letters to several Provincial ministers and Premier Campbell, requesting sustainable funding for this important Youth Detox Centre. However, the Provincial Government have indicated that Okanagan Families Society should approach local MCFD and IHA for support. The Agency have therefore requested support from IHA and MCFD but these requests were declined: funds are not currently available.

To learn more about the impending closure of the Iridian Youth Detox Centre, please refer to the recent media coverage:

City's Only Youth Detox Centre Faces Closure, Capital News, Friday June 17, 2005, page A22

Loss of Teen Detox Looms: Recovering Addict Says Kelowna Needs Facility to Help Girls Like Her, Daily Courier, Saturday June 18, 2005, page A1

Youth Detox Closing Just As Demand Set To Peak. Daily Courier, Wednesday, June 22, 2005, Page A3.

Contact information for the newspapers is posted in the above message.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like more information on the Iridian Centre.

Kind regards,

Natalie Chambers
Research & Development Officer, Okanagan Families Society
Tel: [phone]

[Rick Shea]

In the Health Canada Publication "Best Practices, Treatment and Rehabilitation for Women with Substance Abuse Problems," www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/cds/pdf/women-e.pdf

the authors point out that one of the critical barriers to succesful treatment is the lack of availability of appropriate services (page 14):

"There was a strong consensus of opinion among key experts that a fundamental barrier for women is the overall lack of treatment services available to women who require or request them. Canadian key experts cited the lack of the following types of services:

- women-centred, gender-specific services (or treatment with clearly defined components for women);
- services which are safe and provide protection from harassment and fear;
- services which are widely distributed and geographically accessible;
- services which are cost free."

Successful models in other cities demonstrate the positive correlation between appropriate treatment and successful rehabilitation for both genders, for example www.drugrehabresources.com/bystate.php?state=New+York#detox

These detox centres are clearly a crucial part of any caring society. Thank you, Natalie, for your information and your work in this regard.

[tilma]

Thanks for helping me out there, Natalie. For whatever reason I assumed that the Iridian centre was not on Cadder Ave but elsewhere. Thanks for the clarification...

[tilma]

My letter to the editor:

Re: Loss of teen detox looms


I am dismayed and outraged that the Iridian Youth Detox Centre is slated for closure due to a funding shortage! Kelowna is a wealthy city that wants to be moving forward. In my opinion, this city will only move forward when it finally allocates some funds for our homeless youths. The Iridian Centre gives this city a unique opportunity to do just that!
The Centre has already built an infrastructure of services. Youths know where the centre is, what it is about and most important they can refer themselves to learn and deal with their substance misuse and leave their life on the streets of Kelowna .
We have all made mistakes in our lives, but with the help of others have managed to turn our mistakes into powerful experiences and life lessons. A mistake is only a mistake if someone does not learn from it. If a mistake helps a person to learn something then it is an experience and not a mistake. Those youth participating in the Iridian Centre have also made mistakes and it is up to us, the community, to help them turn their mistakes into experiences.
These youth are of significance to us, the community. A ‘lost’ youth is a loss of social capital. The economic costs of a homeless youth on our streets far outweighs the costs of helping this homeless youth get off the streets, develop educational and employment skills, and become a contributing community member. If Kelowna truly wants to be moving forward then we will need all the social, cultural and economic capital that this community can muster!
It is my greatest hope that the Mayor, City Council and other levels of government will realize that Kelowna cannot afford to close the Iridian Youth Detox Centre. I urge our local governments to allocate funds to keep the Centre open!
Tina Marten

[John Zeger]

The Iridian Youth Detox Centre closed its doors on June 30 with lots of positive words from Mayor Walter Gray about the important role that it is playing in our community but with no cash to back up the rhetoric. Yet he claims that he and the rest of city council are committed to the Four Pillars approach to dealing with drug-related crime. Again, more rhetoric and hypocrisy.

In the meanwhile it was announced that city managers will be receiving substantial pay hikes "Massive Pay Hikes for City Managers," Kelowna Daily Courier, July 1, 2005). The Courier states, "Top managers at Kelowna City Hall got an average pay boost of 10 percent last year, newly released financial statements show. And the salaries for eight department heads rose almost 30 percent between 2001 and 2004. During the same three-year period, the wage of the average British Columbian rose less than six percent, according to B.C. Statistics." Among city managers getting hefty pay increases was Ron Mattiussi, Director of Planning, with a 37% pay increase between 2001 and 2004. It's obvious that members of the "growth machine" in our city are really looking after one-another. I would like to ask if Mr. Mattiussi, the chief architect of the destruction of our beautiful city, is worth $145,000 for the job he is doing in adding to traffic congestion through his policies of dramatically increasing residential densities. Instead of getting a raise, he should be relieved of his duties and made full-time Emergency Services Director. That was a job he seemed to be good at.

[cathy]

I definitely agree that more should be done to keep this facility open, and an emphasis should be placed on providing better services for addicts and homeless people in general. I was recently involved in a fundraiser for a similar service, selling awareness bracelets to raise money for the cause, and everyone I asked was more than happy to put money forward to help out. Whatever else happens as far as development, this is something that Kelowna needs to deal with, especially with youth, and closing the Detox Centre seems a definite step in the wrong direction.

[John Zeger]

It was reported on CKOV this morning (July 4, 2005) that MLA Cindy Hawkins is making an effort to get funding for the Iridian Youth Detox Centre through B.C. Interior Health but that even if this funding becomes available that it won't be for a few months. Shame on Mayor Walter Gray and Kelowna City Council for allowing this facility to close while they are giving themselves and city bureaucrats raises and giving tax breaks to developers to build highrises downtown. Shame!

[tilma]

It has been a month now that the Iridian is closed and there is still no news about some (interim) funding. It goes to show that council and the mayor do not care and are not doing their jobs! Shame on them! A true leader would have rallied around the most vulnerable and disadvanrataged of his community and not hoped that they would dissipate into thin air! I guess there is hope that this fall there will be some well needed change down at the city hall.

[John Zeger]

I agree. Mayor Walter Gray is fully supportive of the Aquatic Centre becoming an Aquatic Disneyland here in Kelowna and is prepared to put the city in debt and the taxpayers on the hook for this luxury, but not one dime was contributed by city council in order to enable the Iridian Centre to stay open. Shame on Mayor Gray and Council!