FRANCAIS

April 12, 2006

Parents and guardians will have another option to help their children struggling with severe and persistent substance abuse issues with today’s introduction of the Youth Drug Stabilization (Support for Parents) Act, Healthy Living Minister Theresa Oswald has announced.

The proposed legislation will allow a provincial court to issue an order under which a person under 18 can be taken to a designated facility for assessment by addiction specialists to determine if it is in the youth’s best interest to be detained for stabilization.

 “This act will help parents and guardians to provide support to a small segment of youth with extremely serious substance abuse problems,” said Oswald.  “The well-being and safety of our youth is of utmost importance to the people of Manitoba.”

 “Through this legislation, young people who are heavily under the sway of their severe substance abuse will be provided with an entry point into treatment programs they would otherwise have been unable to seek for themselves,” said John Borody, CEO of the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba.

 Under the proposed act, an application can be made to a justice for an order to apprehend a youth if the applicant believes and can provide evidence the youth:

·      is suffering from severe and persistent drug abuse,

·      is at risk of serious deterioration physically or psychologically,

·     needs to be assessed by an addictions specialist to determine if the youth should be admitted to a facility to be stabilized   so that they can make a decision respecting future drug abuse treatment; and

·     has consistently refused to agree to voluntary interventions or has not succeeded in previous interventions to address drug problems.

In December, Oswald announced details of a $6.7-million comprehensive strategy to enhance and increase mental-health and addictions programs and services.  Some of the government’s investments in mental-health and addictions programs include:

·     funding to improve access to youth addictions programming at the Behavioural Health Foundation;

·     funding for a clinical therapist and a registered nurse for the Behavioural Health Foundation;

·     funding for two new youth outreach positions with the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, one located in Winnipeg and  one in Thompson;

·     investing in a Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) team, the priority of which will be to facilitate the  discharge of patients from Selkirk Mental Health Centre who require support in the community;

·     establishing and maintaining a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week provincial suicide prevention line;

·     providing additional training for health-care staff in suicide prevention;

·     increasing ongoing funding to the Teen Talk program to enhance its work throughout the province;

·     funding for additional staffing for the Winnipeg Early Intervention in Psychosis program;

·     funding to establish an Early Intervention in Mental Illness program in Brandon;

·     funding to provide additional community mental-health workers in the regional health authorities; and

·     as one of the commitments of the Manitoba Meth Strategy, funding to facilitate training throughout the province on a variety of mental-health and addictions topics including crystal meth.

 In the March budget, the Manitoba government announced $2 million in annual funding to combat crystal meth and addictions.

 “In introducing this act, we are providing another tool to ensure our comprehensive addictions services can reach youth with substance abuse issues,” said Oswald.  “We recognize our responsibility to protect the rights of Manitobans and to balance that protection of rights with the responsibility to provide help to people.”

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