Pubdate: Tue, 22 Sep 2009
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Pauline Tam
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

DISPUTE OVER LOCATION MAY STALL YOUTH DRUG TREATMENT CENTRE

South Ottawa Location Labelled 'Toxic Environment'

The opening of Ottawa's youth drug treatment centre, which organizers 
had hoped to get up and running by December, is almost certain to be 
delayed over a disagreement about where the facility should be.

The United Way, charged with finding a site and the money to pay for 
it, has chosen a former convent on Baycrest Drive, near Heron and 
Walkley roads in south Ottawa. The two treatment agencies that would 
work together to staff the centre say that neighbourhood provides a 
"toxic environment" unsuited to helping young addicts.

Supporters of the proposed location say the conflict threatens to 
delay access to treatment for 420 people already on the waiting list 
and derail $2.4 million in annual provincial funding set aside for 
the centre once it opens.

The issue is likely to come to a head as the Oct. 2 deadline for a 
conditional offer on the proposed property approaches.

Meanwhile, the region's health-planning agency, which has final say 
over where the centre is located and who runs it, is apparently 
prepared to break the deadlock by finding other agencies willing to 
administer the treatment program.

"If we decide this is the place we want to use and if we don't have a 
willing partner, maybe we'll have to find a willing partner," said 
Dr. Robert Cushman, chief executive of the Champlain Local Health 
Integration Network.

For now, the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre and the Alwood 
Treatment Centre in Carleton Place have agreed to run the new 
residential treatment program. But they say the south Ottawa location 
won't work.

Chief among their concerns is the site's proximity to a neighbourhood 
that, they say, is known for drug-related crime.

"It's in a very urban location," said Mike Beauchesne, executive 
director of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre. "It's close to one 
intermediate school, two high schools, a mall and a housing project 
that is quite known for gang activity and drug activity."

Last Friday, the chairs of both groups' boards sent a letter 
outlining their concerns to United Way Ottawa, which is charged 
(under a 2008 agreement among multiple city and provincial agencies 
and groups) with finding a site and raising money to purchase land 
for the centre.

"We feel strongly that the toxic environment around the facility 
would have a severe and long-lasting negative impact on our ability 
to treat our clients -- and ultimately, their ability to recover," 
said the letter, signed by Howard Williamson of the Dave Smith Centre 
and Reid Kilburn of Alwood.

The United Way has raised about 80 per cent of a $6-million fund 
targeted at fighting youth addiction. Half the money is earmarked for 
the purchase of two properties -- one for English-speaking youths and 
another for French-speaking ones. (The other half is targeted at 
school-based programs to prevent drug abuse among teens.)

The United Way has put a deposit on the Baycrest property and made a 
conditional offer to buy it by Oct. 2 -- an arrangement that the 
frontline agencies say was made without consulting them.

"Our position in this matter is that further investigation needs to 
be carried out to find a suitable site," Williamson and Kilburn said.

Both groups say the original idea was to house the youth treatment 
facility in a remote, rural setting, which some addictions experts 
suggest would be more effective in getting addicts to focus on 
rehabilitation. It would also reduce the temptation for some 
residents to run away.

A secluded location in Kanata, near Carp Road, had been considered a 
contender. But the site was eventually deemed unaffordable and 
unrealistic for the short time available to get the centre off the 
ground, said Michael Allen, chief executive of United Way Ottawa.

Among other things, the 130-acre Kanata property, owned by the Royal 
Ottawa Health Care Group, would be far too large for the new drug 
treatment centre to occupy. "It's probably 10 times more property 
than they need," said Allen.

Buying it would require severing and rezoning any unused land, which 
would then be put up for sale, he said.

What's more, the existing facility on the Kanata property is so run 
down that it would likely have to be demolished and a new building constructed.

By contrast, the Baycrest property, a former convent with 45 
residential rooms and a commercial kitchen, is available immediately. 
"You can move into it with relatively modest renovations," said Allen.

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