Manitoba addictions programming failing youth: report

“There needs to be more services that are youth focused.”

That’s the message from Manitoba’s Advocate for Children and Youth, who found young people in the province are being failed by Manitoba’s addictions programming. The advocate’s new report found the only solution is complete reform.

“Manitoba’s current youth addiction system is plagued by systemic issues that greatly impact the availability, accessibility, and quality of services – making it ill-equipped to meet the complex and co-occurring needs of the children and youth it is intended for,” Manitoba Advocate Sherry Gott said in a news release.

“Manitoba’s young people not only deserve better, they have a right to it under international human rights law – the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.”

In an interview with CityNews, Gott said “the government has to come to the table” and there needs to be true political will to address issues found in the report, which was compiled based on interviews with 39 young people and roundtable discussions with more than 120 service providers.

“Collectively, key issues identified include limited access to services, long waitlists, geographic inequities, and a lack of integrated mental health support and harm reduction services,” said the report’s executive summary, which stressed youth in rural and northern communities face even greater challenges.”

“We know that youth are dying.”

—Sherry Gott, Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth

The report does not have recommendations, but a call for a full overhaul, stressing Indigenous youth who use substances are disproportionately represented, with most struggling with their mental health, most having faced adverse childhood experiences and many having been directly involved with more than one government system.

“Only through collaborative action can we propel the changes essential to ensuring the needs, best interests, and rights of young people are at the forefront of all youth-serving systems, and a future where every young person who uses substances in Manitoba can access the support they need, when they need it,” said Gott.

“Not only is this within our power, but it is our responsibility. The survival and well-being of Manitoba’s young people depend on it.”

Speaking to reporters, she said she hopes the report will be used as a tool to provide people who work in the system and the government itself to develop a youth strategy in the areas of addictions and mental health.

In a statement, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said the report is another example of First Nations youth being failed by the system.

“When young people have to enter the justice system before they even hear about addiction supports, when they are forced to leave their First Nations for services that should be available at home, and when trusted relationships with service providers are abruptly severed, it denies them of their rights and their humanity. These failures cannot continue,” said AMC Acting Grand Chief Betsy Kennedy.

More training is needed: advocate

Some supporting youth in the province are calling for more support and training.

“The harm reduction approach is so important,” said Jamie Pfau, president of the Manitoba Foster Parents Association, who says many youth are using substances to escape pain and trauma.

She said the association is pleased to hear Manitoba’s Advocate for Children and Youth is calling for change, saying families need more support and education in the community, and that knowledge on how to support and help youth using substances is critical.

“Foster parents are just unprepared,” she said. … “Without training — we’re one of the only jurisdictions in the world that doesn’t require a pre-service training program. That’s where those foundations could be.”

Recalling when her family was overwhelmed by a youth who was using substances more than 10 years ago, she says something needs to change, as punishment, like grounding or removal of privileges, only created further distance, with frontline training closing the gap.

“That way before you have a child in your home, before you have an attachment to this child, you would have a better understanding of what to expect and then how to best respond,” she said.

Pfau also says there needs to be more training across the board, as even if foster parents try to support a youth who does drugs, they may be subjected to criticism from other aspects of the system, saying there needs to be a plan.

“What is the strategy, what is the plan? We don’t know,” she said, adding many hoped the NDP government would bring change. “We didn’t see that.”

“We need action and we need funding,” she said.