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The Campaign
Support + Treatment
Two facilities in Ottawa will serve young people from across the province: one in the West end for English-speaking youth and one in the east end for those who speak French. Both will be managed by experts in youth substance abuse: the west-end facility by the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre and Alwood; the east-end facility by Maison Fraternité.
Both residential treatment centres will offer:
- Addiction treatment and counselling for three to four months for each youth admitted to the treatment centre, followed by assertive continuing care once the youth leaves the centre — helping youth deal with temptation, peer pressure, poor role models, along with their addiction, mental health, behavioural and social issues.
- A clinical setting, with addiction counsellors who are trained in teenage addiction — identifying the issues behind the substance abuse and applying behaviour modification and therapeutic tools to help each youth break his or her abuse-to-dependence pattern.
- A secure and caring environment — providing the right setting so that youth can get healthy, learn how to reconnect with family and friends, and eventually integrate back into the community.
Education + Prevention
With project s.t.e.p.’s help, Ottawa’s four school boards are enhancing their substance abuse education and prevention programs in all 55 high schools, including non-traditional academic settings, in the Ottawa area.
Until now, only some high schools were providing school-based support to students who are dealing with substance abuse — some at a low level of service, not reaching enough students or not reaching students as often as they should.
The Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) is coordinating the implementation of this enhanced addiction education and prevention program. The Substance Abuse and Youth in School (SAYS) Coalition, the four school boards, youth-focused addiction treatment agencies, professionals in the enforcement, health and social services sectors, teachers and student support professionals are working together to implement the program in all the high schools.
Program components:
- Outreach and Awareness to gather information and engage key community organizations and people in addressing youth substance abuse issues.
- Education and Training to deliver education sessions to youth; educate parents about parenting in the context of substance abuse and addiction; and train school staff to recognize the signs of substance abuse and the importance of working in partnership with professionals, students and families.
- School-based Counselling to develop a core team at each school to work with the assigned addictions counsellor; establish a counsellor at each school to train the core team and all staff, counsel students, communicate with parents, and hold education sessions for parents and students in the younger grades (6-8).
- Evaluation and Information-Sharing to collect data in order to evaluate the results of the program; and develop a model for establishing similar programs in rural Ottawa.
Program Model PDF
