SCHEME HELPS PARENTS RESCUE KIDS, ADVOCATE SAYS

Forsyth Hopes The Number Of Addicted Teens Going Into Treatment After
Detox Will Increase Once Counsellors Are Given A Bigger Role

About half of the 600-odd Alberta teens ordered by the courts into
detox each year eventually agree to move into voluntary treatment
programs to try to break their addiction.

"That's not a bad number. Is it great? No. Could it be better?
Absolutely," says Calgary MLA Heather Forsyth, a champion of the
Protection of Children Abusing Drugs Act which allows parents to go
to court to force their kids into detox.

A 2007 evaluation of PChAD program found that 49 per cent of teens
went into treatment after leaving the safe house and more than half
said they had a better relationship with their family.

A new evaluation by the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Commission, expected
to be released this spring, was a key factor in formulating the
amendments to PChAD currently before the legislature in Bill 6.

At the outset, the PCHAD program raised some questions about
infringements of the rights of teenagers faced with compulsory confinement.

Forsyth, a staunch defender, says she doesn't feel the program is
invasive but rather is an invaluable tool for parents trying to
rescue their kids.

She's also hoping the number of teens who go into treatment after
enforced detox will increase when addiction counsellors are given a
bigger role in the process.

A key change would require parents to meet AADAC counsellors before
they go to court, says Forsyth. That gives parents the chance to find
out what programs are available, get expert advice on the best way
forward and learn some tools for dealing with an addicted teen.

"Parents are in shock when they first find out and they need
resources, to understand what they are dealing with," she said.

"It's important to determine the level of addiction and the drugs
being used and for that, AADAC is a great resource."

Under the changes, the enforced confinement will increase from five
days to 10 days, with an additional five days where warranted. That
will give addiction counsellors more time to work with the teens
before they are released, she says.

Forsyth made exactly that recommendation in the 2007 report from the
task force on Crime Reduction and Safer Communities that she chaired.

At the height of the boom, Forsyth held hearings across the province
and was shocked at the level of drug abuse and drug-related crime.
She called for more treatment beds and more education for youth about
drugs and addiction.

Since her election in 1994, Forsyth has worked tirelessly to find
ways to deal with children and youth caught in heartbreaking social
problems. She soon became an advocate of enlisting the courts to help
and championed groundbreaking legislation in Canada -- laws that at
times raised questions about infringements of civil liberties.

Ten years ago, she pushed for a program that gives police and social
workers the power to apprehend teen prostitutes and confine them to
safe houses. (A constitutional challenge to that program restricted
the length of confinement to 47 days.)

As children's services minister in 2004, she brought in legislation
allowing social workers to remove children from drug dens where the
parents manufactured crystal meth.

"Sometimes the state has to step in on behalf of the child," says
Forsyth, who, as solicitor general in 2001, led a campaign to fight
the spread of highly addictive and destructive crystal meth.

"There isn't a kid out there who wants to be a prostitute or who says
'I want to be drug addict or live in a drug house,' " says Forsyth.
"What child in this country wants that?"

"I've dealt with a lot of angry children. But I've also had them call
me and say, 'I'll be at the usual corner, come and apprehend me.'

"And once they are sober and clean, they are thankful the state was
there and the parents were there. I've seen remarkable things happen."