ACCESSING YOUTH ADDICTION SERVICES

Dear Editor:

As the manager of Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions
Programs for Vancouver Coastal Health on the North Shore, I would like
to clarify several points made in the article, Forum Aims to Raise
Drug Awareness (North Shore News, Nov. 25), regarding our services.

First, let me applaud both the organizers of the forum and the North
Shore News for helping to highlight what is clearly a growing problem
in our community, and in society at large. Our programs and other
North Shore agencies work with many individuals and families affected
by crystal meth and by various other types of substance misuse and
co-occurring mental health issues. Substance misuse affects almost
everyone at one time or another, and represents a huge social and
financial cost to our community.

To expand upon, and clarify the structure and referral path for our
services, let me elaborate on our programs. Both the Youth Concurrent
Disorders Program (CDP) and the new Adolescent Day Program (ADP) are
Vancouver Coastal Health, Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions
programs and, as such are managed by me under our director, Barnabas
Walther.

Although CDP is based out of the West Vancouver Community Health
Centre and ADP operates out of a site on West 15th Street in North
Vancouver, both programs serve the entire North Shore, including Bowen
Island and Lions Bay, and both are accessed through a central intake
number (604-984-3770). This is also the intake number for our third
service, the Child and Adolescent Program, which offers outpatient
mental health and related services to children, youth and their
families residing on the North Shore.

We will accept referrals from anyone, including youth themselves, and
would encourage anyone confronted with addictions and/or mental health
issues to contact us, preferably before the problems have become too
serious.

I hope that this helps to clarify for our constituents the services
that we offer, and the process for accessing these services. We look
forward to continuing to work with our community partners in
addressing these important issues.

Thank you again for highlighting this problem and referencing our
programs.

Lawrence Sheppard, manager, Child and Youth Mental Health and
Addictions Services