NEWS & INFO

CAMROSE GETS ACTIVE - Thinking outside the box

A prompt community response to the abuse of methamphetamine

By Mary Wilton, Supervisor, AADAC Camrose Area Office

The impetus for community mobilization around an emerging Crystal Meth* problem in Camrose, Alberta came from a number of different directions. A social needs survey released in the fall of 2002 by the City of Camrose noted a perceived increase of the use of some drugs in the community, particularly Crystal Meth. Local agencies were noticing a younger population becoming harmfully involved and the school division seconded a principal to develop a school-based response to drugs. A workshop presented by the Camrose City Police was the vehicle for service providers to come together to educate themselves about the drug and find ways to deal with the perceived increase in methamphetamine use. Of the 64 people attending the workshop, I was among a sizable group that stayed afterwards to form a Drug Response Task Force, which would quickly put together a coordinated, commonsense response to the community problem.

The success of this project followed from a unique set of circumstances: strong commitment from the regional school division, a willingness among agencies to share time and expertise with each other, and involvement from youth and parents affected by crystal meth.

The multi-pronged approach to the problem that began taking shape last October continues today. It incorporates information, prevention and treatment.

Information: The Task Force decided that educating students, teachers and parents was key. Information packages were sent out to all the schools within the Battle River School Division. The acting school superintendent wrote an open letter to parents outlining the school division's commitment to solutions and encouraging parents to talk to their children.

A series of training sessions and meetings were held for school administrators, trustees and board members, for frontline school and community staff, and for the general public. Information advertisements were placed in regional papers and the school division communications officer sent out regular press releases. Information efforts continue with plans for press releases, more informative advertising, and more public meetings and workshops for 2003.

Prevention: Realizing that teachers greatly influence the students they see daily, Task Force members have planned presentations for every school in the division, using combinations of local police resources, the school principal chairing the task force, AADAC staff, and Detective Steve Walton, author of "First Response Guide to Street Drugs." Teachers are also being trained as potential referral sources.

Treatment: The Task Force created a community-based treatment model specifying a streamlined assessment and referral process. This means that schools, agencies and parents know where to start, and that local agencies work as an efficient team to help each young person in trouble with Crystal Meth.

In response to the diversity of the needs described by parents of youth involved with Crystal Meth, we have designed a flexible treatment model. Regular case conferences help us to make sure that the youth requiring services, the young person's family, and appropriate team members are communicating and are responding effectively. Youth are assessed according to their degree of risk, the protecting factors in their lives, and their willingness to receive treatment. They are thus selected for treatment of high, medium or low intensity. Local resources are enlisted for young people requiring treatment of medium or low intensity.

Youth requiring high-intensity service are detoxified under the care of the psychiatrist in the local hospital. Well before a patient is discharged, Camrose AADAC staff notify the AADAC Youth Services Centre (AYS) in Edmonton to save a place for that client, ensuring that he or she will not wait long for admission to intensive day treatment. When a young person is released from hospital, the Task Force has already ensured that community support for the youth and his or her family is in place. For the weeks until admission to AYS, this support builds on the client's readiness for change and gives the client and family a foundation for ongoing community support.

At this writing, the Task Force is in the process of producing a treatment handbook that includes flow charts to illustrate the assessment and referral process.

Whatever the needs of each young person or family, our community's response has gone well beyond the expertise of particular social agencies. An existing parent support group is an invaluable part of the treatment continuum. With assistance from youth, the Task Force created "caring cards" that make it easier for teens to reach out to each other. The willingness of youth to tell us about their actual drug experiences meant that the Task Force could create better information, prevention and treatment strategies. Deliberately thinking "outside the box" allowed us to make better use of both formal and informal community resources, to be creative in solving problems, and to learn from the people who are most affected by those problems. The dedication of the Task Force members and their willingness to think beyond agency boundaries helped to create a collaborative atmosphere. The weekly Task Force meetings became opportunities to share information and evaluate the strategies as they were being implemented. In sharing this time together, the Task Force worked to become a community team.

All of this happened in two short months. A whirlwind of activity has created the community response model. The challenge for the months ahead will be to maintain the positive energy as the community continues to develop and implement our vision of a comprehensive model of information, prevention and treatment services. Thinking outside the box has allowed us as a community to create unique solutions to a need we couldn't afford to ignore.

* Crystal meth is one of the street names for the smokable form of the stimulant methamphetamine.

Volume 11 December 2002

Drug Response Meeting Draws Over 200

by Tim Chamberlin

Community response to the City of Camrose Drug Response Task Force public meeting held Nov. 27 was a pleasant surprise to task force chairman and event organizer Kerry LaBerge. Over 200 people, a number of them students, filtered into the Camrose Composite High School commons area to hear an impacting presentation on the perils of crystal meth.
“The support shown from the community was overwhelming and re-enforced for us (task force) that our efforts are not falling on deaf ears,” commented LaBerge, noting the timing of the presentation could not have been better. On Nov. 30, the Edmonton Journal featured a front-page story about a meth lab capable of producing around $1 million worth of speed a day. The task force evening began with a poignant audio presentation featuring current and past meth users who revealed how the drug has impacted their lives. The audience then heard from a panel of task force partners that included representatives from the Camrose Police Service, AADAC, Mental Health, Battle River Regional Division #31, St. Mary’s Hospital and Open Door. The evening’s most moving speech came from a parent who bravely shared her story of how drug use by her sons has affected her family. “It’s important to remember that the majority of our youth are making the right decisions and choosing not
to use drugs,” offered LaBerge. “But we also need to acknowledge that we do have at-risk youth who are struggling with drugs that are accessible, affordable and obtainable. “If we ignore the problem the dealers win and we fail our youth and our communities.”

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