File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTIONS

Addictions treatment in Kamloops: what is working and what is not

Mar 12, 2021 | 4:16 PM

KAMLOOPS — The provincial government says it’s trying to rethink current supportive housing models and addictions care to make sure people don’t slip through the cracks.

Supportive housing operators in Kamloops have been calling for a change to the current support model, and the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions says there is a plan to make that happen.

“What the premier committed to through the election campaign was to develop a new type of housing model called Complex Care Housing,” explains Minister Sheila Malcolmson. “He’s assigned that responsibility to me, and I’m hearing directly from local government leaders about the kind of locations and the kind of people they see within their community that have fallen through the cracks and they need a higher level of care.”

Malcolmson says putting people with a multitude of needs in one housing format can lead to behavioural conflicts and evictions. She says part of their work will be determining what different groups require to be successful in transitional or support housing settings, and diversifying the types of care offered.

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SHIFTING THE RESPONSE TO ADDICTION

At the same time, addiction treatment services have also been adjusted to acknowledge one size doesn’t fit all. The Phoenix Centre in Kamloops has been operating this way for decades, using short term detox beds and longer term supportive recovery.

Executive Director Sian Lewis says this approach provides opportunities for people at different stages of addiction to find what they’re looking for.

“I think it is really a successful model when we can stage it to match the different points in time that people experience when they’re using substances.”

However, Lewis says the centre hope to expand on the kind of care it offers with the introduction of a sobering centre, more partially publicly funded residential treatment options and youth residential treatment. Following the announcement for Kelowna’s ten youth residential treatment beds, Lewis says she is hopeful Kamloops will follow.

“Phoenix Centre is definitely interested in supporting that ten-bed residential service for youth but we haven’t had any information on that since the original information came out in January.”

SOBERING CENTRE FOR KAMLOOPS

The Phoenix Centre, City of Kamloops and RCMP also want to expand the approach to addictions with a sobering centre. Intoxicated people would be brought to there instead of police cells for medical attention rather than officer check-ins. With a healthcare-managed approach, Kamloops RCMP Superintendent Syd Lecky says they hope to prevent incidents like the 2019 death of a man in cells.

“That gentleman’s name was Randy Lampreau and that’s a person whose life was lost and I think it’s important to remember that. And if there’s a way to make a difference in our community and mention that name, this is one of those ways. We don’t need to have that risk on us.”

The Independent Investigations Office looked into the incident and found no wrongdoing on the part of RCMP officers. Lecky notes those fatal incidents leave an impact on officers as well.

“That’s a big impact that I don’t want to lose sight of, and make sure it’s mentioned that our members and staff do feel the effects of these things.”

It will take time to pivot the response to mental health and addictions to be more inclusive, accessible and health focused. Lecky says RCMP are ready to support improvements in any way they can.

“We have a community here that has a lot of supports available, we need to coordinate better and I think there is an opportunity for us to do better and certainly make a difference.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING

One route to improvement will be the creation of Complex Care Housing. Minister Malcolmson says a pilot project needs to be undertaken first, but eventually it will be implemented around B.C.

“I’m working on a multi-ministry level to identify the best way to pilot that and to start to generate some results that other communities can learn from.”