MORE MONEY TO FIGHT METH - STRATFORD ON.
Date: Thursday, December 13 @ 00:00:00 PST
Topic: Government


The city of Stratford's addiction counselling centre will get $200,000 annually to hire a full-time staffer to help meth addicts get their lives back together and fund a withdrawal management program.

The provincial funding, announced yesterday afternoon at Choices for Change: Alcohol, Drug and Gambling Counseling Centre, will allow addicts access to withdrawal management services through one-on-one contact with a counsellor.

The funding, through the South-West Local Health Integration Network, will provide the centre with another much-needed counsellor who can intensely focus on a problem that has troubled Perth County for several years.

"One of the things we find with meth clients is they need a lot of contact," said Choices for Change executive director Catherine Hardeman. "Having another body will help with that. This person will be their resource."

The withdrawal program would give addicts access to a designated worker who can talk to them over the phone or in person. The worker can assess the types of treatment needed, either at home or in residential care.

The Grey Bruce Withdrawal Management Centre would provide after-hours phone care.

Support can also be provided for people in jail, although a social worker will be hired to provide support in the courts through funding previously announced by the Perth County Task Force on Meth.

Choices for Change applied for funding from the task force for the programs, and previously announced details of the withdrawal management centre last month, but withdrew its application when funding was announced through the LHIN.

Perth-Wellington MPP John Wilkinson said treatment is one of three things, along with education and prevention, and enforcement, that a community needs to do to overcome a drug like meth.

"We have to treat people so they can go back to a normal life. When they are in a position where they realize they need help, then as a community we have to be there for them," he said.

Funding will also allow Choices for Change to continue an outreach program.

The task force, armed with a $1-million grant from the province, announced other initiatives last month, including hiring a social worker in the courts and funding for first responders/emergency responders and an education program for youth in the community.

Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson said some have questioned why officials in Stratford would admit to having a meth problem. Now, many communities are realizing that forming the task force was the best solution.

"We have garnered recognition for a crystal meth problem. I think it's safe to say we are now garnering a lot of recognition for having a community that has developed a strategy to deal with it."





This article comes from CrystalMethBC - Meth Information Website
http://crystalmethbc.com

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