A Victoria mother is furious that her teenage son was ordered to attend treatment at a youth psychiatric facility on one of the most troubled blocks in downtown Victoria.
The woman, who cannot be named because the identity of her son is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, said the teenager must attend court-ordered appointments at Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services on Quadra Street, across the street from Our Place and on the same corner as the Ministry for Social Development and Poverty Reduction. Two supervised drug-consumption sites are also located in the same block.
Her son, now 16, was charged with assault and does not have a criminal record because he was referred for diversion. While he has a history of addiction to methamphetamine, he is now clean, and started treatment at youth forensics six months ago, initially attending once a week.
The woman said she and her son were nervous as they walked toward the building for his first appointment. They passed people injecting drugs, smoking crack pipes, and yelling back and forth across the street to each other. They stepped around garbage, clothing, human feces and discarded condoms.
“I felt unsafe. I felt like I was putting my son right back in the lion’s den. I thought: ‘How on earth is he expected to stay clean?’ I thought it would trigger his drug use if he smelled meth.”
She sat with her son until he was called in to see the psychiatrist, but then had to return to work, so he left the building on his own.
She doesn’t know if her son bought meth outside Our Place when he was using, but says other parents with children involved in the criminal justice system have told her that’s where their teenagers bought their drugs.
“All it’s going to take is for someone to ask if he has a lighter. That’s how conversations get going and nobody likes to use alone, so kids get roped in.”
The Victoria mother has raised her concerns with the Public Prosecution Service, the minister of Children and Family Development, the minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and council, the ombudsman, Premier John Horgan and all the local MLAs. For her efforts, she has been told her son’s next appointment will be held at the youth parole office on Nanaimo Street.
Her concerns are shared by other parents in her family support group and by Victoria criminal lawyer Rick Schwartz, who has had hundreds of clients referred to youth forensics over the years.
“Many of those clients have been youth with significant substance-abuse issues and are vulnerable in serious respects to the influences of the street. Many are victims of abuse and abandonment,” Schwartz wrote in an email to Children and Family Development Minister Mitzi Dean.
In his email, Schwartz notes that the area outside the entrance to youth forensics is generally populated by adults experiencing drug addiction, mental-health issues and homelessness. There is open drug use and drug trafficking, violence and public sexual activity.
“Any youth struggling with abuse and addiction issues is poorly served having to run the gauntlet of depredation which they are often presented with at the office,” writes Schwartz. “The same, of course, applies to any family members accompanying the youth.”
The Youth Criminal Justice Act says protection of the public is best served through the rehabilitation and reintegration of young persons in a criminal justice system “separate from that of adults” that protects their right to privacy, said Schwartz.
“Youth and family members attending 1515 Quadra St. are required to expose themselves to an environment that falls short of the spirit and letter of the act.”
Although Our Place offers access to treatment for people on the street, Victoria police spokesman Bowen Osoko said Thursday that police officers are in the area outside the facility often many times a day trying to help the most vulnerable.
Last week, 49-year-old Christopher Schwede was found dead of a suspected drug overdose in his tent outside the welfare office. Some youth saw his body being removed from the tent and street people building a shrine in his memory.
Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services has been at the Quadra Street location since 2005. Approximately, 30 to 35 youth attend each week.
An email from the Ministry of Children and Family Development said the well-being of staff and clients is of utmost concern and the ministry is currently evaluating what steps can be taken to better support people accessing and providing services at the Victoria location.
“Every young person should be safe when accessing mental health services. Our priority is to connect youth to the mental health services they need to support them in their rehabilitation,” the email says.
