Pubdate: Tue, 19 Sep 2006
Source: Maple Ridge Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc
Contact:  http://www.mrtimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1372
Author: Danna Johnson

DRUG SUSPENSIONS NOW COME WITH COUNSELLING

Now Students Who Are Suspended From School For Drug Use Have Somewhere To Go.

Alouette Addictions has partnered with School District 42 to provide 
day treatment to those youths.

Counsellors have been working to develop the program all summer long, 
said executive director Ron Lawrance.

Students will participate in the day treatment program for the entire 
three days of their suspension and from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

"There will be a self-assessment component to the program, a wellness 
component and some educational components as well as a therapeutic 
component," he said.

Some funding to accommodate the youths was furnished by the school 
board, while Alouette Addictions came up with the remainder by being 
"creative," Lawrance said, with the money they already have.

"The program is being funded as a result of reworking our contract 
and getting creative with the money we have."

The program, called T2 which stands for Think Together, will be free 
to participants, and, he said, will likely give drug and alcohol 
counsellors a better idea of what school children are up against.

There were 116 drug and alcohol related suspensions during the 
2005-2006 school year, Lawrance said, and he doesn't expect those 
numbers to dip right away as a result of the new program.

"I would expect that those numbers would rise at the beginning," he said.

"There are kids in school that are managing on the fringes," he said.

Lawrance added that he suspects some teachers hesitate to bring 
forward the minor incidences they notice because there are no 
services for the youth to access once suspended.

"They (the teachers) might be able to intervene sooner. I think in 
the long run, the more serious cases won't get to that point."

School-based drug and alcohol prevention workers will also be on the 
lookout and spotting children that could benefit from the new youth 
program, Lawrance said. There are currently two such counsellors 
keeping tabs on the district's six high schools.

Eventually, Lawrance said, he hopes the program becomes part of the 
"suspension package." Currently, students who are suspended due to 
drug or alcohol use require an assessment prior to heading back. This 
program, he said, fulfills that requirement.

But it has to be voluntary, he explains, and the parents must consent 
to the treatment.

"We're not going to bring (the students) in kicking and screaming. 
Their parents have to be aware of it.

"We're offering this as an option."
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MAP posted-by: Elaine