Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2011 Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Copyright: 2011 Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://www.edmontonsun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135 Author: Mindelle Jacobs, Edmonton Sun CRACK HOUSES KIDS' ONLY OPTIONS Edmonton's most damaged, unruly kids - in the province's care - are being kicked out of group homes and often left to fend for themselves on the street. Some of these kids, as young as 13, are so disruptive, because of addiction or mental health problems, that there is virtually nowhere to place them, says Wallis Kendal, an outreach worker with the iHuman Youth Society which helps hard-core troubled street youth. He regularly gets calls from group homes to come pick up uncontrollable teens. Some of the time, he can find a safe place for them; other times, he can't. "I (sometimes) drop them at crack houses," says Kendal. "I'm not joking. I take kids and drop them at what they call a crack house. It's better than having no place to live." Many of the kids booted out of group homes refuse to go to the Youth Emergency Shelter because their problems are so much more complex than those of the teens at YES, says Kendal. And most of the kids he works with would rather sleep on the street than on a mat at the Hope Mission Youth Shelter, he adds. Most group home staffers simply aren't trained to handle out-of-control, high-risk youth, says Kendal. So the group homes phone him or the cops, often late at night, to get rebellious teens off their hands. "If you're a kid and you have no place to live and your mother and father are the government of Alberta . and if your mother and father can't take care of you, you feel pretty freaked out," says Kendal. Not surprisingly, many of these young people, who are supposed to be cared for by the province, sink into a criminal lifestyle, says Youth Criminal Defence Office lawyer Pat Yuzwenko. "I've got a lot of kids in jail who are there because they have nowhere to live." The group homes set impossible standards for high-risk teens, most of whom have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, she adds. 'So when they break group home rules, they're shown the door. "They're just kicked out and 'good luck to you, pal,'" says Yuzwenko. Children's Services spokesman John Tuckwell denied that disruptive kids are ejected from group homes. "We do not turn people away," he said Friday. "If a youth . is a risk to (himself) or to others in the group home, appropriate alternate placement would be sought." The ministry is prepared to investigate any allegations to the contrary and "act promptly," he added. Children's Services has an "amazing" group of specially trained social workers who assist high-risk kids but placements are limited, says Yuzwenko. Edmonton clinical social worker Karen Nielsen, who has worked with some of the teens Kendal has mentored, specializes in counselling kids who've experienced trauma, such as abuse, addicted parents or other family dysfunctions. Yet, it can take a year to arrange a psychiatric assessment for such broken kids, she says. "These really are society's throwaway children," she says. "We need more resources for these young people." There are similar problems with high-risk street youth in Calgary, says Kendal. In fact, reps from Calgary's Youth Criminal Defence Office plan to meet Kendal next month as a prelude to starting an iHuman group there. Also next month, Kendal, Nielsen and other youth advocates are meeting to brainstorm about how to help Alberta's most troubled and vulnerable street kids. Kendal and Nielsen would like to see specialized group homes for teens with such serious behaviour problems they don't fit in anywhere else. "There's a group of us who are hoping that, somehow, come hell or high water, we'll be able to get something set up," says Nielsen. Adds Kendal: "We take the kids that are dangerous that nobody wants." His message to the province? "You're either going to take action or you're going to regret the day you don't take action." If this isn't a prime example of the importance of early intervention, I don't know what is. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.