Rising youth addiction calls for provincial action, advocate says – Winnipeg Free Press

A child and youth advocate in Manitoba is calling on the provincial government to develop an age-specific strategy to address the increase in youth seeking help for substance abuse and mental health issues.

Sherry Gott said at a press conference Tuesday that her office's cases involving youth living with substance abuse have increased from three percent in 2018 to 22 percent in 2023.

There were 56 drug- or alcohol-related deaths over the five-year period. At least one involved a 13-year-old boy.

Most of them were young women and Indigenous youth, who make up more than 80 percent of Gott's office's annual caseload, and central and northern Manitoba is particularly under-resourced.

“Children, youth and teenagers are increasingly struggling with substance abuse issues,” Gott said. “Some lose their lives.”

Common risk factors for youth include substance use, exposure to family violence, and child neglect.

Increased isolation and closure of resources as a result of COVID-19 and the pandemic's public health restrictions have also contributed to the rise in numbers.

Some pre-pandemic cutbacks, including the 2016 termination of the Behavioral Health Foundation's youth addiction support, have contributed to the overall situation, Gott said.

Goth's office has been studying the issue for the past year, including a two-day roundtable this week with front-line workers from support agencies and community leaders.

Most of the 39 Manitoba youth interviewed as part of a study by the office last fall identified drug use as a coping mechanism for problems in their home lives or communities.

“Many identified that they wanted help but didn't know where to go,” Gott said.

Workers in child welfare, substance abuse, education and justice were also surveyed, and less than 10 percent of the 263 professionals who participated felt that existing services in Manitoba were adequate to meet the needs of youth with substance abuse problems.

A detailed report on the findings will be published later this year.

“We're hoping (the province) will invest resources to support young people,” Gott said.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine Gott said the data presented was the product of former Progressive Conservative government ministers who “buried their heads in the sand” in Manitoba's drug addiction crisis.

“What we're seeing now is an increase in young people struggling with drug addiction and young people dealing with mental health issues – the result of the government trying to run on the cheap and the government not caring about its citizens,” he said. .

He said the province is considering developing a youth-focused drug addiction strategy.

“We will start these discussions. Certainly, we (Manitoba Bar) want to work on some of these issues,” he said.

Mitch Bourbonnier, a community advocate who volunteers in several Winnipeg neighborhoods, said he has seen an increase in the number of homeless children and teenagers suffering from substance abuse problems.

“All the demographics that struggle with this issue, I see, are kids of all origins, Indigenous, non-Indigenous newcomers,” he said.

Bourbonnier hopes to invest more in “action therapy” that connects at-risk youth with mentors.

He also pointed to the Bruce Oak Recovery Centre, a non-profit residential treatment program for men in Winnipeg, as an example of a needed support model he would like to see created for young men.

“For me, that's the answer. No. 1, give every at-risk child someone to be their champion, their advocate, their go-to person,” he said. “But even then, some of our kids need to go to treatment, so a Bruce Oak-type facility would be second on my wish list.”

— With files from Carol Sanders

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