Child representative calls for better support for drug addicted kids

VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – The death of a drug addicted 15 year old Metis boy last year has our province’s child representative calling for better government programs.

This report follows this boy’s death last year less than a week into a provincially funded rehab program.

Nick Lang was only in that program because his parents went to police to press charges after he refused voluntary treatment for his meth addiction.

And Dawn Thomas-Wightman with the office of the representative for children and youth says they should never have had to call the cops in order to get help for their son.

“The only reason Nick was in this program was that his parents, desperate for a way to help their youngest of two sons, had decided that the youth justice system was where he would get the kind of services he needed before it was too late,” says Thomas-Wightman.

A conference call with a social worker was all that was offered to Lang’s parents when they asked the ministry for help.

But the secured care recommendation put forward in this report for children who refuse treatment for drug addiction or mental health issues is something the province doesn’t seem likely to follow.

“First nations communities and leaders have been especially concerned about the possibility of secured care, given the large numbers of first nations youth in care at this time,” says Minister for Children and Families Stephanie Cadieux.

Cadieux points out Lang’s death has been looked into by three separate agencies, but her ministry will review this report’s findings.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today