The attached Hansard record shows what an excellent job AARC has done of convincing the politicians of what an excellent job they have been doing. You are invited to respond as specifically as possible to these comments:
Tuesday March 24, 1992. I'm trying to help.
Addiction Treatment for Adolescents
MRS. MIROSH: Mr. Speaker, I recently have had the opportunity to meet with a number of constituents who've expressed a concern with regards to the number of taxpayers' dollars moving south of the border to treat people with drug and alcohol addiction, particularly the adolescents. We now know that there are a number of programs here in Alberta that can probably be used for our adolescents and others. I'm wondering if the Minister of Health could explain why those taxpayers' dollars are still moving south of the border and why they couldn't be implemented into the programs that are here, in Alberta.
MS BETKOWSKI: Actually, Mr. Speaker, the proportion of Albertans going into the U.S. for addiction treatment is relatively small, some 500 compared to 33,000 admissions to AADAC and its funded agencies in the last fiscal year. Nonetheless, we are [concerned that Albertans must go out of the province to find treatment and that perhaps those Albertans aren't aware of what is available within Alberta before they make a decision at a very difficult and pressured time in their families' lives, I'm sure. So what we have put in place is a prior approval process before any of these programs will be approved for payment out of the Alberta Health Care Insurance Fund. That process will ensure that first we exhaust all opportunities in Alberta, then all opportunities in Canada before we will consider out-of-country placement.
As Minister of Health I am only responsible and can only speak for the Health Care Insurance Fund. We do not fund community residential programs out of the Health Care Insurance Fund but certainly will fund physician-based, acute care programs whether they are within Alberta or outside of Alberta.
MRS. MIROSH: Mr. Speaker, I'd like to direct my supplementary question, then, to the chairman of AADAC. The Alberta Adolescent>
recently opened in Calgary, and I was wondering if AADAC will be working with this centre in helping them provide a program that would be in-house.
3:30
MR. NELSON: Mr. Speaker, AADAC has been involved with assistance in developing the program of the Alberta > since its
inception originally as Kids of the Canadian West. They have developed an exceptionally good program to assist in the care of young people in the province of Alberta for recovery in alcohol and other substances abuses as well as other disorders. Alberta today has without a doubt exceptional programs for adolescent care, unmatched anywhere in Canada and in fact probably in the United States. As far as I'm concerned, with the support of the government there is in general terms no reason for young people to have to go to the states. There is a misconception that because it is an American program it is better. That is not the case. Alberta has exceptional programs that can meet the needs of Albertans in all age groups and particularly our adolescents.
May 15th, 2000
THE SPEAKER: The hon. Member for Calgary-West.
Alberta
MS KRYCZKA: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased today to recognize the remarkable achievement of Scott, a very courageous young man who until nine months ago was a chemically dependent adolescent. On Saturday, May 20, 2000, he will become the 131st graduate of the Alberta , or AARC, program.
When Scott entered the AARC program on August 30, 1999, at the age of 20, he was extremely dependent on alcohol and drugs and was a lonely, confused, angry young man, but Scott knew he needed help and has been committed to the recovery program at AARC and has moved through treatment at a rapid pace. He was willing to do the work to change and has chosen to live his life as an honest, principled man.
Scott is currently upgrading some of his grade 12 courses in order to apply to university. His attitude and work ethic in the AARC learning centre has been excellent. Dr. Dean Vause, executive director, concludes: Scott has gone from loser to leader; I have the utmost respect for him; I have also been impressed with his family's commitment.
I challenge all MLAs to learn more about the success of AARC and to support this nonprofit organization.
Scott, I wish you all the very best in the future. Congratulations.
Thank you.
March 16th, 1999
THE SPEAKER: The hon. Member for Calgary-Glenmore.
MR. STEVENS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Dr. Vause is the heart and soul of this treatment centre. I have never seen such valour, compassion, and true from the heart dedication. He takes families, not just the kids, who feel so worthless and helps them find their dignity, their spirit, and their joy in life again. These heartfelt words truly reflect the feeling of those who know the work of Dr. Dean Vause and the Alberta >, otherwise known as AARC.
AARC, a nonprofit organization in Calgary, is an intensive long-term treatment program for chemically dependent youth between the ages of 12 and 21 years and their families. Dr. Vause is AARC's executive director. AARC reaches out to teens and families who are at the bitter end of a battle with the ravages of addiction. Dr. Vause says that these are kids who would sooner die than give up their addiction and would do anything to feed it. AARC helps bring them back to a normal, healthy life. AARC's successful intervention averts the often costly consequences of teen addiction -- medical, psychological, and societal problems -- that require a long-term investment of energy and capital.
On February 18, 1999, AARC celebrated a significant milestone: its 100th miracle celebration. Since inception in 1992, 106 teens and over 300 of their family members have graduated. But what is truly remarkable, what is unprecedented in North America is AARC's success rate. Over 85 percent of its graduates are clean and sober, in school or working, and are reunited with their families.
The AARC model is unique in Calgary and perhaps the world and was developed and based on the research and analysis of Dr. Vause. It has been thoroughly reviewed by international addiction experts. One of those experts, Dr. Robert McAndrews, concluded: now that I see the hard evidence and follow your thorough analysis, as a critical reviewer I am convinced that your model and actual program is one worth replicating everywhere possible. Mr. Speaker, this is excellent advice which I encourage my colleagues to support.
Thank you.
February 22, 1999
THE SPEAKER: Hon. members, in 30 seconds I shall call on six members to participate in Recognitions today. We'll proceed on the following basis: first of all, the hon. Member for Calgary-Egmont, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre.
MR. HERARD: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm so proud to share with you and all Albertans that last weekend the Alberta > celebrated their 100th graduate free at last from serious substance abuse. Seventy-eight of their clean and sober young men and women who could attend celebrated with 460 parents and siblings, who also graduated along with the children into functional families no longer ravaged by the pain and trauma of addiction. You see, AARC treats the whole family and returns loving, contributing families back into society.
Congratulations to the board of directors, chaired by Mrs. Ann McCaig, to the staff headed by Dr. Dean Vause, to the families, their siblings, and addicted children. Thank you for repeating your miracle more than 100 times in Calgary-Egmont. Surely soon AARC's program will be recognized as a centre of excellence and replicated everywhere. It's so desperately needed for the most seriously addicted children in our province.
March 30 1998
MR. HERARD: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recently attended the 90th graduation from serious drug addiction at the Alberta > in my constituency. ARC has a unique treatment program that heals the entire family. Adolescent addicts are supported seven days a week in the homes and by the families who have successfully graduated from this program.
The 90th graduate was a lovely 16-year-old girl who sadly began using drugs at the age of nine. She had been incarcerated
as a young offender more times than the judge could remember. She's now a great young lady who has taken ownership of her own life, and she did it against all odds. Terri-Lynn is the first ever to successfully complete this program without her parents completing the program with her. She has great inner strength and now has the tools and the will to succeed in life.
Congratulations, Terri-Lynn, and thanks to ARC staff and ARC families who took her in and made this wonderful new life blossom.
April 5th, 1995
MR. SAPERS: Thanks, Mr. Chairman. I want to start off my comments tonight just with a couple of questions about the Wild Rose Foundation. I note that in the Wild Rose Foundation annual report, the 10th annual report -- and the foundation should be
congratulated for reaching its 10th anniversary and for supporting the projects they do in the manner that they are supported. But I notice a disturbing trend in that annual report. That disturbing trend is that many of the recipients of the quarterly grants, at least awarded between April of '93 and March of '94, are using their grant money to hire staff. They're using the grant money to hire peer counselors, to hire workers in youth programs, in women's shelters, in community programs. It seems to me that if you read through the list -- and it's an impressive list -- of programs that have been supported and how staff are being hired to do important community-based work, you can't help but be struck by the notion that when these grants run out, the programs will be stranded, that so many of the good works now being undertaken won't continue, that those community needs that have been identified by those hard-working volunteer groups and the programs that have been developed will go unmet as soon as these grants expire.
It seems to me that this is a real shame, and it seems that the government really is abandoning these community groups to a life of constantly having their hand out and having to rejustify and rejustify and rejustify the services and the needs they're meeting. It seems that there could be a better way for the government to provide the support that I believe it has an obligation to provide to community groups, particularly if the government wants to continue to pretend that it is a partner with these community groups, that somehow the government walks hand in hand with organizations throughout the province providing these important resources in communities for the benefit of all Albertans.
Mr. Chairman, there's another program in particular that I want the minister to comment on, and that's the Alberta > Society, better known as the AARC Society, in Calgary. The AARC Society offers a peer support, peer counseling program for very, very troubled teens. It's a program that deals with some of the most seriously troubled young people in the city of Calgary, often young people who have not been adequately dealt with in other programs, often young people who have gone through the young offenders justice system, or some who in fact may be at AARC as a result of coming into conflict with the law. Now, whether or not you're in complete agreement with the methods used at AARC isn't really important. The fact is that this program is showing some considerable success with the children, the teens that come into contact with the program. The program was lucky enough to receive a $50,000 grant in the last quarter. They're going to hire a couple of peer counselors for a couple of years.
Mr. Chairman, this is a concrete example of a program that deserves to be funded. It deserves to find a permanent sponsor within the government. It shouldn't be dependent on having to return to organizations like the Wild Rose Foundation every two or three years. I believe they are restricted to only applying for a grant every three years once they receive a grant. Now, if they can only use the money for one or two years to carry on their program, then there's going to be a year or two when they're going to be left high and dry. I don't know how that's consistent with certainly the government's commitment to do something meaningful about young offenders.
