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Vancouver Coastal Health has made the decision to pull funding from Directions Detox, resulting in the detox closing June 3rd. This detox is a youth specific space that offers a residential environment and frontline staff to assist in detoxing. Vancouver Coastal Health has stated that this method of detox is not sustainable and that a new model is needed but has failed to provide an explanation as to what this new model will look like, how it will be implemented, and if it will be implemented before this closure. They have stated that the model will not create a gap in care, but have not been able to commit to creating a youth only resource that serves this population. This detox environment needs reform, not closure. Nurses should be funded to be on-site to support with benzo and alcohol withdrawal, this resource should not be closed during an opioid epidemic and while there is a poisoned drug supply circulating. How are the lives of youth seen as dispensable when making budget cuts? 

Vancouver Coastal Health has stated that a more comprehensive plan will be put into place, yet there has been no explanation of what this will look. Vancouver Coastal Health has avoided providing clear answers to simple questions and has stated that there will be more support for home detox. This is extremely problematic as most of the youth accessing this resource are in shelters or completely homeless. Vancouver Coastal Health has mentioned that there will be options for addressing youth on the Downtown Eastside, again with no comprehensive plan. The Downtown Eastside is under-funded and flooded, with resources being over-utilized with extremely long waitlists and unsustainable wait times. 

Demand action! If Vancouver Coastal Health is going to close this detox, we need to demand answers and ensure that this closure does not happen privately. Where is this money being reallocated? What resources will be opened in lieu of this detox closing? Why does this health authority preach about intervention and rehabilitation, and yet has made the decision that our youth are the disposable demographic. The closure of this detox will result in youth detoxing in unsupervised environments - potentially losing their lives during this withdrawal process, or not detoxing at all. The continued use of a poisoned drug supply is dangerous and becomes the only option when resources become scarce and less accessible. 

Most treatment centres require youth who are admitted having detoxed prior to their intake, making this closure irresponsible and senseless - doing nothing but adding more barriers for treatment access. While Creekside detox has a youth section (Fraser Health Authority), there is no other youth specific detox making the chances of exploitation and further entrenchment a very real reality for youth accessing adult services.  

Our youth deserve better and Vancouver Coastal Health has the means and finances to implement real change, not remove resources. 

We are demanding that this detox remains open until Vancouver Coastal Health can provide proof of additional services and centres being opened/ implemented to care for this marginalized and stigmatized demographic.