Programs+for+Youth+at+Risk

== __Centre for Addiction and Mental Health - Metro Addiction Assessment Referral Services (MAARS)__ - In Patient and Outpatient Services and addiction assessment. Phone number 416-535-8501 ext 6128 website: [|www.camh.net] == == __Drug and Alcohol Registry of Treatment__ – Information and referral line 24/7 that direct people, including professionals, clients and family to starting points throughout Ontario. Phone number 1-800-565-8603 and website: [|www.dart.on.ca] == == __ Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse __ –Provides information on treatment areas in Ontario Phone number 1 ( **613) 235-4048 and website: [|www.ccsa.ca] ** == == __Toronto Public Health – The Works__ – Needle Exchange Program and Methadone Program YMCA’s Youth Substance Abuse Program (YSAP) – Provides Educational Services and peer mentoring. Phone number 1-416-504-1710 and website: [|www.ymcatoronto.org]==


 * The personal barriers that street involved youth face are- that they have very stressful living conditions (couch surfing, youth hostels with limits on the length of stay or adult hostels with safety issues or being victimized by adults), concurrent mental health and substance use disorders, they may not have their i.d., they have a higher lack of trust and hostility toward the mainstream institutions and they “do not traditionally self-refer to programs and are unlikely to be familiar with access points or the process of referral.” **

==** The program or structural barriers that street youth face are - “The barriers identified for street youth are: a lack of immediate accessibility to (24-hour) services including access to safe detoxification services; restrictive treatment entry requirements which may be difficult for street-involved youth to meet; a lack of adjunctive services, such as safe and secure housing, which are prerequisites to effective treatment utilization.” **==

==** According to The Canadian Journal of Urban Research, Voices from the Margins: Understanding Street Youth in Winnipeg, (2005 ) youth are most receptive to interventions within the first couple of weeks on the street. As they inhabit the street for longer periods of time, they become entrenched in the street lifestyle. Leaving the street is a difficult process because the freedom, power, excitement, and money available to youth are alluring. In addition, youth learn how to survive on the street and report uncertainty about their ability to function in mainstream society. Youth who make the transition off the street, often encounter difficulties in reintegrating into society. **==

==** Public Health Agency of Canada’s report on Canadian Street Youth and substance Use (2007) Among those who reported quitting drug use, half of the non-injection drug users and close to a third of injection drug users quit drugs using treatment services. At the same time this report agrees that, it is widely recognized that conventional treatment approaches and mainstream programs are not effective with street youth. As such, alternative integrated approaches to developing and implementing intervention programs for this marginalized population are necessary. **==