A Squamish mom who lost her 15-year-old daughter to the toxic drug supply in 2018 is grateful to hear that an expansion of secure care may be coming to B.C.
Teenager Steffanie Georgina-Anne Lawrence died from an unintentional overdose on Jan. 22, 2018.
Her mom, Brenda Doherty, has been a tireless advocate for expanded secure— involuntary—care, as she believes it may have saved her daughter's life.
Secure care means the apprehension, detention and forced treatment of those deemed an imminent danger to themselves or others.
This isn’t the first time Doherty has had her hopes raised over an expansion of involuntary care.
She was on hand on March 5 when BC United, Sea to Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy introduced the Safe Care Act 2024 in the Legislature.
That bill was built on a plan previously touted by the then-Liberals in 2018.
Sturdy highlighted Doherty and her daughter's story when he introduced the bill this spring.
What is the plan?
On Sept. 15, Premier David Eby announced the provincial government was planning to open "highly" secure facilities for people under the Mental Health Act throughout B.C. as well as secure treatment within BC Corrections.
All of the planned facilities will provide involuntary care under the B.C. Mental Health Act for people certified as requiring it.
According to the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, people will have to meet all these three criteria: struggling with severe mental health challenges, addictions issues, and brain injuries from repeated overdoses.
Eby also committed to adding more than 400 mental-health beds at new and expanded hospitals in the province by “modernizing” about 280 outdated beds and adding more than 140 new mental-health beds, with more planned.
The NDP government will also, if re-elected, look at introducing secure care for youth struggling with mental health and addictions.
The pledge is for the changes to be brought forward in consultation with First Nations and ensure culturally safe treatment programs and support for First Nations youth.
At first blush, Doherty is supportive of the plan.
"This would be amazing. Not only adults but our youth need us to do more. The province has been saying that they want to help; let's get secure care actioned," Doherty said. "Steffanie needed our help. She needed secure care, but it wasn't available, and I lost her. It's up to us to do everything and anything that we can to help save their lives; I know from losing my little girl that I would have chosen secure care if I had the option."
Change of heart
With the official start to the election campaign period beginning Sept. 21, this Eby announcement is a re-election promise from the NDP for the next legislative session.
The announcement came after the Conservative Party of BC’s leader, John Rustad, announced support for involuntary treatment.
When asked about secure care by The Squamish Chief in 2023, Eby said he was open to it but had concerns that it "reduces the possibility, and the willingness of people to go to a health care environment when they or their friends overdose."
While finer details on what exactly will be involved with the proposed involuntary care expansion haven’t yet been released, Eby’s concerns seem to have been addressed.
“People with addiction challenges, brain injuries and mental health issues need compassionate care and direct and assertive intervention to help them stabilize and rebuild a meaningful life,” said Eby in a news release. “This announcement is the beginning of a new phase of our response to the addiction crisis. We’re going to respond to people struggling like any family member would. We are taking action to get them the care they need to keep them safe, and in doing so, keep our communities safe, too.”
’Evidence-based recommendations’
The announcement Sept. 15 came a few months after Eby appointed Dr. Daniel Vigo as B.C.'s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders.
The latest provincial announcement is part of listening to Vigo’s recommendations, according to the news release.
“My office is analyzing all relevant provincial data to produce evidence-based recommendations to government in real time,” Vigo said in the release. “This has already led to the creation of key services in corrections, secure treatment and housing for the patient population with the most severe behavioural challenges resulting from mental impairment. The whole system of care for mental health and addictions will be strategically integrated and scaled up based on local data and best practices.”
Vigo said that there are inconsistent interpretations of the existing Mental Health Act from hospital to hospital—different practitioners use the act in different ways, in other words.
“So, we will be providing clarification to healthcare providers—so everyone’s working from the same baseline,” said a spokesperson for the ministry.
“We also know the existing Act needs clarifying as well. So, we will be making changes to the law in the next legislative session to provide clarity and ensure that people, including youth, can and should receive care when they are unable to seek it themselves.”
Youth dying
According to the BC Coroners Service, since 2016, the number of youth dying of drug toxicity has increased.
From Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2023, 126 children under 19 died from toxic drug poisoning.
That is about 25 youth dying from accidental overdoses each year.
“Unregulated drug toxicity is the leading cause of unnatural death among youth during this period,” reads the Coroners Service report.
Girls accounted for 51% of deaths, and 60% were kids between 17 and 18 years of age.
Of those who died, 66% were receiving or had received services through the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
And 67% of those who died had a mental health diagnosis or anecdotal evidence of a mental health disorder.
Expanding health for youth
The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions recognized Doherty’s pain and passion for secure care.
“There is no greater shock and heartbreak than losing a child. Steffanie’s death was a tragedy, and we are grateful to her mother, Brenda, for sharing her family’s journey to help ensure that no parent loses another child to toxic drugs,” said a ministry spokesperson in an email to The Squamish Chief.
The ministry spokesperson said that the best thing for youth is preventative rather than end-stream care.
“The best scenario for young people is to get help early on, before small problems snowball into complex ones,” the spokesperson said.
“Our focus for young people is to keep dramatically expanding early intervention and voluntary treatment services for youth. We’re opening 35 Foundry youth health centres, opening new treatment beds, integrating counselling and community service connections into schools, and running ad campaigns about the dangers of illicit drugs.”
Ultimately, Doherty is just glad there is an ongoing discussion about expanding involuntary care to more people struggling with mental health and addiction issues.
"It makes me so happy that this is even a topic of discussion for politicians," she said. "We're making people aware and helping them to understand how desperate we are. It wouldn't have been my first option, but at the very least would have been my next to save [my daughter’s] life. I was out of options at the time, and I lost Steffi. That's something I will have to live with for the rest of my life. I won't ever be OK with it. There will always be the feeling that there should have been more."
~With a file from Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press
