The B.C. government has announced it will expand involuntary care for those with mental health and addictions issues, and will open “highly secure” facilities to house people detained under the Mental Health Act throughout the province.
Premier David Eby announced Sunday that the government would open mental health units at correctional facilities throughout the province, as well as regional facilities that would provide long-term care and housing for those with mental health needs.
The first dedicated mental health unit will be set up at Surrey Pretrial Centre, according to the province. The first regional mental health facility will be built on the grounds of the Alouette Correctional Centre in Maple Ridge.
As part of his public safety pitch, one week before the official start of B.C.’s election period, Eby said the moves would help those with brain injuries, mental illnesses and severe addiction.
“We’re going to respond to people struggling like any family member would,” Eby said in a statement to media. “We are taking action to get them the care they need to keep them safe, and in doing so, keep our communities safe, too.”
As part of the announcement, the province said that many people with mental health and addictions issues are in and out of the correctional and health-care systems without getting appropriate care.
Advocates say involuntary treatment ineffective
Involuntary treatment is allowed under B.C.’s Mental Health Act; a person can be detained in a psychiatric facility if a doctor deems it necessary for their health and safety, as well as the safety of others.
However, advocates have said that involuntary care for those with drug addictions is often not helpful, with one study showing that people were at a higher risk of drug overdose after being discharged from compulsory treatment.
“Involuntary treatment or forced care [is] not effective and does not help people, and is an extremely traumatic experience, which actually drives people away from the health care system,” said Tyson Singh Kelsall, an outreach worker in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and a PhD candidate in Simon Fraser University’s faculty of health sciences.
As the provincial election approaches, the poison drug crisis is top of mind. The B.C. Conservative Party has promised to use involuntary treatment for those experiencing severe addictions if it wins the October election. Tyson Singh Kelsall is a social worker and PhD candidate in SFU’s faculty of health sciences. He joins Dan Burritt to unpack the issues surrounding involuntary treatment.
In an interview before the Sunday announcement, Kelsall said that the building of new facilities to house those detained under involuntary care was distracting from a health-care crisis in the province.
He said that the province should be focused on interventions like affordable housing, regulating the drug supply and increasing welfare rates instead.
Kelsall said, “we need to ask if we’re starting something new, if we’re doing a new policy, if we’re building new facilities, why don’t we start with something that people actually want … that we benefit from?”