Choices for Youth committed to expanding to 6 regions outside St. John's

An organization that supports at-risk youth in Newfoundland and Labrador says recent consultations around the province show a need to expand its services to areas outside the capital city.

Choices for Youth (CFY) has released a report called We Are Ready, which lays out the findings from months ofmeetings that focused on getting a sense from young people and those who work with them about the challenges they face in different regions.

• Choices for Youth hoping to give more youth more choices in more parts of the province

"We heard a lot about a bunch of themes, and the drug crisis is definitely one of them," said JoshuaSmee, who is overseeing CFY'sexpansion into other areas of the province.

"We're seeing a significant increase in drug use among younger people."

Smeetold the St. John's Morning Show that throughout the consultations he and othersrepeatedly heard that youth are increasingly using drugs at a younger age and often using hard drugs that may not have been available before, such as opioids and cocaine.

Often, those sameyoung people have other overlapping barriers such as mental health issues and family problems, which Smee said can be overwhelming especially in areas outside St. John's where the same kind of support services perhaps don't exist.

"It's a hard go if you're facing an addiction in a small community. You often have to leave home for more intense treatment and that's obviously a tough thing," he said.

6 locations

To address the issues it heard about at the consultations, Smee said CFY is committed to expanding programming throughout the province, with the goal to launch six new locations outside St. John's.

It can be really intimidating sometimes ...to step through adoor that says 'addictions'at the top of it.- Joshua Smee

Each facility could look quite different depending on where it is and what services already exist in those regions. Smee said the group plans on borrowing best practices from its programming in St. John's whenever it launches the new offices.

He saidthe Outreach Centre on Carter's Hill is a good example ofhow a centre might look, with its multi-faceted approach to service delivery.

Making it easier for youth to seek help is a big priority, offering a gateway for them to access services instead of having to go through conventional health-care routes which may seem daunting to someone between the ages of 16-29.

"It can be really intimidating sometimes, especially in a small community where folks know where you're going, to step through adoor that says 'addictions'at the top of it," he said.

In many cases, Smee said the centres won't even have to create new resources, but can just make better use of those that already exist in an area andby workingwith current service providers to make them more youth friendly.

"It's a tough thing to navigate sometimes if you're a young person that's really struggling, but we can make a difference on that."

• Click here to read the Choices for Youth report We Are Ready