Victoria (with files from Global/CBC) – On Sunday, the Province announced a new program of Involuntary Care for those with Severe Addictions. Mental Illness and Brain Injury.
This includes youth and also secure treatment within BC Corrections. This is something that the BC Conservatives have been touting as part of their provincial election campaign.
The first correctional centre will be at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre. The first secure housing and care facility will be on the grounds of the Alouette Correctional Centre (Monarch Homes) in Maple Ridge, which only requires minor renovations to meet the security requirements for residents and the community. All of the facilities will provide involuntary care under the B.C. Mental Health Act for people certified as requiring that care.
The Province is also building more than 400 mental-health beds at new and expanded hospitals in B.C. by modernizing approximately 280 outdated beds and adding more than 140 new mental-health beds, with more to come. All of these facilities will also provide involuntary care under the act.
In summer 2024, the Province appointed Dr. Daniel Vigo as B.C.’s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders. He is working with partners to find better ways to support the growing population of people with severe addictions, brain injuries from repeated drug poisonings, combined with mental-health disorders and psychosis. Often, these people are in and out of the correctional and health-care system without getting the care they need.
