Push to secure residential rehabilitation centre for Warrnambool

A BOLD plan to establish a 20-bed residential rehabilitation centre in Warrnambool has been revealed.

Western Region Alcohol and other Drug Centre director Geoff Soma says something needs to happen immediately to address growing drug and alcohol addiction issues and is calling on philanthropic groups and the community to help fund a facility to be staffed 24 hours, seven days a week.

“This residential alcohol and other drug centre will be called The Lookout and will provide a range of services for clients and their families in Warrnambool and the Great South Coast,” he said.

“The problem is evident and quite simply something needs to happen in our community right now. People who have struggled to overcome not only drugs but a serious health problem deserve a better deal.”

There has been considerable work completed to establish a facility. The next steps involve gaining financial support for a site and a government commitment to fund operational costs.

“Community, philanthropic trust support and local government support will be integral to this process,” Mr Soma said.

WRAD have committed $600,000 to the capital costs of the project and the community fundraising target is $605,000.

A Residential Rehabilitation Planning and Fundraising Committee has been established.

It includes chair, former mayor Glenys Phillpot, councillor Sue Cassidy, 3YB/Coast FM’s Tracey Kol, Standing Tall’s Matty Stewart, former VFL premiership player John Rantall and The Standard’s editor Greg Best. Community leaders have thrown their support behind the facility, including former Premier Denis Napthine.

"The missing link in our region’s drug and alcohol services is the lack of readily accessible locally-based residential rehabilitation services, they are urgently needed to help our community members whose lives are in crisis and who desperately need these services to help them turn their lives around,” Dr Napthine said.

South West Healthcare mental health services director Karyn Cook said it worked with WRAD and other groups to prevent, intervene and treat alcohol and other drug disorders.

“The need for access to a local residential rehabilitation centre has been highlighted by many stakeholders in south-west Victoria,” she said.

“The community is extremely concerned about increasing substance misuse and related harms within the regional population, and the lack of a residential treatment options for those striving towards recovery is a significant barrier.”

Warrnambool College principal Dave Clift said it was an unfortunate reality that a small number of young people became drug dependent.

“Having a residential rehabilitation centre in Warrnambool provides these young people with a way out of the negative spiral of addiction in a way that will stick,” he said.

Donations can be made to Warrnambool’s ANZ branch.

WRAD’s plan for a rehabilitation centre comes as statistics reveal more than 12 people a week sought treatment for addiction in 2015/16.

Last year WRAD contracted health services researcher Dr Lynda Berends to explore characteristics of alcohol and other drug clients in the south-west and their access to residential rehabilitation treatment. 

Dr Berends analysed service data of 662 clients from 2015/16.  

Almost all of these clients were severely drug dependent and their most common primary drugs of concern were alcohol (43.9 per cent), cannabis (26.2), and amphetamines (24.2). 

Substance dependence was not the only problem clients encountered. Many suffered from social disadvantage - unemployment was high (52.5 per cent), a substantial proportion of clients had some form of criminal justice problem (35.3 per cent) and their risk of homelessness (5.9 per cent) was well above the national average.

Familial circumstances were complex – about a third of clients with dependent children were not living with them.

WRAD director Geoff Soma said it took courage to seek alcohol and other drug treatment given the stigma attached to having a substance-use problem.

“Despite this, many clients have received more than one episode of alcohol and other drug treatment in recent years,” he said.

“This suggests clients have substantial motivation to seek help, although they may struggle to stay in remission from problematic alcohol and other drug use. For some clients, residential rehabilitation may be required.”

Residential rehabilitation targets people with severe and long-standing alcohol and other drug use problems who have tried other services with limited success.

It involves stays of three months or longer at a dedicated facility that provides a structured, work-based program within a supportive environment.

Clients undergo detoxification before coming to the service, so they are not chemically dependent on alcohol and other drugs.

They engage in therapeutic counselling and other group and individual activities to develop personal and social skills that are important in addressing alcohol and other drug use problems. 

Mr Soma said specialist alcohol and other drug treatment was effective and would bring substantial savings to society. 

“While Warrnambool and the Great South Coast have a range of outpatient services, in addition to hospital-based detoxification, there is little or no access to the most intensive treatment type, namely residential rehabilitation,” he said.

“As noted by key stakeholders from the Great South Coast in recent consultations residential rehabilitation doesn’t exist and it is the major gap in the system.”

Lorraine knows all too well the pain and trauma addiction can cause.

Her son has been using drugs and alcohol and has been in and out of jail for the past 20 years. Lorraine said a rehabilitation centre would go a long way to helping people like him.

After joining the workforce, Lorraine’s son began to regularly use and abuse drugs and alcohol and had multiple run-ins with the law.

Lorraine said she attempted to take her son for treatment in Melbourne, before booking into a detox program at South West Healthcare.

There was a long waiting list to get into the program and he ended up back on drugs before he was admitted. He ended up in prison for three years.

“When he was last released he was great,” she said.

“He had made promises to himself to get himself right for his kids and promises to us to find his way to a normal life. He's an excellent father to his kids when he’s healthy.”

However, Lorraine said her son was unemployed and lived in a “problematic” area of Warrnambool.

“With the hours of downtime it inevitably led back around to him losing his willpower and going back into alcohol use and mixing with the wrong people again.” 

He found himself in trouble with the police again and is now back in jail.

“His children now will go again without their dad,” Lorraine said.

“I want there to be a drug and alcohol rehab here for people like my son who can't stop by themselves.

“We have always felt that a dedicated rehab program could have helped him change his life for the better, one that enables a person to return for help and stay as long as they need to make it happen.”

She said with the help of her husband and a friend, they had started a drug and alcohol support group in Warrnambool.

The group meets on Wednesday evenings at 7pm at the Archie Graham Community Centre.