Youth demand for drug help is rising

MORE young people are seeking support for drug use, with a leading service on track to help almost double the number of clients this financial year than in the 12 months prior.

Barwon Child, Youth and Family’s manager of alcohol and other drugs, Josie Taylor, said the services delivered 784 episodes of care in the community in the 2018-19 financial year, and 519 episodes of care in the first six months of this financial year.

The rise in admissions follows recent data which showed illicit drug hospital admissions in Greater Geelong rose from 101 in 2008-9 to 738 in 2017-18.

The most recent version of Australia’s Annual Overdose Report, published in August 2019, showed that 1612 Australians died of unintentional drug overdoses in 2017.

It also showed that drug overdoses were responsible for the deaths of 77 people in the Geelong region from 2013-17, up more than 30 per cent from the five years prior.

Ms Taylor said BCYF worked with children, young people and families who had been impacted by substance use.

“Each person’s experience is unique, there are many variables that need to be taken into account when assessing impacts of someone’s substance misuse on their physical and psychological functioning,” Ms Taylor said.

“I would add that mixing any substances of any kind, does increase risk of harm and is strongly associated with overdose.”

BCYF and Stepping Up Barwon supports client through a suite of services, including counselling, care co-ordination, group work, family work, and non-residential withdrawal and rehabilitation.

“BCYF recognises the importance of supporting the family system that is supporting the person using substances, and we have key relationships with services such as Family Drug Help and

Family Drug

Taylor said.

The experiences of families of those who have experienced drug addiction will be shared at BCYF’s International Family Drug Support Day event on Monday.

Ms Taylor said the annual event highlighted the need for families to be supported and encouraged to speak about their concerns and their needs.

“Behind every statistic of a drug-related overdose death, arrest or hospitalisation there is a family suffering the pain,” she said.

The event will be held at Barwon Community AOD Hub in Geelong West from 3-4pm. support,” Ms