by Glenn Taylor
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Aug 29/97) - Inuvik's former drug and alcohol treatment centre will reopen its doors Sept. 2, this time as a halfway house for Yellowknife Correctional Centre inmates.

Delta House closed its doors April 1, after its funding to provide live-in drug and alcohol treatment was cut by the Department of Health and Social Services. Since then, the Inuvik Alcohol Committee, which managed Delta House, has been actively seeking alternative uses for the facility.

The Department of Justice will now pay the committee to provide a halfway or transition home for territorial inmates nearing completion of their sentences who have earned a level of trust from corrections officials while in Yellowknife.

Four staff members have already been hired to provide 24-hour surveillance of the inmates and to provide a number of life-skills courses during the day, according to Bev Hainstock, acting executive director of the committee.

With beds for up to 10 inmates, the program will offer alcohol and drug programming, anger-management courses, life skills ranging from cooking to bankbook balancing, and also perhaps some job-search skills, said Hainstock.

"Some of these people will need some basic life skills, how to survive on the street," said Hainstock. The committee hopes to attract a number of volunteers to help train the inmates.

"There is a significant amount of need in the community for restorative justice," said Hainstock. "With the facility and expertise we have, we figured we could do it."

Hainstock said residents shouldn't be concerned about their safety with the inmates in town. All clients go through a rigorous screening, and only those who have demonstrated trust and a desire to change will be accepted for the program.

Only those convicted of lesser crimes like assault will be accepted, she said. In a typical case, a client will have completed about one-third of his sentence, and will then complete another third before being eligible for release.

"A lot of these crimes are alcohol-related, and if we can help with their problems, we hope fewer will end up back in prison as a result," she said.