Mental Health Act further delayed
Mother of Timothy Henderson says wait is taking hope away from those suffering
Emelie Peacock
Northern News Services
Friday, June 23, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Twenty-one months after passing an updated Mental Health Act, the territorial government has yet to implement it.
The mother of a young man who died after a struggle with mental health issues says this delay is taking hope away from families and those suffering.
"It doesn't give much hope to these kids," said Connie Walker.
Timothy Henderson died in 2015 at the age of 19 days after he was discharged from Stanton Territorial Hospital. He admitted himself to the hospital at least four times and made clear he was considering self-harm.
When he was discharged the last time, his parents were not informed, despite the fact he was on suicide watch.
Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy previously gave January as a date of implementation of the new Mental Health Act, passed in fall 2015, to replace a 1985 law. The January date was not met and as of last month, the department did not have a timeline for when it will come into force.
Walker said sharing her story would be worth it if something changes in a mental-health system she says is broken.
"It was hard to relive it, it was hard to tell the story and if nothing comes out of that it's just like more anguish on top of more anguish," she said.
Nahendeh MLA Shane Thompson said the minister has been keeping him and other MLAs informed on work to implement the act. He said he would like to see the work done quicker, as it will help communities across the territory facing mental-health crises the combat the problem.
In January, the department cited four factors delaying implementation: preparation of regulations to go along with the new law, the development of new forms and documents, the creation of a review board and training on the new law.
Abernethy was not available for an interview as of press time.
Earlier this week, Damien Healy, spokesperson with the department, stated by e-mail the work is expected to be completed "soon" but did not give an updated timeline.
"We have achieved substantial progress that includes work on finalizing our regulations," stated Healy. "We have begun the process to fill our review board as applications are being considered, staff are being trained, and new forms are being drafted for use."
The new Mental Health Act is a significant overhaul of the regulations covering mental health in the territory. It will allow patients to leave medical facilities and live under supervision; receive treatment in their communities; expand the criteria for admitting people involuntarily and allow health workers to intervene before a person is at the point of causing harm.
A review board is one of the substantial changes in the new Mental Health Act. According to Umesh Sutendra, a spokesperson with the department, the board's members will hear concerns of individuals held involuntarily for mental-health reasons and review cases of people held involuntarily for long periods to ensure they are not being held for an unreasonable time.
The board will be made up of three people: a doctor, a lawyer and a third person. There will also be an option for the board to engage an elder or someone else to act as cultural adviser during a hearing. The GNWT budgeted $501,000 for the implementation of the Mental Health Act during this fiscal year, ending March 31, 2018.
Part of this funding was to go to three staff to assist with implementation: a part-time administrative assistant, a policy adviser and a clinical social worker at the hospital. All of these roles were meant to be filled fall 2016.
In January, Yellowknifer reported these positions had not been filled and as of press time the department had not provided an update.
Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne said while he recognizes the urgency of addressing mental health in the territory, he is more concerned about the government getting implementation right.
"You're dealing with individuals, you're dealing with law enforcement, you're dealing with practitioners and you're dealing with other actual jurisdictions," he said.
"That tells me that there's a lot of work to be done to make sure that you're going out and getting the input and all of those entities."
