Karen McOuat
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 16/98) - The end of the youth treatment program at Northern Addiction Services is cause for great concern.

It certainly is for Greg Krivda, the youth alcohol and drug worker at the Tree of Peace in Yellowknife.

"There's a lot of youth out there and now nowhere to put them," he says. "I'm very concerned."

Especially since he is the only youth A&D worker in the city of 17,000. Krivda sees approximately seven clients per week and spends four out of five mornings in the high schools. Some of the youth are referred to him, others seek help on their own. He says "you don't want to know" how long his days are.

"You've gotta discipline yourself, or else you get fried," he says.

Krivda believes parents, elders, schools and clergy need to be more involved. He says the kids are going around with no structure and the ones he sees are getting younger and younger. Some of his clients are only eight or nine years old. His frustration with the problem is clear.

"Society's got to wake up and see this."

The current youth treatment centre, officially closing Dec. 31, is "designed to fail," says Krivda. Located downtown, he says the teens still have access to their peers and harmful substances. A new youth treatment centre is needed, and, this time, in a more remote area.

"I hope to God it's somewhere else," he says.

Krivda sees himself as something of a big brother to the youth he works with.

"I take them out hunting," he says. "The last time, there were four guys and we went out for four nights." He finds that getting out into nature is therapeutic, regardless of cultural background.

"There are some aboriginals who've never been out on the land. Colour or race doesn't matter to me. They are just human beings."

Alcohol and drugs are secondary, he says. It is the underlying problems that need to be dealt with.

Krivda knows the obstacles our youth face. He has been through it himself, at home in northern Manitoba.

"I grew up the same way, even a bit worse," he says. "If I could do it, they could do it."

Ultimately, he says, it is the choices that the kids make. They have to take responsibility, too.

"There are some who think they don't need help," says Krivda. "But there are no lost causes, just challenges."

Krivda says he has received thank you cards from some of the teens he has worked with.

"It's rewarding when you see a change in the youth. But, really, it's the kids who help themselves."