15 of Ontario's 21 allowed CTS sites have been approved so far and Waterloo Region is in the process of applying

While Waterloo Region begins the process of applying for a Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) site in Kitchener, that leaves the closest operating site in Guelph.

The CTS site operates out of the Guelph Community Health Centre (CHC) and can serve as an example of what we could expect to see in Kitchener, should the application be approved.

Their site started back in April 2018 as a Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) before applying as a CTS site in December.

According to Jan Klotz, Client Care Manager, Guelph CHC, the process was lengthy, but not too much of a leap, as they were already providing many "wraparound services" that the application was asking for.

"One of the things that the CTS program design and application really emphasizes is the need to connect people to treatment and the need to connect people to the services that they require," she says. "We were really lucky being housed within the Community Health Centre and some of the other services in the building as well as the services in Guelph, we were already working really hard to connect people to the services that they need."

The Guelph CHC provides services to vulnerable members of the community, such as affordable healthy food, access to outreach services, primary care centre, and family support programs.

The CTS site itself, is a small section of the building with two rooms.

When users enter the space they are greeted by a peer worker, someone who has lived experienced and has grappled with addiction.

"Those folks can instill hope in some of the folks coming to the site as well. Our peer workers are maintaining some sort of stability in their life and can share some of their journey to give hope and give folks some understanding on how the system functions," Klotz says.

The peer workers would build connections and trust with clients, advising them on safe needle use and helping them on their journey to recovery.

"The peer worker also talks to them about the other needs or some of the other gaps in their life that they might need to access, for example, may be they need to access the emergency shelter and our staff can help them get connected to that. May be they need some help with food access, or may be they're interested to going to withdrawal management, so our staff actively works with them to ensure that they're connected to the things that they need," she says.

Cambridge Memorial Hospital recently brought in a overdose response peer role to their Emergency Department who came from Stonehenge Therapeutic Community.

Klotz says she personally provided the reference.

The consumption room is staffed by an onsite nurse at any time, monitoring clients and advising them how to reduce harm when using.

No drugs are provided, the clients bring their own, but clean needles are on site, along with naloxone in cases of an overdose.

There is zero-tolerance for drug dealing onsite and police will get involved if the person does not listen to staff and leave the property.

"We have a really great working relationship with the Guelph Police and we are actively working to address issues before they become issues by engaging with folks and ensuring they're connected to one of our services or to the services in the community," she says, while noting people who deal drugs may be in a tough position and are just trying to survive however they can.

Klotz says when it comes to their clients, they have to take things at their pace on their road to recovery.

Never pushing too hard, but celebrating each step as building that trust can take time, especially accessing therapy.

"It can be difficult to access services like addiction treatment or mental health services due to wait lists in our system, or some sort of specialized care, there can be wait lists," she says, "We can't necessarily eliminate those wait lists, but we provide a bridge and we can provide support when folks are on a waitlist."

The Ford government put a 21 CTS site limit on the province, with 15 approved so far.

The region, as part of its application, must show they can provide integrated wrap-around health and social services, evidence of community need, and local support, in order to be approved.

