A mother struggling with addiction in 麻豆精选 says that despite pleading for help, she has been left out in the cold for more than six months while awaiting the treatment she needs to be there for her daughter.
"I have begged for help," said Mercedez Nichols while seated beside her tent at Tent City, a city-maintained encampment for those experiencing unsheltered homelessness in 麻豆精选.
Since speaking with Capital News, Nichols has moved off of the housing waiting list and into a Tiny Home at STEP Place but is still awaiting a bed at an addictions treatment centre.
Nichols is a mother to a young girl who is currently in the care of the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development. After moving across the country to 麻豆精选, Nichols said that the abuse she endured from her husband escalated, and her home was no longer a safe space for herself or her daughter. She agreed to have her daughter placed into a safe home with the Ministry of Child and Family Development after the police were called to the home. She said that as a result of being isolated in a new city and enduring abuse, her mental health deteriorated, her addiction to alcohol worsened and she needed help.
Nichols said that she felt that the decision to relinquish care of her daughter to the ministry was the only option available to her at the time, even though it broke her heart. She said that her daughter's safety and happiness are her only priorities, which is why she agreed to have her daughter placed into the custody of the Ministry when it intervened.
However, despite her pleas for help in recovery, Nichols said she was told by MCFD that she had to navigate her journey to sobriety and the housing system herself, before being able to speak with her daughter again.
"I am ready to get clean for my daughter and for myself, but I cannot do it alone," Nichols said.
Nichols said she understands that she needs to be on the path to sobriety before being reunited with her daughter but navigating the system alone has been challenging.
"I am willing to fix everything I have done wrong to get her back. I asked for help a lot and they never actually gave me any options on how to fix and be able to be a better mother," said Nichols.
Black Press made multiple requests for interviews from the MCFD about options that are available to parents experiencing substance use disorders and want to recover. In lieu of an interview, MCFD provided an emailed statement saying that while the health of a parent cannot be the sole reason a child requires protection, concurrent circumstances including domestic violence will prompt an intervention by the ministry.
"In such cases, the child welfare worker will develop a family plan that addresses priority needs and child鈥檚 safety," said the Ministry of Family and Child Development.
The ministry said the parents鈥� wellness and goals for "reducing or stopping problematic substance use that is related to the child鈥檚 safety and well-being," are also taken into consideration when creating the safety plan.
"The child welfare worker may connect the parent to substance use counselling, treatment and other services that are available through the Ministry of Health," said the MCFD.
Nichols said that after her daughter was placed into foster care, she moved out of her husband's house to escape abuse and has since experienced periods of unsheltered homelessness while on a waiting list for housing and substance-use treatment.
"After I put her into safety, I spiralled," said Nichols.
She has been unable to communicate with her daughter since she was removed from her care.
"I never spent one day without her before, not even a weekend without her. Now I'm just lost. I don't know what to do, I don't even know who I am. What else do I have to live for," Nichols said. "I can understand the not seeing her part, because of my addiction. But at least let me talk to her. Let her know mommy loves her. It would be a huge thing to make me better too."
Over the six months that Nichols has been waiting for a bed at a substance use detox and treatment facility, Nichols' addiction to alcohol got worse. She also started to use drugs while living at Tent City and survived an overdose from a toxic drug poisoning.
Deborah Klassen, the co-executive director of Karis, a supportive living facility in 麻豆精选 that helps mothers experiencing addiction, said that there is a lack of support for individuals who are seeking treatment for substance use disorders.
"The mothers are working very hard on their recovery because they love their kids. They're doing very hard things to have a relationship with their kids," Klassen said. "We need more supports."
Klassen said that in 麻豆精选, the wait to access medically supervised substance detoxification followed by supportive treatment is typically many months long.
Mothers are eligible to move into Karis after they have completed both detoxification, either on their own or under medical supervision, and substance-use treatment, which can take months of waiting to access.
Klassen said that despite the provincial government's recent funding for six new beds at Karis, there is still a months-long waiting list for the 37 spots that they provide.
"This money is definitely helping," said Klassen. "But it is still not enough ... there are gaps in access to streamlined treatment."
Klassen said that in addition to gaps in streamlined addictions treatments and supports, Karis is only equipped to help mothers with children under the age of two and a half, which unfortunately excludes many parents who have older children and want to seek holistic, recovery-oriented care. She hopes that there is an expansion in the services offered in 麻豆精选 in the near future.
"We need more supports for people with children," said Klassen. "Our desire and belief is that parents and children are better together."
Bety Tesfay, a staff lawyer who works at West Coast LEAF, an organization that advocates for gender justice and human rights, said that structural issues and gaps in how families are supported often bleed into interventions by MCFD.
"The narrative of protecting children overshadows the penal and punitive aspects of the family policing system," Tesfay said.
She said that often, organizations like MCFD view gaps in child well-being through a punitive lens, rather than as arising due to structural issues in society that require holistic support.
Tesfay said that simply removing children from a mother who is experiencing domestic abuse is punitive, not supportive.
"The system does not address the root causes of harm. We need to support caregivers, families and communities. It is beneficial for both kids and parents," said Tesfay.
Nichols has begun working with the support workers at STEP Place to make changes in her life. Now that she has stable housing and a team of staff advocating for her, Nichols said she is hopeful she will be able to navigate recovery and eventually be granted the opportunity to hug her daughter again.
