Betty Hunte, Manager of the National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA).
THE National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) will again be making telephone hotlines available, so that persons who are experiencing substance abuse challenges during these trying times, can reach out for help.
That’s according to Betty Hunte, Manager of the NCSA. She spoke to this in a recent interview with The Barbados Advocate as she indicated that the NCSA has been getting some requests for assistance.
“It is a good thing that people are actually saying, ‘Yes, I need help,’ and they are recognising they are under stress... When we were on the national lockdown in April last year, we were still assisting the public because we had set up three telephone hotlines and persons were utilising those hotlines and that is what we are going back to at this present time, so that we ensure that we can still provide the coverage that is needed,” Hunte said.
Her comments came as she said that as it relates to getting these persons help, the NCSA continues where necessary to refer persons to residential treatment facilities. Hunte made the point while noting that those facilities have an important role to play. She said there are also some agencies that offer assistance at hours that the NCSA may not be available, and they too are to be commended. With that in mind, she said that during this year, the NCSA will review those partnerships, and where necessary, seek to further develop and strengthen them.
“So that if agency A is not available or cannot help at a particular time, that a transfer or referral to agency B is needed, because we recognise that people call when they are in crisis and we need to be able provide a service when people are in crisis. Fortunately, we at the NCSA have been able to do that to date, and touch wood, we hope that we will be able to continue to do so,” she stated.
Asked then to share her thoughts on the drug treatment court, which was introduced to be an alternative to incarceration for drug-dependent offenders, Hunte stated that the court has been doing good work. But, she said new information suggests that in addition to the drug-dependent offenders, their families also need support.
“Having attended quite recently meetings of the Organisation of American States and their Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, which was instrumental in helping us set up our drug treatment court, the emphasis now is being placed on families of persons who now find themselves before the drug treatment court... As the court matures, they have found in several jurisdictions, including in the Caribbean, that families go through as much stress as the persons themselves who are in the drug treatment court. So that is the conversation now, how can we include the families more,” she added.
The NCSA Manager said that is an area that she hopes to explore in depth in conjunction with the main partners in the drug treatment court, including the judiciary. (JRT)