Operation Come Home: Overdose Support in Canada
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/02/15 (Unpublished)
Operation Come Home (OCH) supports at-risk youth aged 16–25 through harm reduction, counselling, and overdose prevention. Executive Director John Heckbert highlights the role of peer staff in mentoring participants, managing caseloads, and leading workshops on substance use awareness. OCH ensures youth leaving hospitals or treatment centers receive continued support by partnering with sector organizations. A daily drop-in program provides resources and referrals for those struggling with addiction or mental health. By focusing on youth, OCH prevents exposure to adult homelessness and related dangers like drug trafficking and violence, helping them secure housing, employment, education, and family reunification.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the role of individuals with lived experience in leading the Operation Come Home project?
John Heckbert: There are four peer staff in the project, who are supporting our program participants with counselling and assistance to help them achieve their goals in reducing and then ending their substance use. Our peers will provide ongoing, consistent support to participants with significant substance use challenges. They will each manage their own caseload of 20 clients and provide daily crisis assistance and support to others in our programs. They will also lead workshops and sessions that provide information to youth that inform them of the dangers of substance use, and provide instruction in overdose prevention.
Jacobsen: How will Operation Come Home connect youth leaving hospitals or treatment centers with continued support?
Heckbert: To ensure clients leaving treatment centers are provided with ongoing, continued support, we have reached out to partners in our sector to generate referrals to our program. Our goal is to ensure that all youth exiting treatment programs in Ottawa are aware of our services and able to access support through our counsellors. To achieve this, we have prepared information that hospital staff and those in treatment centers can share with clients. Wherever possible our team will meet these participants at our center or in community settings to bring them into our program.
Jacobsen: How are harm reduction, overdose prevention, counselling, and mental health services, integrated to support at-risk youth here?
Heckbert: Our team holds a daily drop-in program that is open 7 days per week, in which youth receive harm reduction resources, information about overdose prevention, and introductions to staff members and are encouraged to join programs that improve their well-being. The drop-in is advertised throughout our city at other community agencies, homeless shelters, and with community postering. Youth who come to OCH and indicate concerns about their substance use or mental healthy are encouraged to join our programs that provide support. In many cases, youth pursuing other priorities within our organization, such as finding new housing, obtaining employment, or completing high school, will be introduced to counsellors who can provide targeted help with substance use or mental health counselling.
Jacobsen: Why does OCH focus on ages 16–25?
Heckbert: Operation Come Home’s core mandate is to help at-risk youth aged 16-25. In some programs, such as our employment or education work, we help youth up to age 29. We help youth achieve permanent improvements in their well-being, and achieve their goals with reuniting with family, improving their mental health, ending substance use, obtaining housing, finding employment, or completing school. Having these programs for youth is essential, as we are reducing our youth’s exposure to the adult homelessness system and adult harm reduction services. This in turn reduces the risks youth face from drug dealers, human traffickers, violence, and other harms.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, John.
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