Estonia's only voluntary addiction clinic for youth closes due to lack of funds

On July 1, the Torujõe Noortekodu clinic in Kohtla-Järve, which provides voluntary placement and treatment for young people with addictions and behavioral difficulties, will close. This is due to a lack of funding and a decrease in the number of families willing to voluntarily send their children for treatment.
For the past five years, young people in Estonia have been receiving voluntary addiction treatment at the Torujõe Youth Home (Torujõe Noortekodu) in Kohtla-Järve.
Ida-Viru Central Hospital provided the service and the National Institute for Health Development (NIHD, or TAI in Estonian) funded it.
Aljona Kurbatova, a specialist at the NIHD, said that the reason for the withdrawal of funding for the youth treatment clinic was primarily financial. Due to the precarious financial situation, the state was unable to secure the annual funding of about €1 million needed to operate the clinic.
Kurbatova said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find families willing to voluntarily send their troubled children to the clinic without a court order, making it difficult to fill the center's 16 spaces. At the same time, the NIHD continues to finance the services of closed institutions, i.e., institutions where children are placed by court order.
"We can't say that the voluntary addiction treatment service hasn't been worthwhile, because when we talk about ending drug abuse, different types of services are needed because young people have different needs. But at the moment there is not as much demand for this service as we expected," she said.
"Motivation is crucial for young people, and we often see that those who need this service most are unwilling to accept it. So, there is a higher demand for a closed service than for a voluntary one," Kurbatova said.
She said that if the country's financial situation improves, it would make sense to reinstate the voluntary addiction treatment service to broaden the range of services.
"This does not mean that help is currently unavailable for young people struggling with addiction. The child protection system and children's mental health centers will continue to serve as referral points," she added.
The two-story building of the Torujõe Youth Home, which also housed a tuberculosis ward for decades, is now being sold by the hospital. The Central Hospital has given notice to about 20 staff members of the youth home-clinic, but hopes to offer them suitable jobs at the hospital.
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Editor: Kristina Kersa