Back to Newsroom

The kid I couldn’t save 

Cracks in the Mental Health Act leave vulnerable minors without the help they need

March 6, 2025

One August afternoon last year, during my shift as a Chinatown Steward, I was going about my day collecting needles and trash around Pender and Carrall Streets.  

My partner Kathleen and I noticed what looked like a very young teenager sitting on a bus bench. As we passed by, the kid slipped off the bench and hit the ground, followed by a sharp tinkle of glass. 

As Chinatown Stewards, part of our job is conducting wellness checks on people who may be in distress — whether from an overdose or other crises. When we approached this young person to see if they were conscious, we were stunned — holy smokes — they couldn’t have been older than 14. Beside them, a glass meth pipe lay on the ground. 

“Are you OK?” we asked.  

“Yeah, I’m OK,” they replied. 

They looked wobbly, even sitting down. They weren’t going to be able to get up on their own.  

I got on the ground with them and held them gently by the front of their shirt to steady them. We decided to call paramedics to have them assessed, but instead, 911 sent the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). According to the VPD, police do not normally attend emergency health calls unless they believe there is a public safety issue. 

The attending officer that interviewed the kid was very compassionate and gentle with his questions. This youth turned out to be a good talker; they explained they were a girl who identified as a boy and worked in the sex trade. They protested being detained by us. 

I asked the officer whether the youth could be taken to the hospital’s mental health ward for their own safety. The officer explained to us that under the current Mental Health Act, the youth has to be a danger to themselves or others to be involuntarily admitted to hospital. As they didn’t appear to be suicidal or overdosing, there was nothing VPD could do.  

So we had to let them go.  

It turned out the kid was 16. I saw them again later that summer. They were sitting in front of the entrance to the Chinese Cultural Centre, on Columbia and Keefer Street. They were on the nod and I had to do three wellness checks on them that shift. They responded well each time. That was the last I ever saw of that poor kid.  

Later that summer, I heard that a 16-year-old was found dead of an overdose in the DTES. I often wonder if it was the kid I encountered. Either way, the Mental Health Act wasn’t there for them, and it cost them their life.  

I want to know: How can we mend the cracks in the Mental Health Act for young people in the DTES? Shouldn’t the fact that these kids are in the DTES, addicted to drugs and interacting with the sex trade, be enough to deem them a danger to themselves and unable to make safe decisions?  

This is where the slope gets slippery. Human rights have to be protected. According to the current Mental Health Act, patients deemed a danger to themselves or others can be detained in mental health wards for up to six months for examination and treatment. That doesn’t sound that bad to me. 

Some patients can be released in 48 hours, or up to three or six months,  depending on a number of doctors’ evaluations. This seems like plenty of time to find out how and why these kids are on the streets, who their parents are, why they’re homeless and so on.  

They can get detox and counselling, and stabilize from drug use, at least for a while. It may not be a complete answer, I know that. Some will be released and go back to the drug life, but some may not, and isn’t that better than nothing?  

My message for Premier David Eby: Go ahead and amend the Mental Health Act to include involuntary treatment for minors who are using drugs and taking part in the sex trade.    

Richard Young has been a part of Megaphone for seven years, first as a vendor. He is now a member of The Shift peer newsroom as well. He volunteers at Agape Church in Burnaby and is also a “Chinatown ambassador” as part of the Chinatown Community Stewardship Program, fostering a more harmonious community in and around Chinatown. 

Published in Megaphone magazine on March 7, 2025