Q. Is there a Scared Strait Tour in my area?
A. This particular Scared Straight program runs out of Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. As far as we know, there are no other similar programs to educate youth about the dangers of addiction anywhere else in the world. To make use of this program, you must be willing to come to Vancouver, BC.
Q. Can I register a youth for this tour?
A. Yes you can, but unless he/she is part of a larger group (a minimum of 12 participants and 2 chaperons), he/she will have to be flexible in terms of dates and come on a tour when there is a group scheduled for a tour. Parents who want to send their child on a tour should speak to the program coordinator to determine if the child is an appropriate refferral for the program.
Q. Are all youths appropriate refferrals to this program?
A. No. The youth has to be willing and able to participate in the program. If they are too resistant to being there, they will find a way to sabotage their experience. We do not want youth who are going to be too disruptive or do things like run away once they arrive in Vancouver. That being said, we have dealt with plenty of youth who had an attitude about being there at first but eventually changed their mind-set after seeing what they did on the tour.
Q. How often is there a tour?
A. That varies but on the average we do about 6-10 tours a year. That number is likely to increase in the near future.
Q. Can I just send a youth on a tour?
A. No. Every individual youth (one who is not part of a larger group) must be accompanied by a responsible adult who will supervise them and ensure their cooperation (like being on-time for example).
Q. How much does it cost to send a youth on a tour?
A. The cost is $325 per participant and$125 per chaperon.
Q. What is included in the tour?
A. The price includes the tour itself, all meals (2 dinners, 1 lunch and 2 breakfasts), accommodations while on the tour, a t-shirt and on-going support and monitoring after the tour is over.
Q.What do you mean by on-going support after the tour is over?
A. We at The Scared Straight Tour believe that it is very important to try to ensure that the youth continue to do well long after the tour is over. Towards this end, we encourage the youth to become a fan of The Scared Straight Tour on facebook. Here they are able to read up about how everyone is doing and post comments about how they are doing. This allows them to support each other in their desire to stay free of drugs and alcohol.
We also will send the youth a Drug & Alcohol Survey every 6 months to evaluate whether or not their use of D&A has increased, remained stable or, better yet, gone down. After they return their survey, we will send them a report comparing their new score to the previous ones. This will allow them to monitor for themselves how well they are doing. We will continue to send these surveys to participants for many years after they have come on the tour.
Additionally, the participants are always welcome to stay in touch with us and should they need support we will try to provide that for them or contact someone local who can help.
For additional information see the “After the Tour” page on the
website.
Q.Will my child be safe?
A. When we do the tours, we only move about in large groups of at least 15, and we have at least 4 of our own chaperons accompany the group on all outings; we don’t go into back alleys at night; and the participants all get an orientation before the beginning of the tour as to the “do’s and don’ts”. The residents of the Eastside are familiar with our program (we’ve been giving the tours since 2006) and most of them want to help as they do not want to see the kids wind up down there. The residents also want to see the program continue as we try to help out the residents by providing food, blankets, assistance and cash donations to agencies while we are on the tour. Consequently, the word has gone out on the streets to not mess around with the Scared Straight Tour. While this has always been sufficient to ensure everyone’s safety, we ask all participants, or their parents, to sign a waiver before being allowed on the tour.
Q.How do I register for a tour?
A. Simply register you email with us (use the blue box on the right side of this page). This will put you on a list to be immediately notified where there is another tour booked. When a tour comes up and if that date works for you, simply email us stating that you would like to register for the upcoming tour and we will contact you to finalize the details. The contact information can be found on the “Contact Us” on this website. Please note that a 50% deposit is required for anyone, or any group, wishing to book a tour.
We had a couple of tours this December (sorry but these ones weren't open to the public) but we are currently planning several tours for February. Once we have some confimed dates we will be posting them and sending out a newsletter. Keep checking back here for updates or register your email with us and we will notify you automatically when the next tour is booked.
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I am extremely pleased with the new developments in our program as I think this will make an even bigger difference in the lives of even more people by helping them maintain a life free from addiction. I have dedicated my career (since 1997) to helping those suffering from this horrible affliction but my involvement with addiction goes much further back. Having grown up in a family where alcoholism was rampant, and having developed a serious addiction myself, which almost cost me my life when I was in my 20's, I take addiction and the devastation it causes very seriously.