We are a virtual community of hard working, tax paying, concerned citizens with families who live in the Dunbar, West Point Grey, Kitsilano, Fraser St. and other neighbourhoods of Vancouver, Metro Vancouver, British Columbia and elsewhere. Created in 2006, NIABY.com (Not in Anbody's Back Yard) is a compilation of expertise from our growing readership including physicians, lawyers, police officers, business men and women, retired people and others who dedicate their time researching and writing about supportive housing initiatives and community treatments in mental health and addiction.
NIABY.com is an evidence based, medical information website monitoring proposed addiction and mental health community treatment solutions proposed for residential neighbourhoods. We believe that large supportive housing projects and community treatment facilities for difficult to treat, complex patients (severely mentally ill, drug addicts and the mentally ill drug addicts) should be proven safe and effective for their host communities, and have scientifically proven effective treatments.
The purpose of this website is to let you know what is being reported in the current scientific medical literature on mental health and addictions as opposed to what the politicians, and government bureaucrats want you to hear. NIABY.com exposes and analyzes government policies and reports for truth and accuracy on community drug treatments and housing. We monitor complex patient supportive housing initiatives for effectiveness. We attempt to bring honesty, transparency, accountability and responsibility to the non profit supportive housing and the addictions treatment industry.
We champion scientific evidence over opinion. We believe that policy makers have little to no concern for the safety and security of the neighbourhoods who will be hosting large supportive housing facilities and that many community mental health and addictions treatment policies are ideologically driven rather than sound proven evidence of effectiveness.
We do not accept opinions from Mental Health and Addictions Experts or Politicians as evidence. Rather, NIABY expects the "experts", who are proposing large supportive housing or a community drug treatment facility in your neighbourhood, to provide conclusive evidence of effectiveness based on current scientific medical literature.
Good intentions - no matter how well meaning - are not proof of effectiveness.
A host communities perspective of effective drug addict supportive housing is:
- Patients residing in the supportive housing should be able to keep and maintain a sustained abstinence with NO use, misuse, slips, lapses, relapses into drug or alcohol.
- Patients should stay out of trouble.
- Patients should obtain and keep a job.
From a tax payers point of view, mental health and addictions treatments should be well tested and proven effective and safe. Each "supportive" housing facility should be measured and monitored for effectiveness and safety by an independent auditor. It is unconscionable to allow an industry, in this case the addictions and mental health treatment industry, go unmeasured and unmonitored simply because they claim to have good intentions.
Revised March 31, 2008.