The operators of a well-known residential drug treatment facility based in Surrey and Langley are speaking out in their own defence, after being partially shut down by the government.
The John Volken Academy was ordered to stop operating as a treatment centre after an investigation into allegations of mistreatment. Last week, the centre abandoned an appeal of the decision.
Some residents alleged they were required to work up to 56 hours per week unpaid, while other allegations included bans on speaking and ostracization for those who broke the rules. One resident was reportedly gored by a water buffalo while working on the facility’s farm.
Speaking to media on Tuesday, the operators didn’t deny residents were expected to work, but did dispute claims of over-work or abuse.
Participants in the Academy’s two-year live-in program were expected to work in a store, a furniture moving company and a farm.
Founder John Volken acknowledged the centre did use a bench to isolate residents when they were “out of line” and needed a “cooling off” period to reflect.
Likewise, he acknowledged the facility did sometimes ban residents from speaking.
“The ministry calls it a punishment, but we call it a learning experience,” Volken said.
“They have to sit by themselves sometimes for an hour, sometimes for a day, and it works because students need community, they want community, and if it is no there it gives them the opportunity on the bench or not speaking it gives them the opportunity to reflect and it changes them.”
Volken said that residents weren’t always happy with the rules, something he said was a natural reaction from people deep in addiction. But residents were always free to leave the centre if they did not want to complete the program, he said.
“(When) you start out they are selfish, they want to do what they want to do when they want to … and we try to change them,” he said.
Former participant Jannan Haimour credited the program’s strict rules with helping her turn her life around.
“The bench is a bench to cool off and think,” she said. “For me, it was a place to go and reflect and to cool off and what a beautiful thing because I think that bench saved my life.”
Volken also alleged that the province’s decision to step in and close the program had cost at least one former resident their life.
“One of our students was obviously dismayed by the fact he had to leave,” he said. “Now what is going to happen to me?’” Volken said.
“He left because the government told him he had to leave, and he overdosed and died. The government got involved for one week and there was already one person dead.”
The province’s Assisted Living Registry imposed six conditions on the treatment centre in June 2022, after receiving complaints.
The conditions included the requirement that a nurse or medical practitioner be on site at least 20 hours a week, that the Academy not restrict or read residents’ mail and a prohibition on the use of the bench and speaking bans.
But in 2024, the registry said inspections had found the facility was still failing to comply with conditions, including the use of speaking bans, resulting in the facility having its registration cancelled.
Volken said the centre’s facilities in Surrey have been sold for close to $78 million, money that will go back into the foundation.
The Academy still operates a work/life skills program with no addiction recovery component.