Ontario Expanding Mental Health Services for Children and Youth in Hiawatha First Nation

Pete Fisher
3 years ago
• Categories: Local

The Government of Ontario is providing over $31 million to help improve access to specialized mental health treatment services, reduce waitlists and wait times, and support the mental health and wellbeing of children and youth by addressing the increased demand for services during COVID-19.

Today, MPP David Piccini was joined by Chief Laurie Carr to announce that as part of this investment Dnaagdawenmag Binnoojiiyag Child and Family Services will receive $10,300.

This funding is part of the government’s commitment to invest $3.8 billion over 10 years to implement the Roadmap to Wellness, Ontario’s plan to build a comprehensive and connected mental health and addictions system to serve Ontarians of all ages.

“With today’s funding, we continue our important work through Roadmap to Wellness to enhance existing services, fill urgent gaps in mental health and build a treatment network that will support children and youth, families, and communities on their journey to wellness,” said MPP Piccini. “This funding will help ensure child and youth clients can receive the appropriate care and support they need in a timely manner and in the right setting, helping improve outcomes and avoiding hospital admissions.”

As a multi-service Indigenous well-being agency, Dnaagdawenmag Binnoojiiyag Child & Family Services provides a stable foundation for children, youth, and families, through wraparound services that are culturally based and family-focused. They provide services to 8 First Nations, Urban Indigenous Families, and their jurisdiction falls within 3 Ministry Regions and 5 Children’s Aid Societies. Their wraparound services also include Native Youth Justice, Youth in Transition and Child & Youth Mental Health and Addictions.

“This funding amount will enhance and assist in increasing much needed mental health and addictions supports and services for First Nations youth and families”, said Chief Carr. “We must continue to provide our children and youth with services that meets their needs so they can live the good life, the life Creator intended for them”.

This funding will stabilize and expand existing services and will provide targeted investments in specialized mental health supports, improving access to innovative solutions to support the mental health and wellbeing of Ontario’s children and youth. Investments include:

$20 million for an across-the-board five per cent funding increase for all government funded children and youth mental health agencies that provide core mental health and addictions services as well as select Indigenous and specialized services to increase access to supports and decrease wait times for these services to address high demand, particularly during COVID-19 pandemic.

· $3.5 million for the Step Up Step Down live-in treatment program for children and youth with complex mental health needs who require short-term supports to step down from hospital care to less intensive community-based services, or step up from less intensive supports to provide stabilization through intensive interventions.

· $2.1 million in annualized funding to support a new Virtual Walk-in Counselling Program, which provide children, youth and families across the province with virtual counselling with a clinician via telephone, video conferencing, text or chat.

· $2 million for a new program to help children and youth who require additional one-on-one intensive treatment to transition in or out of specialized, live-in treatment programs, secure crisis units, and/or hospital.

· $1 million to maintain Child and Youth Tele-Mental Health service levels and continue providing access to specialized psychiatric consultations through videoconferencing.

Now more than ever, the Government of Ontario remains committed to filling urgent gaps in care and reducing wait times for services to ensure Ontarians of all ages have access to the highest quality supports they need – when and where they need them.

QUICK FACTS
As part of this investment, Rebound Child and Youth Services will receive $14,300.
This announced funding is in addition to the $10.5 million announced in February 2021 for the expansion of secure treatment services.

Under Roadmap to Wellness, Ontario has announced an increase of $525 million in annualized funding for mental health and addictions support since 2019-20. This includes $175 million for more mental health and addictions services and supports in 2021-2022 committed through the 2021 Budget, $176 million invested in October 2020 and new funding of $174 million invested in 2019-20.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, in 2020-21 the province invested up to $194 million in one-time emergency funding for mental health and addictions services, enabling Ontarians to access the services they need during these difficult times, including virtual supports which have been accessed by more than 75,000 Ontarians, including 32,900 who have accessed internet Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. In addition, as of late April, over 6,800 health care workers have access mental health and addictions supports virtually, including peer group discussions, training and education, iCBT and support from clinicians.

Visit COVID-19: Support for People to find information about the many available, confidential and free mental health and addictions services and supports for Ontarians of all ages.