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Families in the North Okanagan-Shuswap school district will have help connecting to the services they need.
The province is expanding the Integrated Child and Youth program to seven additional school districts, including SD 83.
The Integrated Child and Youth teams will connect children, young people and families to counselling, peer and cultural supports, meeting young people where they feel most comfortable: in schools, homes or community settings.
Team members may include clinical counsellors connected to schools, youth substance-use clinicians, child and youth mental-health clinicians, Indigenous Elders or workers supporting Indigenous children and youth, as well as family and youth peer supports.
Members of the multi-disciplinary teams work together to provide a range of supports, including assessment and screening, consultation and therapeutic services to children up to 19 years old.
"Integrated Child and Youth teams make it easier for young people and their families to connect to the care they need, where and when they need it," said Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. "Integrated Child and Youth teams fill gaps and better co-ordinate mental health, wellness and substance-use care in schools and in the community, making it easier for families to access the help their child needs."
The new multidisciplinary teams are also being added in Fraser-Cascade (Hope, Harrison, Agassiz), Kootenay-Columbia (Trail), Mission, Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Pacific Rim (Port Alberni) and Powell River school districts.
The province has committed funding to implement teams in 20 school districts by 2024 to be fully operational by 2025.
According to the province:
- Approximately 75% of serious mental-health issues emerge before the age of 25.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected children and youth, particularly people with pre-existing challenges.
- In B.C., nearly 12.7% of children between four and 18 years are affected by mental-health disorders, and 44.2% of those receive services.
For more information on the program, click here.
