Helping More Children and Youth Access Mental Health Services
Province Expanding Services to Better Reach Rural, Remote and Underserved Communities
Ontario is helping children and youth in communities across the province connect to local mental health services more easily by expanding online, smartphone and video resources that can provide immediate, specialized support when and where it is needed.
The province is supporting Kids Help Phone’s Resources Around Me online tool, which helps children and youth access mental health programs and services in their communities through the app on a smartphone, computer or mobile device. The tool instantly connects young people across Ontario to information on mental health services close to home.
Ontario has also enhanced its Tele-Mental Health service, which provides children and youth, especially those living in rural and remote communities, with better access to specialized mental health consultations through videoconferencing. These supports will increase the program’s treatment capacity to up to 4,000 consultations per year.
Helping more young people access mental health services and supports is part of our plan to help all children and youth in Ontario thrive and reach their full potential.
Quick Facts
- Ontario is helping Kids Help Phone upgrade the Resources Around Me tool through an investment of $3.4 million over five years.
- The province is investing $400,000 to enhance Tele-Mental Health services.
- Approximately one in five children and youth in Ontario experience a mental health challenge.
- Ontario serves more than 121,000 young people every year through an investment of more than $444 million annually in community based child and youth mental health services.
- Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day, a wide-reaching, multi-year program designed to break the silence and stigma around mental illness, and support mental health all across Canada.
Background Information
Additional Resources
- Resources for Parents
- Mental health support for children and youth under 18
- Kids Help Phone – Resources Around Me
- Tele-Mental Health service regions
- Moving on Mental Health
- Ontario’s Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Strategy
Quotes
“Our partnership with Kids Help Phone, a national leader in helping young people in crisis, will help improve access to local mental health services for children and youth. Our increased supports for Ontario’s Tele-Mental Health Service will also help to ensure that more young people in less densely-populated areas will be better served as close to home as possible.”
Michael Coteau – Minister of Children and Youth Services
“All Ontarians should have access to high quality mental health supports. We are continuing to invest in services that promote positive mental health and support our young people who are facing challenges. When children and youth reach out, they need to know they are not alone and help is available.”
Dr. Eric Hoskins – Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
“We hear from kids in Ontario every day and they’ve told us that searching for local services and programs is difficult. Kids Help Phone is always open for kids in every moment of crisis or need and this ongoing investment in our online Resources Around Me tool ensures that children and teens in Ontario can easily locate local mental health and youth support services when they need them the most.”
Sharon Wood – President and CEO, Kids Help Phone
