VICTORIA, BC:- More children, youth and families will benefit from mental-health and substance-use services as B.C. expands Integrated Child and Youth (ICY) teams to seven additional school districts.
The new multidisciplinary teams are being added in Fraser-Cascade (Hope, Harrison, Agassiz), Kootenay-Columbia (Trail), Mission, Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Okanagan-Shuswap (Salmon Arm), Pacific Rim (Port Alberni) and Powell River school districts.
“Integrated Child and Youth teams make is 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 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 these 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.
These seven school districts join Richmond, Coast Mountains (Terrace and Hazelton), Okanagan-Similkameen (Oliver and area), Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows and the Comox Valley, bringing the number with ICY teams to 12. The Province has committed funding to implement teams in 20 school districts by 2024 to be fully operational by 2025.
“We have heard from students how important their mental health is to their educational success and overall health and well-being,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care. “Having the Integrated Child and Youth teams working so closely with districts means that children, youth and families will have greater access to additional supports during the vulnerable years of their child’s life.”
Integrated Child and Youth teams provide services to all children, youth and families within a school-district boundary, including those attending First-Nations-operated schools, independent schools, francophone schools, alternative schools or those not in school. Children and youth can connect with ICY teams through various points of contact, such as early years services, school staff, primary care, mental-health and substance-use services, Foundry centres and Indigenous-led organizations. Enhancing supports for children and youth living with mental-health and substance-use needs is an integral part of A Pathway to Hope, B.C.’s roadmap for building a comprehensive system of mental-health and addictions care for British Columbians
