Province expands mental health, substance use supports for children and youth

B.C. is expanding its support for children and youth needing help with mental health and substance use, as seven more school districts across the province are receiving Integrated Child and Youth (ICY) teams.

On Thursday, the province announced the new multidisciplinary teams will be placed in the Fraser-Cascade, Kootenay-Columbia, Mission, Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Okanagan-Shuswap, Pacific Rim, and Powell River school districts.

“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,” Jennifer Whiteside, minister of mental health and addictions, said. “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.”

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The teams include clinical counsellors, youth substance-use clinicians, mental health clinicians, Indigenous Elders, Indigenous support workers, and peer supports. Members of the teams work together to provide supports to children and youth by assessing and screening, and providing therapeutic services to children up to 19 years old.

According to the province, approximately 75 per cent of serious mental health issues present themselves before the age of 25, and in B.C. alone, nearly 12.7 per cent of children between four and 18 years old are affected by mental health disorders.

“When a child or youth is struggling with their mental health and with substance use, we know how vital it is to provide them with the supports they need,” Mitzi Dean, minister of children and family development, said. “This is why our government is working together with integrated teams in seven more school districts across our province, to bring even more services to youth where they feel most comfortable: in schools, homes or community settings.”

The new teams will join the Richmond, Coast Mountain, Okanagan-Similkameen, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, and Comox Valley school districts.

The province says it will implement teams in another eight districts by 2024, with the goal of them all being fully operational the following year.