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Innovations in Care: Brief Service – Reducing Wait List for Children’s Mental Health Services

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When a child experiences mental health difficulties with emotions, socializing, or self-regulation, the need for help is often immediate and support for the whole family is usually required. The pandemic has taken a significant toll on the mental health of children. Before the pandemic began, half of Ontario’s children and youth were at risk for mental health issues. Sadly, the number of young people struggling with their mental health has only been increasing over the past two years.

How has CMHA WW transformed service to be more effective and efficient, in an effort to reduce the wait list in Children’s services? In June 2021, the team introduced a Brief Service model.

Brief Service builds a child’s skills and reduces their immediate needs. It also builds a caregiver’s understanding about how to help their child. Brief Service includes up to 10 counselling sessions. This could be therapeutic support children 0 to 6 years of age and their parent/caregiver, or one to one counselling for children/youth 6 to 18 years of age, including the parent/caregiver as needed.

Connecting the family with other community services and resources such as housing, financial support, food security, and school connections is also provided if needed.

“A lot of great work can be done in a Brief Service model which can allow families to move forward with their lives rather than continue to feel stuck while waiting for services. Through this program, I have been able to see and support children and youth to better understand themselves, their experiences, and the impacts of their experiences. I have seen children and youth begin to positively cope with and work through their anxieties, trauma, depression, and other mental health complexities. Parents are able to better understand, support, and connect with their child or youth as well as their own self-care needs, and families receive the help they need and deserve in a timely manner,” says Sarah Popowich, Mental Health Clinician, Children’s Services CMHA WW.

Since the introduction of Brief Service, we have reduced wait times for children’s mental health support from 8-9 months to three months in Guelph, and less than two months in Centre Wellington. Often families worry about being discharged from Children’s Services at CMHA WW and being placed at the bottom of a waitlist if they need support in the future. With the new Brief Service concept, families can come in and out of service as needed. Click here to learn more about Brief Service.

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