To further support the positive mental health and well-being of British Columbia children, youth and families, the Province is investing $850,000 in the F.O.R.C.E Society for Kids’ Mental Health.

The F.O.R.C.E. society will use the funds to strengthen their supports for B.C. families, including evaluating and enhancing their Parent and Youth in Residence Program, developed in 2011. Based on their own lived experience, parents and youth offer peer support, education, mentorship and assistance to young people, families and caregivers in navigating child and youth mental-health services.

To date, there are 16 parent in residence (PiR) and two youth in residence (YiR) mentors working in the province’s five health regions: Vancouver Coastal, Vancouver Island, Fraser, the Interior and the North. Since 2011, these programs have helped more than 10,000 young people, families and caregivers each year throughout B.C. to realize that they are not alone in their struggles and that there are a variety of supports and services that can help them. In addition, the F.O.R.C.E. also supports a significant number of service providers who are looking for assistance in helping young people and families.

To access the services available through the Parent and Youth in Residence Program, contact a PiR  or YiR directly. Contacts for each community are provided here: http://www.forcesociety.com/contact

To further ensure that B.C.’s mental-health programs and supports work effectively together, the Province is developing an integrated, cross-government mental-health and substance-use strategy for British Columbia. This work includes a review of current child and youth mental-health programs and services. The goal is to address key gaps in the current system and ensure individuals and families can access support services early, before they find themselves in a crisis.

Quotes:

Stephanie Cadieux, Minister of Children and Family Development –

“The F.O.R.C.E.  society’s unwavering commitment to supporting children, youth and families with mental health challenges is making a huge difference. The work they do – and today’s investment – will give families the support, resources and positive relationships they need to cope, manage and overcome mental-health challenges.”

Terry Lake, Minister of Health –

“Our government has a broad system of mental-health supports and services for children and youth and adults, and this partnership with the F.O.R.C.E. society is an important piece. We know that that system is broad and can be complex for families to navigate and this funding will help to simplify that process, and ensure that families and young people get the support they need.”

Keli Anderson, founder and CEO, the F.O.R.C.E. Society for Kids’ Mental Health –

“The Parent and Youth in Residence Program, and the work they do to influence practice and experiences of young people and families in B.C., is deeply personal and integral to improve mental-health outcomes for children and youth in our province. We appreciate the ongoing support of the Province as this work is not possible without its support.”

Quick Facts:

• Keli Anderson founded the F.O.R.C.E.  society in 2000. As a mother of a child with mental-health challenges, she wanted to develop an organization to help families with similar challenges find the information and supports they need.
• Currently, more than 27,000 B.C. children and youth receive community mental-health services annually – more than double the number who received services in 2003.
• Nearly 84,000 children and youth, aged four to 17 years, suffer from mental-health issues in British Columbia.
• The Ministry of Health spent approximately $1.42 billion to address mental-health and substance-use issues in 2014-15 – an approximate increase of 67% from the 2000-01 total of $851.4 million.
• The Ministry of Children and Family Development invests approximately $94 million annually to address child and youth mental-health and substance-use challenges in B.C.
• Three-quarters of that funding ($70 million) is spent on community-based mental-health services. The remainder is spent on specialized services, including the Maples Adolescent Treatment Centre, mental-health services, and substance-use treatment for youth involved in the justice system.
• There are currently 78 walk-in intake clinics throughout B.C. offering a more efficient intake process that is reducing wait times from children and their families for initial assessment of their service needs from weeks to days and days to hours.
• The child and youth mental-health and substance-use online services map includes contact information for about 350 service providers and locations and has helped more than 6,900 children, youth and families to date to find the services they need, when they need them.

Learn More:

To learn more about The F.O.R.C.E. society, please visit: www.forcesociety.com

To view an online map of mental-health and substance-use services in B.C., please visit: http://goo.gl/9TVI0T

To learn more about CYMH supports and services through the Ministry of Children and Family Development, please visit: www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/mental_health/index.htm

To learn more about the Ministry of Health’s Healthy Minds, Healthy People website and report, please visit: www.health.gov.bc.ca/healthy-minds/about.html