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“How will we know if we are meeting our goals? It will be because the questions that we started with will have been answered.”

As a caregiver or a youth, how do you know where to turn when you have a mental health worry or concern? How can you be certain that your needs have been properly identified and that you are getting services that fit your needs? How can you have some say in how these services develop?

It used to be that we did not know much about child and youth mental health. There was awkwardness in talking about it and looking for help when we worried that things were not going well. Although some of that stigma still exists, it is gradually being replaced by an awareness that mental health, like physical health, deserves our attention. Still, as highlighted in the Vital Signs 2016 report, one in four children will deal with mental health issues before they are 18, but only a handful will ever seek out help.

These numbers are worrying. The provincial Ministry of Children and Youth Services has been rolling out a new approach to building up child and youth mental health services across Ontario. Its big picture goals are to ensure that…

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