St. Clair Child and Youth Services (SCCYS) is highlighting a program that's gaining provincial attention as part of Children's Mental Health Awareness week.
Assertive Community Treatment for Youth (ACT-Y) Program Director Lesley Hereygers said it's a first of its kind in Canada.
"ACT-Y is really reaching children and youth and families who are not being effectively supported by our traditional service models, and really filling a critical gap in our community," Hereygers said.
In collaboration with Sarnia-Lambton Rebound, the program launched last January as a locally piloted Intensive Outreach Team (IOT) and was initially supported by the Judith and Norman Alix Foundation.
It has since received ongoing funding from the Ministry of Health and is recognized as a key local component of Ontario’s broader transformation of intensive mental health services.
"It has evolved as a leading-edge model, now recognized provincially, and one of the first such models for youth in Canada. So these programs are quite new, and we have another program that we are collaborating with in Windsor and in London as well, they have ACT programs starting," said Hereygers.
She said the response has been great, with 26 local youth or families participating in it so far.
The program was recently showcased at a Children’s Mental Health conference in Toronto.
ACT-Y is underpinned by a philosophy of building trust and relationships, offering flexible, responsive, and team-based care that wraps around both the child or youth and their family.
