As Children’s Mental Health Week 2010 unfolds, the mental health sector is at a critical crossroads in its history.
We find ourselves making plans to build on the legacy of the past, maintaining the many strengths of our sector while positioning ourselves for a very different future. Governments at all levels, together with leadership from the private and not-for-profit sectors, are beginning to recognize that the current system is not sustainable, and so a process to recognize, engage with, and improve the mental health sector is developing momentum.
The Hincks-Dellcrest Centre, created through a merger more than a decade ago, is built on the long history of two children’s mental health centres. Since the founding of The Centre, we have witnessed both challenges and triumphs. The children’s mental health sector has changed and expanded, even through times of decreasing government support. We face the fact that one in five children suffers from a mental health problem, and that of those children, only one in five gets the help he or she needs. But we have also seen children emerge from treatment with an improved quality of life, distressed families returning to a state of harmony, and communities strengthened by their willingness to support children’s mental health needs.
This is a time of great opportunity for those committed to the mental health sector. Supported by anti-stigma campaigns like CAMH’s Transforming Lives, and by the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s focus on children and youth, we are poised as never before to make a difference in the lives of the children and families that we serve. They have the right not only to expect the provision of services in a timely manner, but to demand that the stigma surrounding mental illness come to an end.
At all levels, governments are increasingly aware of the need to ensure that children and families get the services they need. The Mental Health Commission of Canada, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions, and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Minister’s Advisory Group on Mental Health and Addictions have each made this a priority. Further, Ontario’s Ministry of Children and Youth Services, a significant funder of the work of The Hincks-Dellcrest Centre, is now carefully examining how children’s mental health services and supports should be delivered across the province.
There are those who say that the profile of mental health today is similar to that of AIDS or cancer during the 1980s. There is a growing awareness of the need to invest in mental health – for the sake of our children, our families, and indeed entire communities.
As we look ahead to a changing mental health landscape, we are aware that the need has never been greater. Most mental illness first appears in childhood or adolescence, and left untreated, can lead to family and school disruption, violent behaviour, criminal activity, or even suicide. Mental health problems can impact entire communities, with disruptive and often dangerous results.
But while there is a tremendous need to increase funding within our sector, we also recognize that we need to do a better job at working together with sector partners and the adult mental health system. Only through this type of collaboration can we create a seamless and integrated system of care, services, and supports that can be easily navigated and accessed by those who need it, when they need it.
There are many reasons to be hopeful. Research shows that helping children early – such as with the prevention and early intervention work done by The Hincks-Dellcrest Centre – gives the best chance for a positive outcome. And for every dollar spent on mental health in early childhood, seven dollars are saved in future social and health care related costs.
With the renewed support and commitment of government leaders, a private sector that is becoming increasingly more engaged, and a community of children and families that is finding its voice, we celebrate the possibilities of the future for the children, youth and families served through Ontario’s children’s mental health sector and we invite each one of you to help us realize them. Together, let us make the next decade the mental health decade.