Children’s mental health support program gets $2.7M from province

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Alex Munter often thinks back to 2020 when one particular youth, struggling with mental health problems and addictions, was in the care of CHEO. Unbeknownst to Munter, the children’s hospital’s president and CEO, and the rest of his staff was that this youth was also in the care of three other mental health agencies.

None of those organizations knew about each other and there was no coordination.

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While Munter can’t give more details about the individual due to privacy reasons, he offers one ominous sentence: the youth had a “very bad outcome,” Munter said.

It’s with this particular person in mind that Munter now talks about the innovative program developed by the Kids Come First Health Team to help those in the multi-faceted mental health system get the best care possible.

A key goal of the program called 1Call1Click is preventing any more children and youth from falling through the cracks. Munter refers to it as “catching and holding” children to help them find the care they need.

Launched in 2021, 1Call1Click is a centralized hub in which people with mental health addictions and substance use challenges can be referred for help. Ontario’s then health minister Christine Elliot sang its praises, but there was no permanent provincial funding at the time to keep it operating. That changed in late September when the province announced $2.7 million of annual funding to keep the program, the only one of its kind in Canada, operating.

It is not a lot of money in the multi-billion Ontario health system, but the impact is great and the potential is greater, said Munter.

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The program brings together doctors and mental health professionals from different organizations that provide care for children and youth. It also works with school boards to place mental health resources inside schools.

The funding comes during a period of growing pressure on mental health, addictions and substance use services. The number of intakes each month increased by an average of 60 per cent from the program’s first year to its second. Demand is continuing to grow and most clients are considered to have a moderate or higher level of need.

Munter describes the program as a platform “to make the whole system stronger. This (funding) will make it a permanent part of the child and youth mental health system.”

It has drawn attention from around the world and last year won an award from Children’s Healthcare Canada for family and person-centred care. Members of the team have done presentations to people from across the country, said Munter.

“There is nowhere else in Canada that does this.”

The program not only coordinates care among multiple agencies and health professionals but also takes some of the burden off families or patients.

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“It is hard enough for most people to navigate a complex health system and it is completely unreasonable that a youth or family in crisis can or should do that,” said Munter.

The program brings together thousands of clinicians and more than two dozen youth mental health and addictions agencies. Since it began, the organization  says it has helped more than 20,000 young people.

“Where youth, parents, physicians and other caregivers used to have to refer young people to multiple organizations – or try to figure out how best to access care – 1Call1Click.ca not only offers one place to go, but also the confidence that providers are working together to make sure patients get the right care from the right organization,” said KidsComeFirst in a statement about the program.

Could the program have prevented that bad outcome in 2020? Munter thinks so.

“The agencies have a daily huddle and talk about the most complex situations. This young person would have got on the radar very quickly as somebody who needed help. These agencies would work in a coordinated way as a team to support the youth.”

More information, including how to get help immediately, is available at: kidscomefirst.ca

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